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230 left in the battle for 10 LS seats
Outcome to have bearing on Assembly polls: Hooda
Abhay seeks support for party candidate
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Wife manages Faridabad Cong candidate’s campaign
Sangwan resignation scripted: BJP spokesman
32% stay away from LS polls: Analysts
Karnal to see fight between 23 contenders
Authorities fix sites for poll meetings
Dalit thrashed for favouring Congress
Political heavyweights to campaign in state
Hotels told to take permission for holding weddings
Recruitment of PG teachers
RTI activist to move court against school for visually-impaired
Gohana commission agents to be refunded
485 units of blood donated
Rs 5 lakh snatched from elderly man
Man held for trespass
2 youths held on molestation charge
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230 left in the battle for 10 LS seats
Giving information here today, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Shrikant Walgad said nomination of 48 candidates had been rejected during the scrutiny of nomination papers on March 24. He said two candidates each had withdrawn their nomination papers on the last day of withdrawal from Ambala, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Sirsa constituencies. Similarly, one candidate had withdrawn his nomination from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh and three each from Hisar, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Sonipat seats. Giving constituency-wise details of the candidates, Walgad said 14 candidates were in the fray from Ambala Lok Sabha seat, 26 from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, 27 from Faridabad, 22 from Gurgaon, 41 from Hisar, 23 from Karnal, 22 from Kurukshetra, 14 from Rohtak, 18 from Sirsa and 23 from Sonepat. Walgad said the process of preparing electronic voting machines (EVMs) and printing of ballot papers would be carried out. After completing this process, the EVMs and ballot papers would be kept in strong room in the presence of the observers and representative of the political parties. He said notices had been served on all candidates who had violated the model code of conduct and action was being taken on all such complaints by the commission, he added. Kurukshetra: Surender Kumar, an independent candidate, withdrew his name from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat today. After his withdrawal, 22 candidates are in the fray from the constituency. With the final list of candidates, the Returning Officer declared their election symbols as well. The final list and their symbols are- BSP- Chatar Singh (elephant), INC- Naveen Jindal (hand), INLD- Balbir Singh Saini (spectacles), BJP- Rajkumar Saini (lotus), All-India TMC-Ashwini Malhotra (flower and grass), National Janhit Congress (AB)- Onkar Singh (auto rickshaw), IBSP (Kanshiram)- Kanta Alariya (lady purse), Bharatiya Inqalab Party- Kiranpal (balloon), Republican Party of India- Kuldeep Singh (sewing machine), Lok Dal- Gurmeet Singh (carrot), AAP- Balwinder Kaur (broom), Lok Parivartan Party (DC)- Ram Kishan (Gas cylinder) and Bhartiya Chetna Party- Rameshwar Kumar Saini (flute). There are nine independent candidates in the fray, Anil Kumar (bat), Chuni Manoj Kumar (gas stove), Jawinder Bhakudi (diesel pump), Devender Kumar (coconut), Master Dharampal Dhiman (refrigerator), Ranbir Singh Sharma (battery torch), Vishnu Bhagwan (candle), Raj Kumar Saini (cauliflower) and Satish Kumar Singhal (ceiling fan). Karnal: As many as 23 candidates, including a doctor, journalist, retired IAS officer, farmer and businessman, are in the battlefield of elections from Karnal parliamentary constituency. Two-time MP from Karnal and Congress candidate Arvind Sharma is a dentist and has a long experience in politics. He was an MP from Sonepat. Former Agriculture Minister and INLD candidate Jaswinder Singh Sandhu also has a long experience in politics as he was elected thrice from Pehowa Assembly. The HJC-BJP alliance has fielded a journalist of a Delhi-based newspaper, Ashwini Kumar Chopra, this time. This is Ashwini’s first election but his father Ramesh Chander was a two-time MLA from Punjab. The BSP candidate, Maratha Virender Verma, who remained on second position from BSP in 2009 parliamentary election, is a retired IAS officer. He resigned and formed Ekta Shakti Party. He had merged his party with the BJP in December 2012. Though he repeatedly contested elections, but failed to register a win. AAP candidate Paramjeet declared in his affidavit that he is a businessman. This is his first election, but he is a founder member of AAP in Haryana. Mam Chand from CPI party, Davinder from RPI, Duli Chand from Lok Parivartan Party, Ashish from All-India Forward Block, Khatab Chand from Bharatiya Chetna Party, Davinder Sharma from Rashtriya Karamyogi Party, Pale Ram from Rashtriya Jan Shakti Party, Puran Singh Panwar from Rashtriyavadi Party and independent candidates Arvind Tiwari, Kismat Sharma, Jagdish, Jagvir Singh Rana, Mahmood Hasan, Mahinder Pal, Rajesh Kumar, Ramphal Sharma, Shashi Saini and Savitri are also in the contest. |
