Hisar, April 14
The bad and unpredictable weather has hit wheat procurement hard as not a grain has been bought at any of the 22 grain markets in Hisar district in the past two weeks.

The delay has made the farmers a worried lot as they wait for the procurement of their produce. Around 10,000 quintals of grain has reportedly arrived in the mandis in Hansi, Bans, Uklana, Hisar and some other places.

Pawan Kumar, president of the Grain Market Association, Hisar, said though some farmers had brought and unloaded the grain, Hafed officials who visited the mandis today refused to procure it, citing high moisture content in the grain.

Satyawan Singh, a farmer of Sisai village, said though farmers had brought the grain to the mandi for procurement, the officials seemed to be in no mood to start the process.

“There are no sheds in the mandi. The farmers have been patiently waiting for start of procurement for the past one week. Those who have harvested the crop are now facing a dilemma, whether to bring the produce to the mandi or not”, he said.

Madan Mohan, a Hafed official at Hisar, said they had checked the grain in the market for moisture, which was 15-16 per cent, above the permissible limit of 12 per cent.

“On Tuesday, it is the turn of the Food and Supplies Department for procurement and its officials would visit the mandis”, he said.

Dr Ghanshyam Singh, District Food and Supplies Commissioner, however, admitted that procurement had not started in any of the mandis so far. “The unseasonal showers are to be blamed for the delay. I held a meeting with district officials today and sent them to visit the mandis. Hopefully, procurement would begin soon in Hansi, Bans and some other places by this evening or tomorrow. We have made elaborate arrangements for smooth procurement of the foodgrain.

Karnal: Rain and storm have affected wheat procurement in Karnal also. As many as 2.5 lakh quintal of wheat has arrived at the Karnal grain market till today and only around 1.9 lakh quintal has been purchased by the procurement agencies. Rest of the wheat has been rejected due to high moisture content.

Krishan Lal, a farmer from Baldi village said, “I brought more than 40 quintal of wheat on Saturday, but am still waiting to sell my crop.” He alleged that no agency purchased crop yesterday.

Nasib Singh, another farmer, said there were several farmers whose crop had got wet due to rain in the past few days and it was declared unfit for purchase for now.

“If this kind of weather conditions continue it will ruin our crops,” he added.

Kurukshetra, April 14
Heavy arrivals in the mandi, coupled with the slow pace of lifting, may leave insufficient space for keeping fresh wheat arrivals within a couple of days.

As expected, wheat arrivals touched the mark of around 1 lakh bags a day today, but due to insufficient space under sheds, a large quantity of wheat was lying in the open.

Due to recent drizzling in the region, moisture content had increased again. It would now take a couple of days for the moisture content to reduce.

Said Surjit Singh, a farmer of Dheerpur, who arrived with his produce at the Thanesar mandi, “Procurement agency officials refused to procure my produce and said the moisture content was on the higher side. They did not tell me how much the moisture was. The recent drizzling is the prime reason behind the increased moisture.”

The farmers who had not harvested the crop suffered as well and now they would have to wait for the crop to dry for harvesting, he added.

Subhash Kumar, a wheat trader, said arrivals were expected to be around 1 lakh bags for the next couple of days and it might gather pace after Wednesday if the weather remained favourable.

Agro Haryana and the DFSC had started lifting, but the pace was quite slow, while Hafed had not started lifting yet, he added.

“Long queues of vehicles carrying wheat and traffic jams will be common by the end of this week. Slow lifting and less availability of 'bardana' (empty wheat bags) have become a problem,” said Vivek, a commission agent.

Said Mukund Lal Sudha, president of the Thanesar Grain Market Association, “We have not run out of storage space yet, but this can be a problem soon. Slow lifting has always been a problem.”

Referring to the less availability of 'bardana', he said, “It is being distributed as per requirement only to avoid misuse. Between eight and 10 trucks of 'bardana'are expected tomorrow.”

He said traders were expecting between 14 and 15 lakh quintals of wheat in the current season in the mandi and around 2 lakh quintals had arrived so far.