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Outcome to have bearing on Assembly polls: Hooda
Gohana, March 26 He was addressing a public meeting at Gohana in the Sonepat parliamentary segment. The meeting was organised by rebel BJP leader Pradeep Sangwan, who formally joined the Congress in Hooda’s presence today. Hooda flayed the opposition for “misleading” the public by levelling baseless allegations of concentrating more on Rohtak and Sonepat as far as development projects were concerned. He claimed that every part of the state had witnessed equal development. Blaming BJP top leadership of selling tickets, Hooda also attacked the INLD for “adopting double standard”. “While the INLD on one hand is flaying the BJP for importing its candidates from the Congress, it is supporting prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on the other.” Welcoming Sangwan in the Congress, Hooda said the party would give its due ‘maan aur samman’ (regard and position) to him and his supporters in the Congress. Speaking on the occasion, Sangwan accused the BJP leadership of ditching its workers
by denying him the party ticket. Congress candidate and Gohana MLA Jagbir Singh Malik, Baroda MLA Krishan Hooda and DCC Sonepat president Pradeep Gautam were present on the occasion. |
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Abhay seeks support for party candidate
Sirsa, March 26 “Bring Om Prakash Chautala to power once and not a single educated youth of Ellenabad will be left unemployed,” said Abhay. Pointing to Om Prakash Chautala and Ajay Singh Chautala’s conviction in the JBT teachers’ recruitment case, Abhay said the party would continue giving jobs even if they had to go to jail again. Taking a dig at the Congress, Abhay said the ruling party’s condition was like the protagonist of Bollywood movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. “Just like the movie, wherein the protagonist keeps running, Congress leaders have also been running to avoid contesting these parliamentary elections,” he said. The Ellenabad MLA also ridiculed the BJP and said the party that claimed to have a wave in its favour could not find eight candidates to contest elections and had to import five of them from the Congress. Castigating Congress nominee Ashok Tanwar, Abhay alleged that the Sirsa MP was not a man of words. He alleged that the MP had announced grants from his MPLAD funds to several organisations, but deviated from his promise later. “People were under the impression that being Rahul Gandhi’s pal, he will bring job opportunities to Sirsa. But not a single youth has received any job in five years and the constituency has become backward than ever before,” he alleged. Arora alleged that several jobs given during Bhupinder Singh Hooda government had been challenged in the High Court. Later, Abhay and Arora also addressed a rally at Ratia in Fatehabad district. |
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Wife manages Faridabad Cong candidate’s campaign
Faridabad, March 26 “I get up early in the morning to chalk out strategy and assign duties to supporters engaged in campaigning for my husband, who is staking his claim for the third time from the Faridabad Lok Sabha seat,’’ said Mamata. Mamata said she had always acted as the main public relations officer for her husband. She said it was perhaps the best job for her now as election was the real testing time for any politician. She said she had been spending nearly 12 to 14 hours daily in supervising the election campaign. “Perhaps it is my education that has made me capable of looking after such a tricky job, where almost 98 per cent persons who I interact are men and many of them belong to the older generation,” she added. “Madam meets and interacts with several hundred persons everyday and knows a large number of supporters and activists of the party by face or name,’’ said Puneet Puri, a young party activist. Vishal Kasana, another supporter, said she had organised more than hundred meetings with party workers in the constituency. “This speaks volumes of the work as campaign manager for her husband,” he added. He said she was quick in setting up a rapport with every section of society and due to this, hundreds of youth got associated with the party. |
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Sangwan resignation scripted: BJP spokesman
Sonepat, March 26 Talking to mediapersons, he said the party had given due regards to the Sangwan family. He was directly nominated as state secretary and his father, late Kishan Singh Sangwan, was elevated as the national vice-president in the party, said Yadav. Replying to a question, he admitted that there would be some loss to the party after Sangwan’s resignation, but the party workers would work hard to compensate the losses. He also claimed that there was no resentment among the party workers over fielding of Ramesh Kaushik as party candidate from the Sonepat parliamentary constituency. Claiming that there was a Modi wave in the country, Yadav said BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi would address ‘Bharat vijay rally’ at the new vegetable market in Gohana on March 29 and it would be the only election rally to be addressed by Modi in Haryana. Senior leaders of the BJP and HJC will attend the rally. Kavita Jain, party MLA from Sonepat, and other office bearers of the party were present on the
occasion. |
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32% stay away from LS polls: Analysts
According to political experts, the state has always witnessed a low polling percentage in Lok Sabha polls as compare to Vidhan Sabha elections. "Standing in long queues and waiting for their turn for hours bothers the voters. Their apathy towards national issues could be another reasons for this," said a political expert, adding that some voters feel that their single vote cannot change the system and will not affect the results of the elections. In 1967 parliamentary election, polling percentage was 72.61 and in 1971 it reduced to 64.35 per cent. In 1977, the voting percentage in parliamentary elections increased to 73.26 per cent and three year after, in 1980, it reduced to 64.76 per cent. In 1984, voting percentage was 66.84 per cent and in 1989 the voting turnout was 64.41 per cent and in 1991 it was 65.84 per cent. In 1996 parliamentary election, voting percentage increased around five per cent in the state and was 70.48 per cent, but in 1998 the voting percentage again went down to 68.99. In 1999, the voting turnout was 63.99 per cent. In 2004 and 2009, the voting percentage was 65.72 per cent and 67.48 percent, respectively. "The overall average of the state shows that around 32.63 per cent voters chose not to vote in parliamentary elections," said a political expert. On comparing Karnal parliamentary constituency with Haryana, there is a marginal difference of voting percentage. An average of 69.25 per cent voters use their voting rights here as compared to 68 per cent in the whole of Haryana state. |
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Karnal to see fight between 23 contenders
Karnal, March 26 Former Agriculture Minister and INLD candidate Jaswinder Singh Sandhu also has a long experience in politics as he was elected thrice from Pehowa Assembly. He is a farmer and his education qualification is matric. The HJC-BJP alliance has fielded a journalist of a Delhi-based newspaper, Ashwini Kumar Chopra, this time. This is Ashwini’s first election but his father Ramesh Chander was a two-time MLA from Punjab. The BSP candidate, Maratha Virender Verma, who remained on second position from BSP in 2009 parliamentary election, is a retired IAS officer. He resigned and formed Ekta Shakti Party. He had merged his party with the BJP in December 2012. Though he repeatedly contested elections, but failed to register a win. AAP candidate Paramjeet declared in his affidavit that he is a businessman. This is his first election, but he is a founder member of AAP in Haryana. On the other hand, Mam Chand from CPI party, Davinder from RPI, Duli Chand from Lok Parivartan Party, Ashish from All-India Forward Block, Khatab Chand from Bharatiya Chetna Party, Davinder Sharma from Rashtriya Karamyogi Party, Pale Ram from Rashtriya Jan Shakti Party, Puran Singh Panwar from Rashtriyavadi Party and independent candidates Arvind Tiwari, Kismat Sharma, Jagdish, Jagvir Singh Rana, Mahmood Hasan, Mahinder Pal, Rajesh Kumar, Ramphal Sharma, Shashi Saini and Savitri are also in the contest.