Besides the moisture content and low availability of 'bardana', non-functioning of the 'dharam kanta' (weighing scale) was also a problem at the Thanesar mandi.

Standing beside his produce with labourers weighing it on a small weighing scale sack by sack, Gurjeet Singh said, “I would not be standing here this long for my produce to be weighed if the 'dharam kanta' had been working. It is sheer waste of time and resources.”

Market committee officials said the 'dharam kanta' would start functioning soon. They added that employees would be deployed through outsourcing and the tender process was likely to be completed soon.

New Delhi, April 14
Eyes firmly set on the post-May 16 scenario, the BJP has decided to remain aloof from the stand-off between key allies-the Akali Dal and the Haryana Janhit Congress-over the former’s open support to the Indian National Lok Dal.

Responding to HJC president Kuldeep Bishnoi’s letter to NDA chairperson LK Advani, urging him to expel the Akali Dal from the alliance for openly aligning with the INLD, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman termed it as a democratic prerogative of an ally to voice concerns. “Let the party leadership decide how it wants to handle the issue,” she said. Her colleague, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, called the Akali Dal an old trusted ally and said that the BJP could not stop anyone from giving suggestions.

It is quite obvious that despite the open show of embarrassing antagonism between its two allies, the BJP is in no mood to take sides. Party sources say the BJP might need help from the INLD to reach the half way mark in the Lok Sabha and it was just keeping its options open by remaining aloof from the tricky situation. “The HJC is playing to its gallery and so is the Akali Dal and the INLD. So what is wrong with it?” they question.

A senior BJP leader was in fact quite sympathetic towards the Akali support for the HJC’s bête noire- the INLD. He said there were family relations between not just senior leaders of the INLD and the Akali Dal but also their support bases in Haryana and Punjab. “It is quite natural that the families of those who had supported the INLD in Haryana will support the Akali Dal in Punjab and vice-versa. The Akalis also need help from the INLD in the Haryana areas bordering Punjab on April 30,” they said.

Notably, Haryana's 73% turnout is being rated as an anti-Congress government vote with most likely beneficiaries being the BJP and the INLD. The HJC had contested two of the 10 seats in Haryana in an alliance with the BJP. Though the state BJP had termed the Akalis’ open support for the INLD in Haryana as being against the coalition dharma, the saffron party had more or less let the situation prevail despite the fact that it may have proved to be the decisive factor in multi-cornered contests in Haryana.

Chandigarh, April 14
With elections over in Haryana, Congress leaders of the state will now head for the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab to campaign for the party while the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) will send its leaders to Punjab to canvass for Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidates.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda began his two-day tour of Rajasthan today. He would campaign in the Pali Lok Sabha seat and for senior party leader Girija Vyas.

State Congress chief Ashok Tanwar spent the day campaigning for party candidates in Uttar Pradesh and would go to Rajasthan. Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dan Singh had been camping in the Jhunjhunu parliamentary seat in Rajasthan and would canvass in Alwar as well.

Both states not only share their border with Haryana, but have similar culture as well. The dominant caste in Haryana, the Jats, have a significant presence in the two states, because of which Jat leaders are usually in demand there.

In Rajasthan, Haryana’s Ahir leaders have considerable influence along the districts bordering Haryana, given their family links across the inter-state border.

Tanwar said party leaders, including MLAs and former MPs, would be sent to other states shortly. “I will visit Chandigarh after this tour of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to decide how we can help in Punjab, which goes to the polls on April 30. Depending on the requirement, duties will be assigned,” he said.

Meanwhile, the INLD will take a call on leaders who will campaign in Punjab in support of SAD, more out of the strong personal equation between the Chautalas and the Badals.

Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had campaigned for former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal’s great-grandson Dushyant Chautala in Hisar.

Despite being in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Punjab, the Badals had campaigned for Dushyant Chautala even though it meant going against the BJP’s alliance partner in Haryana, the Haryana Janhit Congress headed by Kuldeep Bishnoi.