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Cast vote, get rebate on food bills
Rohtak, March 26 The novel initiative has been taken by the district electoral authorities to encourage voting, especially amongst the young and first-time voters. As per the arrangement, being made with the support of the hotel and restaurant owners, posters announcing discounts for voters would be displayed in front of the eating joints. “Nearly 68 per cent
of voters here had cast their vote during the last elections and this time, our target is to
take it up to 80 per cent,” said Dr Amit Agarwal, Rohtak Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer. The number of voters in Rohtak parliamentary constituency has increased by nearly 2.5 lakh as compared to the last General Elections held in 2009. The Lok Sabha segment now has more than 15 lakh voters. The idea of discounted meals for voters, which was given by Dr Agarwal before the Election Commission authorities, may also be replicated at several other places. Dr Agarwal said apart from the provision of discounts on food bills, they had also roped in functionaries of the Nehru Yuva Kendras, NSS units and other youth organisations to generate awareness about the significance of casting one’s vote in the elections. The local Additional Deputy Commissioner
has been made the nodal officer regarding the awareness campaign. A couple of buses and
other vehicles bearing huge flex-boards had also been employed to contribute in the drive, he added. Y'nagar retailers to offer 15% discount
Local retailers in Yamaunanagar district have offered a flat 15 per cent discount on selected consumer items to those who cast their vote in the coming elections. “Several owners of restaurants, garment shops and cinema halls have expressed their wish to offer discount on polling day,” said Mandip Singh Barar, Deputy Commissioner, Yamunanagar. He was speaking at the systematic voter education and electoral practice (SVEEP) programme organised by the local administration at DAV College for Girls today. |
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Savitri Jindal makes emotional appeal to garner votes for son
Pundri (Kaithal), March 26 Making an emotional appeal, she said Naveen was not only her son, but son of every mother and father of Kurukshetra. Naveen needed the support and love of people in the form of votes so that he could get a third consecutive term, she added. Haryana had been transformed in the last 10 years with the support of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Congress-led UPA Government, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Savitri said. She made an appeal to the public to vote for Naveen Jindal and ensure his victory by a record margin. Savitri visited Pilni, Fatehpur, Barsana, Hajwana, Ramana, Ramani, Bakal, Deeg, Habri, Sirsal, Badnara, Sanch and Raseena villages in
Pundri. |
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Authorities fix sites for poll meetings
Fatehabad, March 26 She said the political parties could set up their hoardings at Fawara Chowk, Jawahar Chowk, Lajpat Chowk, Khemakhati road Chowk, Devi Mandir Chowk on Majra road, Shashtri Chowk, Tehsil Chowk, Tulsidas Chowk near Gopiram Dharamshala, Balmiki Chowk, Papiha Park Chowk, Hanuman Mandir in Agarwal Colony, Shiv Chowk, Jagjivanpura Chowk and Shiv Mandir Chowk. Shalini said permission from the District Election Officer was necessary for holding any rally. 69 places identified
in Karnal
Karnal Deputy Commissioner Balraj Singh said today that 69 places had been identified for holding election rallies and putting up hoarding in Karnal district for the Lok Sabha elections. Addressing a meeting of representatives of all political parties and the officials concerned here, Balraj Singh cautioned that holding of election rallies and putting up of hoarding at places other than the notified places would attract strict action and the violation of the instructions issued by the administration would be viewed seriously. He said the parties and candidates should maintain their account and produce the expenditure details to the officials concerned. No SMS would be sent 48 hours before the polling date and candidate had to take permission for sending bulk messages, he said. |
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Dalit thrashed for favouring Congress
Sirsa, March 26 In his police complaint, Babu Lal of Ali Mohammed village alleged that villagers were sitting at the chaupal discussing politics, when he spoke in favour of the Congress. He alleged that Layak Ram, a supporter of an opposition party and his friends, beat him up and hurled abuses targeting his caste. He alleged that the accused also threatened him of dire consequences if he dared to go to the polling booth to cast his vote. Sukhdev Singh, SHO of the Chopta police station, said the police had received a complaint and he had summoned both sides to know their version of the incident.