INLD leaders maintained that a number of families of Haryana had relatives in Punjab and would use their influence in such pockets by sending its leaders. A decision was expected to be taken in a day or two at the state executive meeting, an INLD leader said.

In the BJP, the party’s Jat face and national spokesperson Capt Abhimanyu is already managing the show in western Uttar Pradesh, which has a sizeable Jat population. In fact, even at the peak of campaigning in Haryana, he had stayed on in Uttar Pradesh.

Karnal, April 14
Expressing their displeasure over the hike in fee, members of the Abhibhavak Ekta Sangh and parents of students protested against Dayal Singh Public School management and raised slogans here today.

They staged a dharna on the school premises and pledged to continue their protest till their demands were met. The protesters later staged a dharna at the committee chowk for 20 minutes.

Irate parents alleged that the school management had increased the fee by between 18 and 20 per cent. They pointed out that this year, the school management had hiked the fee under the heads of annual charges, computer classes and smart classes.

Dinesh Narula, president of the Abhibhavak Ekta Sangh, pointed out that it had become the norm for most schools to increase the fee every year, but schools were not serious about offering basic facilities to students. He said parents could not afford to pay such a high fee.

Narula said the members met the school management in this regard today and the management assured them. He added that this time, they would not keep quiet on the issue and would raise the issue at the higher level.

Naveen Aggarwal, member of the Abhibhavak Ekta Sangh, stated that the school had increased the annual fee from Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,600, two-month fee from Rs 2,920 to Rs 3,300, computer fee from Rs 780 to Rs 900 and smart class fee from Rs 780 to Rs 900.

He added that the fee of smart classes up to class I had been increased from Rs 280 to Rs 740. He termed this hike as unjustified.

Defending the decision of the school management to hike the fee, school Principal Neena Rai said, “We are always with the students and parents and support their cause.”

She added that the school had increased the fee, but had increased the facilities being provided to students at the school as well.

She said other schools in the town had increased the fee as well. The school management held a meeting with parents and the issue was being reviewed.

Ambala, April 14
The Abhibhavak Manch, a parents’ association, is mulling legal action against private schools of the district for increasing fee and other charges without seeking mandatory approvals from the state education directorate or the affiliated boards.

Records say over 4,000 students are studying in 225 schools of the district. The schools had recently hiked the monthly fee by 7.5-20 per cent, sending the parents in a tizzy.

Last year also, the schools had raised the fee following which the district education officer had served them notices to withdraw the hike. However, undeterred by the last years’ development, the schools again hiked the fee for the 2014-15 session.

Pankaj Malik, a representative of the Abhibhavak Manch, said the schools need to take prior approval from either the state education directorate or the affiliated boards before increasing the fee. But in Ambala, most of the schools have increased the fee without any permission.

He said the manch had send a letter to the higher authorities along with the copies of the orders passed by the Delhi High Court in which the schools had been asked to refund the hiked fee charged from the parents with a 9 per cent interest.

He said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had recently reproved State Education Secretary Surina Rajan for not providing basic facilities to the Justice (retd) Kiran Anand Lal panel, constituted for the regulation of fees charged by the private schools.

The High Court had constituted the committee headed by Justice (retd) Kiran Anand Lal to see whether the private schools in the state were charging the reasonable monthly fee. But, it has not submitted its report till date. The matter will be heard on May 16.

Sources said the private schools were required to fill the Form-6 giving details of the income and expenditure before seeking a hike in the fee. But most of them have increased the fee without following the procedure, said Malik.

He said while no business activity was allowed on school premises, the schools were selling textbooks and notebooks and uniforms against the norms.

He said the district administration had repeatedly taken note of these irregularities, but these schools had refused to shift their stand and continued to charge higher fee from the parents.

He said a survey conducted by the manch revealed that more than 98 per cent of the parents had opposed the fee hike. He said findings of the survey had been put before the authorities for an appropriate action.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Saket Kumar said the matter had been brought to the notice of the district administration and it had been referred to a three-member committee constituted by the Ambala Commissioner.

He said the administration had already ordered a stay on the fee hike in one of the schools in the district and the matter was under consideration. 

Rohtak, April 14
Local residents and the company managing the Makdauli toll plaza here appear to be on the collision course over the state authorities’ adamant attitude on the toll regime.

The residents and commuters have been opposing the exorbitant toll ever since the toll plaza became operational at Makdauli village on the outskirts of Rohtak town on the Panipat road in January.

However, instead of adopting a sympathetic attitude towards the residents, the authorities concerned recently increased the toll.

As of now, the commuters travelling in light motor vehicles (car/jeep etc) are required to shell out Rs 110 at the Makdauli toll barrier for a single journey and Rs 165 for a return journey within 24 hours. The residents maintain that the move to increase the already exorbitant toll was like adding insult to injury.

Members of the Toll Hatao Sangharsh Samiti assert that the state authorities had assured them of sympathetically considering the matter after the elections, but instead of scaling down the toll, the authorities concerned had increased it.

The toll company managing the Makdauli toll plaza maintains that the toll had been hiked after NHAI approval.

In addition to increasing the toll, the toll authorities have also decided to revoke the monthly pass regime for the residents of nearby areas in its present form.

Apart from the residents’ bodies, various political parties have also decried the hefty toll, but to no avail.

A meeting called by the district administration to sort out the matter could not resolve the issue. Another meeting involving all stakeholders has been convened for Tuesday to break the stalemate.

Yamunanagar, April 14
An unbeaten enthusiasm of first time voters have remained the highlight of election process in the district, which concluded peacefully barring a few incidents.

There was no limit of excitement for Priyanka, Neelam, Swati, Manu and Keshav, when they exercised their votes first time today, much like other young voters of the district.

“Really, it was a proud moment for me when I, first time, pushed the button of electronic voting machine to cast my vote. Interestingly, there was no limit of my excitement, when the official on election duty, put a mark of ink on my finger,” said a young voter Neelam.

Other young voters, Swati and Keshav said they were impressed and influenced by the campaign run by the local administration to motivate the voters to cast their votes.

In Yamunanagar district, 78.12 per cent people cast their votes. The highest turnout of 80.3 per cent was reported in Jagadhri Assembly constituency followed by Radaur with 80 per cent, Sadhaura 78.7 per cent and Yamunanagar 73.8 per cent.

Sadhaura, Jagadhri and Yamunanagar Assembly constituencies are part of the Ambala Lok Sabha seat while Radaur Assembly constituency falls in the Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency.

Almost all bazaars of the twin city-- Yamunanagar and Jagadhri-- remained closed and there was a curfew like situation as roads and streets wore a deserted look throughout the day.

On some booths, including one each in Buria, Jagadhri, Yamunanagar and in Marwa Kalan, Alahar and Chhota Bans villages, the polling started a little late from the scheduled time as the EVMs had reportedly developed some snag.

Besides, an EVM remained non-functional for some time at Sandhaya village as power supply went off there.

Yamunanagar SP Shashank Anand said the poll process concluded peacefully and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

Karnal, April 14
Despite various offers
given by the district administration and traders of the city, many awareness campaigns launched by the different organisations to woo the voters, but the polling was improved by around 2.9 per cent as compared to the 2009 elections.

Around 71.1 per cent votes were polled and approximately 28.9 per cent voters stayed themselves away from the Lok Sabha elections.

It was expected that the introduction of NOTA (none of the above) would stretch the poll towards higher side, but the data itself is showing that the promotion campaign for the elections did not turn the vision into votes.

As per data provided by the election department, 75.1 per cent polling was recorded in Indri followed by Gharaunda (74.3 per cent), Nilokehri (73.2 per cent), Israna (72.8 per cent), Samalakha (71.2 per cent), Assandh (71 per cent) Panipat Rural (69.3 per cent), Karnal (67.7 per cent) and Panipat Urban (66.4 per cent). As many as 73.31 per cent male and 68.42 per cent females have used their voting right.

Earlier, an average of 69.25 per cent voters used their voting rights as compared to 68 per cent in the state.