— TNS |
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Political heavyweights to campaign in state
Narwana (Jind), March 26 “We have got confirmation about Sonia Gandhi’s proposed rally at Panipat on April 1. Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan will also visit the state to rejuvenate the party workers. There is a Congress wave in the state and we would win all 10 seats,” said HPCC chief and Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar after a meeting of party workers here today. About the show-cause notice served on him for a statement of his wife, Avantika Maken Tanwar, for violating the poll code, Tanwar refused to share details, though confirmed that he had got the notice. “It’s a fight between five years of hard work and 20 days of campaigning. I have been working hard since my last win as, while other candidates have come just a few days back. People are aware of everything,” Tanwar told The Tribune. AICC Spokesman and state minister Randip Singh Surjewala, who also campaigned for Tanwar, said the BJP had conceded defeat and it was the main reason why its leaders were trying to win by swapping seats. “Almost all senior leaders have been sidelined due to intense lobbying in the BJP. The division of the party has exposed it before the country,” said Surjewala. |
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Hotels told to take permission for holding weddings
Jhajjar, March 26 Following the model code of conduct, hotels and banquet halls located in the district need to take permission from the district authorities for organising weddings functions in their houses. The authorities had recently issued directives to owners of all hotels and banquet halls to obtain prior permission while booking their accommodations for the wedding functions, as Section 144 of the IPC has already been invoked in the district due to elections. In its communique, the district authorities said the hotel and banquet hall owners would have to give full detail of the weddings, like names of bride and groom, their addresses, timings and other schedule of marriage while seeking permission for the function. Strict action would be taken against those hotels and marriage halls found organising marriages without obtaining prior permission, said the communique. “Directives in this regard have been issued just to ensure that no political activity pertaining to the Lok Sabha elections is carried out in the hotels and marriage halls. It will be deemed as an act of poll code violation if any hotel or banquet hall holds marriage functions without permission,” said Pradeep Dagar, the Bahadurgarh SDM, adding that a simple procedure had been set for seeking such permission. He maintained that the move aimed at curbing any election-related activities in the hotels and banquet halls because these accommodations were generally used by political parties to carry out poll-related movement. The directive
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HC stresses equivalence clause
Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 26 The ruling by Justice Augustine George Masih came on a bunch of petitions filed by Vikas Sharma and other petitioners against the State of Haryana and other respondents. They were seeking directions to the Haryana School Teachers Selection Board for treating ‘Acharya’ degree equal to M A Sanskrit in accordance with a letter dated May 10, 1975, for recruitment as post-graduate teachers. “Since Acharya is not a prescribed qualification under the statutory rules nor is there any equivalence clause, the claim of the petitioners cannot be accepted,” Justice Masih ruled. The significance of the judgment can be gauged by the fact that Justice Masih has dealt with at least 10 petitions on the issue through the single order. During the course of arguments, the State counsel had submitted that educational qualification has been specified for the post of PGT Sanskrit as M A Sanskrit with at least 50 per cent marks and B Ed from a recognised university, with Haryana State Education School Cadre (Group-B) Rule 2012 coming into force. Referring to full bench judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of Som Dutt versus the State of Haryana and another, Justice Masih asserted it had been held that the prerogative is of the employer to provide for the qualifications for appointment to the post and it can insist upon the qualifications so prescribed under the statutory rules. “If no equivalence clause has been provided under the rules and the qualifications are clear and specific, the equivalence or otherwise of the qualification possessed by a candidate cannot be taken into account. Therefore, it cannot be said the action of the respondents in insisting upon the statutory qualification prescribed in the rules applicable to the post in question cannot be insisted upon by the respondents. Dismissing the petitions, Justice Masih added: “In the present case, there is no question of treating an equivalent qualification when there is no such discretion provided for under the statutory rules”. “The qualification under the statutory rules being clear and specific, that is M A Sanskrit with at least 50 per cent marks, the Court cannot import such a condition/qualification which would make the candidate possessing an equivalent degree eligible for appointment, when the statutory rules do not permit so”.