In the 1967 parliamentary elections, the polling percentage was 76.51 per cent and in 1971 it went down to 64.95 per cent. In 1977, the voting percentage in the parliamentary elections was increased to 76.01 per cent and three years later in 1980 it was reduced to 65.88 per cent.

Similarly, in 1984, the voting percentage was 69.23 per cent, in 1989 the voting turnout was 64.04 per cent and in 1991 it was 68.11 per cent.

In the 1996 parliamentary elections, the voting percentage was increased to 72.22 per cent, but in 1998, the voting percentage again went down to 70.85, in 1999 the voting turnout was 68.16 per cent. In 2004 and 2009 the voting percentage was 66.95 and 68.20 per cent respectively.  Meanwhile, four villages of the constituency had set an example. An average of 90.5 per cent voters came out to cast their votes in the four villages. As per records, Bharatpur in Gharaunda assembly segment recorded the highest polling of 91.6 per cent, followed by Risalwa in Assandh assembly segment 90.8 per cent, Bir Raitkhana of Indri segment 90.7 per cent and Gangar in Indri segment recorded 90.57 per cent of the voting.

Gurgaon, April 14
Curfew continued in Punhana village for the third day as the 'sulah' panchayat between the two warring groups was cancelled today.

The panchayat was scheduled to bring the two warring communities together, but it was cancelled as the communities said they were still not ready for coming to the table.

State Bharatiya Janata Party president Ram Bilas Sharma and Gurgaon candidate and sitting Lok Sabha member Rao Inderjit Singh visited Punhana today.

Rao Inderjit Singh held the administration responsible and demanded that the Mewat Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police should be transferred for 'negligence' in the case.

"Lack of management and inefficiency of the police led to this. We want the murderer to be punished, but innocent persons should not be rounded up," he said.

Tension gripped the village on the day of polling when workers of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) clashed with each other.

The tension escalated in the Meo-dominated region after a 22-year-old youth, Wajid, was found dead with bullet injuries on Friday night.

Six police complaints, three each from the rival communities, had been lodged at the Punhana police station.

The police said the death of Wajid was due to personal rivalry since it was reported the day after clashes between the two communities supporting the INLD and the BJP.

Two companies of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police had been deployed in the area while the Army had been placed on standby.

Sonepat, April 14
As many as 181 students of Government PG College, Gohana, were conferred degrees by Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the DCR University of Science and Technology, Murthal, Prof RP Dahiya at the annual convocation and prize distribution function of the college last evening.

The VC also distributed prizes among 193 students of the college for their outstanding performances in various fields during the year.

Addressing the students, the VC said “If you want to achieve your target, you have to keep your ears and eyes open. Instead of spending time, you should utilise it.” The convocation was not the destination but a mid-way stop to proceed further, he added.

“The new generation has to understand the difference between “abhimaan” (pride) and “swabhimaan” (self-respect) because pride results in degradation whereas self-respect gives confidence and takes one to greater heights,” he remarked.

While listing the achievements of the college, principal O D Sharma claimed that the college was among the top 10 government colleges in the state.

Gurgaon, April 14
At least eight people, including a woman and a child, were injured when a cooking gas cylinder burst in their rented room, on Monday, police sources said.

A 26-year-old man, identified as Uday Mahto, his wife Reena and two-year-old daughter were critically injured when the leaking gas cylinder in their room caught fire and burst.

"The incident happened late Sunday night in the Heera Nagar area. They were referred to the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi," said a senior doctor at the Civil Hospital here.

At least five to six neighbours of the Mahtos were also hurt in the incident.

All the injured hail from different parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and were living in rented rooms. — IANS

Jhajjar, April 14
Three murders in four days in this district have put the Jhajjar police in the dock.

Anil of Basant Bihar Colony here was murdered last evening allegedly by his cousins at Mela Ground in Bahadurgarh town. The police have booked Surender and his two brothers in a case of murder in this regard.

The police said Surender entered into a verbal duel with Anil over some issue. Meanwhile, two brothers of Surender also came there. As the altercation turned violent, the trio allegedly attacked Anil with a sharp-edged weapon. Anil was taken to a nearby hospital but he succumbed to his injuries there after some time.

In another incident, Bittu was first murdered and then the body was dumped into a well at a bypass near Bhapdoda village. The crime came to light when some villagers spotted the body floating in the well yesterday. The police rushed to the spot and took out the body which bore multiple injury marks.

Mukesh Kumar(35) of Teachers Colony was stoned to death by killers at a park in Bahadurgarh town. Mukesh’s body was spotted in the park next day by morning walkers. He was an employee of a courier company in Bahadurgarh. The police arrested Mukesh’s friend, Vikram Singh, on the murder charge within 12 hours. 

Faridabad, April 14
Four youths allegedly gang-raped a teenager in Tigaon village in the district on the night of April 4. The victim's family lodged a complaint at the local police station on the morning of April 11.

They reported that the four youths, Sahil, Sachin, Rohit and Gaurav, residents of the same locality, surrounded the 17-year-old girl when she came out of the house to answer nature's call.

They reported that the youths dragged her to a bathroom, where they put a cloth in her mouth and raped her till she fell unconscious.

They added that the youths threatened the girl of dire consequences if she reported the incident to anyone. The accused, whom the girl reportedly knew, managed to flee the spot after committing the crime.

The victim was in shock and could not reveal the incident initially. She was given medical treatment after she informed her family later about the incident.

The police registered a case in this regard, but no arrest had been made so far. The medical examination of the victim confirmed that she had been raped, said a police official.

Faridabad, April 14
With polling and the last date of property tax payment already over, the authorities have restarted the exercise of recovery of pending amount by issuing notices to defaulters.

Against a total target of around Rs 100 crore as property tax, the officials concerned are still to recover an amount of around Rs 40 crore.

The state government had announced its decision to impose and collect the tax under the new policy launched on October 11.

While the municipal corporation had collected an amount of Rs 60 crore by March 31 this year, the officials had to suspend the move in view of the election process that was announced last month, said an official.

He said though the state government had extended the last date several times, a large number of defaulters failed to deposit the amount even five months after the process was taken up.

He said notices were being issued to thousands of defaulters that were on the radar of the municipal corporation and claimed that strict action would be taken if the defaulters failed to pay within the time limit.

It had been learnt that while around 25,000 house owners had already paid the tax, about 55 per cent of the owners were still to pay the tax.

The authorities concerned had initially announced a rebate of 10 per cent on payment of the defaulting amount for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 in one go by November 26 last.

The last date was extended and the rebate continued till March this year, it was claimed. The notification on property tax for the current financial year was issued on November 10 last.

Cremation sites. religious places and property owned by ex-servicemen were announced to be exempted. The rate of tax on property was Re 1 per square yard on a plot area measuring up to 300 square yards.

The rate of tax was Rs 4 per square yard on property having an area of between 301 and 500 square yards, Rs 6 per square yard on property sized from 501 to 1,000 square yards and Rs 7 on land size between 1,001 square yards and two acres.

While the municipal corporation covered three zones of the NIT, Old Faridabad and Ballabgarh, around 20,000 property owners were required to pay tax in the Ballabgarh zone alone, said an official. He added that the recovery of property tax would prove a shot in the arm for the fund-starved municipal corporation.

Sonepat, April 14
Many political and social organisations, including Haryana Balmiki Mahasabha, Ambedkar Education Society, today paid tributes to Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar on his 123rd birth anniversary.

BJP state vice-president Rajiv Jain paid floral tributes at Ambedkar’s statue near the local bus stand. He said Ambedkar gave the message to society that the people must understand the value of education for their children’s socio-economic development.

At a programme held at the Ambedkar park , DCC (urban) president Pradeep Gautam said Ambedkar opposed discrimination on the basis of caste or religion. “We have to imbibe the teachings of Baba Sahib in our lives for the progress of the society,” he said.