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RTI activist to move court against school for visually-impaired
Jhajjar, March 26 The commission had directed the authorities to supply him the information within four weeks but it failed to comply with the orders even after six weeks. “On July 18, 2013, I had sought information that is Savera School affiliated to the Rehabilitation Council of India
(RCI), what was the selection criteria adopted for recruiting the staff members, how many candidates appeared in the written and interview test for teaching posts and the names of those who qualified the written test and were called for an interview,” said
Rathi. He had also demanded information about the governing body of the school, its aim, category, funding and the advertisements issued for the appointment of teachers, he added. “The authorities denied the information, stating that the school was being run by a non-government organisation and its expenditure was met from donations, hence the school did not come under the purview of the RTI Act,” said
Rathi. He then filed an appeal petition before the first appellate authority but it too did not pay any heed towards it. Later, he approached the State Information Commission, Haryana, for getting
the information. “The commission then directed the school authorities to supply him complete information within the next four weeks, stating that since the entire management of Savera School was in the hands of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and the school was located on government land, hence it was a public authority and covered under the RTI Act,” said
Rathi. Over six weeks had passed but the information was yet to be received. He alleged that since the authority had appointed ‘ineligible’ staff members in the school by violating rules and regulation, it was not giving the sought information. |
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Gohana commission agents to be refunded
Sonepat, March 26 Talking to mediaperson at Gohana today, Gohana Food Grains Dealers Association president Gopal Krishan Sharma said during the wheat procurement season of 2007-8, CONFED and the Food and Supplies Department had forcibly deducted Rs 3,09,998 and Rs 2,94,784, respectively from the shares of the commission agents. He said the procurement agencies had said that there was a loss of weight between the period of purchase and lifting of the stock from the commission agent’s tarmac. However, it was opposed by the association, but the authorities did not listen to them. Finally, the association appealed in the court against the forcible deduction pleading that the procurement agencies had delayed the lifting with no fault of the commission agents. It was the duty of the procurement agencies to lift the stock within 72 hours after purchase. Sharma said the court’s decision had brought great relief not only to the members of the Gohana Food Grains Market, but also to the commission agents in the state. Association’s senior members Raghubir Singh Lathwal and Umed Singh Mor were also present on the occasion. |
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485 units of blood donated
Sonepat, March 26 While inaugurating the camp, vice-chancellor Prof R P Dahiya said the
university would set up and maintain a blood data bank of donors with their blood group
and mobile phone numbers to meet immediate requirements. The blood donated in the camp would be sent for people suffering from Thalesemia, he added “The university will provide vehicle to the volunteers for going to other places to donate their blood,” he said and added that the volunteers would also be honoured by the university. |
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Rs 5 lakh snatched from elderly man
Jhajjar, March 26 Tara Chand of Matan village here had withdrawn Rs 6.28 lakh from Canara Bank located on the National Highway-10 in Bahadurgarh this morning. He had put Rs 5 lakh in a bag while Rs 1.28 lakh were kept in his pockets. Tara Chand was going to Railway Road branch of Punjab National Bank (PNB) to deposit the amount. Two youths on a motorbike came there and fled after snatching the bag carrying cash. Though the police sealed the border points of the district on getting information but failed to nab the snatchers. |
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Man held for trespass
Kaithal, March 26 The woman informed the police following which a police party reached the house and took the accused, identified as Dharamveer (48) of the same village, in custody. He was booked under Section 323, 452, 354-D
of the IPC. He was produced in a local court today which sent him in judicial custody. |
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2 youths held on molestation charge
Hisar, March 26 The abducted girls, one of them 18-years-old and three minor, were abducted from near their homes on March 23 in a car. The accused reportedly molested the girls and gang-raped one of them near Hisar cantonment area. They took them to Bathinda in Punjab and abandoned them near the railway station.
— TNS |
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Chandigarh, March 26
Karnal, March 26