Congress leader Satbir Nirman said Baba Sahib was the messiah of the downtrodden and paved the way for the progress of the neglected sections of the society. “Baba Sahib’s teachings will continue to inspire the weaker sections to stand on their feet and move forward,” he said.

Ambala, April 14
The district health authorities have served a notice on a private hospital located in Model Town in Ambala City to produce the record of all cornea transplants done there.

The district health authorities had checked the record of the hospital in a raid recently.

Being run by a former Civil Surgeon, the hospital is known to conduct cornea transplants on patients not only from Ambala and nearby areas but also other states.

Dr OP Arya, director of the hospital, said the hospital maintained all the records that were submitted to the district Health Department every three months. He claimed that corneas transplanted at the hospital were received from the government-approved eye banks and the hospital followed all the norms in doing so.

The district health authorities had sought clarifications from the hospital on certain points, which would be furnished soon, Dr Arya said. — TNS

Kosli (Rewari), April 14
Accusing the Rewari police of not arresting the accused of the Mahavir murder case due to political pressure, residents of Kosli village have served a two-day ultimatum on them. They threatened that they would file an ‘istgasa’ (complaint) against the police before the Punjab and Haryana High Court if accused are not arrested by April 16.

They have decided to serve legal notices on Inspector General of Police (IGP), Rewari Superintendent of Police (SP) and Station House Officer (SHO) of the Kosli police station.

These decisions were taken at a panchayat presided over by Vijay Singh Kaushal, chief of the Kosli Naam Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, here today.

“The police had deliberately been not taking action against the accused due to political pressure. This irresponsible act of the police had left the villagers infuriated, who would now take action against them and the state authorities to ensure the arrest of the accused,” said the panchayat.

“The police are virtually providing shelter to the accused by not arresting them even after a month of the incident, but we will not tolerate this unfair approach of the Rewari police,” said some of the villagers at the panchayat.

Thereafter, the panchayat unanimously decided to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the police, if it failed to arrest the accused in the next two days.

Mahavir (62) was killed and 12 others were injured when residents of Bhakli village allegedly attacked Kosli villagers, who were taking out a march in protest against mentioning Bhakli village on the inauguration stone of a railway overbridge and a kisan rest house on March 5. The police had registered a case against 17 persons of Bhakli village, but so far no arrest has been made.

“We have dispatched legal notices to the IGP, the Rewari SP and the Kosli SHO following the panchayat’s decision wherein the officers have been urged to arrest the accused in the next two days or face legal action,” said Devender Yadav, sarpanch of Kosli town.

Vijay Azad, vice-president of the Kosli Naam Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, said the villagers were up in arm against the police as they wanted justice.

“The careless approach of the police had made the Kosli panchayat to move the High Court against them, he said.

SONEPAT, APRIL 14
The police have identified the headless body found lying near the cremation ground at Chirasmi village under Gannaur police station on April 12 as that of Jagbir of Bhatgaon village in the district.

Police investigations revealed that the deceased allegedly had illicit relations with Pooja, wife of his brother, Ram Diya, a class IV employee in Government Senior Secondary School, Mahoti, in Panipat district. Ram Diya and Pooja had staying in a rented accommodation at Mahoti village for the past some time.

Yamunanagar, April 14
Saru Kaushik has become the first woman to be appointed as an Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ) from Yamunanagar district.

Saru, who had been selected as ADJ by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, in February this year, was appointed for Punjab. On April 12, the High Court asked her to furnish her particulars, so that the proceedings regarding her posting could be initiated.

Saru has degrees in M Sc, LLB and LLM. She has been a leading advocate at the District Bar Association, Jagadhri, and has also worked for many panels of government.

The High Court had invited applications for appointment to Superior Judicial Services by way of direct recruitment through competitive examination in 2013.

Dhoom Singh Kamboj, president, District Bar Association, Jagadhri, congratulated Saru for her appointment as an ADJ.

"She is the first lady registered as a member with the District Bar Association, Jagadhri, who has been appointed as ADJ from Yamunanagar. She has made our district proud," he said