Jhajjar, May 20
It is Haryana Police’s shame: A 16-year-old girl charged two policemen on the PCR duty with sexually exploiting her when she sought help after getting herself freed from the clutches of her abductors.

The police have arrested two policemen after registering a case against them under Section 376 (rape) and 356 (outraging the modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in this regard.

The incident came to light when kin of the girl approached the Kulana police post and accused two policemen deputed at the PCR of sexually assaulting their daughter. Taking a swift action, the police took her to the Civil Hospital in Jhajjar for a medical examination, said sources.

The victim’s kin told the mediapersons that she had gone to her uncle’s house in the village to answer the nature’s call when some co-villagers abducted her in a car on the Sunday night. She somehow managed to escape from the clutches of kidnappers next day,” they added.

“She was sexually assaulted by the two policemen posted at the PCR in Jhajjar, when she sought their help for protecting her from the abductors while returning to the village,” alleged the victim’s kin, adding that on reaching the village, she narrated the whole story. Thereafter, they approached the police.

While confirming the arrest of the accused policemen, Jhajjar SP Balwan Singh told The Tribune that “During the investigation, two policemen have been found guilty of sexually exploiting the girl hence we have added their names in the kidnapping case that was lodged by the victim’s kin against four-five youths of the same village yesterday.”

The SP said the accused policemen took the girl in a private vehicle on pretext of dropping her at the village and then sexually exploited her. Investigations were still on and no one found guilty into the probe would be spared, he added.

Rohtak, May 20
The Rohtak range police got an abducted school student freed from Uttar Pradesh this morning. The student, Parichay, is the son of a Kalanaur-based landowner Adarsh Malhotra and had been kidnapped for a ransom of Rs 2 crore.

The police have arrested eight persons in this connection and seized two country-made pistols and two cars from their possession. The kidnappers have confessed that they had been travelling to different locations with the boy and used to give him sedative injections to keep him calm.

Shriniwas Vashisth, Haryana DGP, congratulated the police team led by Anil Kumar Rao, Rohtak range IGP. Promotion of all members of the investigating team has also been recommended.

Parichay, a student of Class XI at Indus Public School, Rohtak, left his home for school by car on May 15. However, his parents got worried as the boy did not return till late in the evening. The car was later found abandoned.

Meanwhile, the kidnappers allegedly demanded Rs 2 crore ransom from the Malhotra family for the boy’s release. The call was made from Parichay’s mobile phone.

His parents informed the police, following which IGP Rao formed a special team, comprising DSPs Anil Yadav, Yashpal Khatana, Ajit Singh, Sonepat DSP, and Lalit Kumar, Jhajjar crime-investigation branch in-charge.

While Rao personally supervised the matter, Vivek Sharma, DIG Crime, Gurgaon, was also put in the loop along with his cyber team.

Success was achieved when a police team stopped two cars in Paldi area of Sonepat district this morning and rounded up the occupants.

Upon interrogation, the youths admitted that they had kidnapped Parichay for ransom. On being apprised of the matter, Rao himself rushed to the spot. A raiding party was then dispatched to Gadhipur village in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, which got the student freed.

The arrested persons include Rohit, Sandeep and Ajay of Gadhipur, Sandeep of Dabauda, Ajay of Bhagibirod, Rajiv of Karnawal, Ajay alias Annu of Uttar Pradesh and Sanjeev of Bihar.

Interrogation of the arrested youths is on and they will be produced before a court tomorrow.

Sirsa/ Jind, May 20
Fresh from victories on Sirsa and Hisar parliamentary seats, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has decided to launch its campaign for the Assembly poll due in October in the right earnest by holding rallies in all the 21 districts from May 23 to felicitate its newly elected MPs.

Abhay Singh Chautala, Ellenabad MLA, Ashok Arora, state party president, and all MLAs would remain present in functions to felicitate Dushyant Singh Chautala from Hisar and Charanjit Singh Rori from Sirsa.

Besides, the party would also felicitate its two Rajya Sabha members, Ram Kumar Kashyap and Ranbir Prajapati, during these functions.

The party will hold the ceremonies at Sonepat, Panipat and Karnal on May 23, Ambala, Yamunanagar and Panchkula on May 24, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Jind on May 25, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Bhiwani on May 26, Mahendergarh, Gurgaon and Rewari on May 27, Mewat, Palwal and Faridabad on May 28 and Rohtak, Jhajjar and Hisar on May 29.

“Our party cadre is enthused by the results of the parliamentary poll. In May 2009 elections, the INLD could not win a single seat, while its candidates had led on seven seats, and yet we won 32 seats on our own in the Assembly poll that followed in October that year. This time, we have won two seats, remained on number one position on 16 Assembly segments, remained ahead of HJC - BJP candidates on 21 seats and ahead of Congress candidates on 36 seats,” said Ashok Arora.

He said state presidents of two political parties, Ashok Tanwar (Congress) and Kuldeep Bishnoi (HJC) had been defeated by INLD candidates, which had motivated the party workers further.

“It is for the first time in the past 33 years that the INLD has won a seat without any alliance and is ahead of the Congress in vote share. Our share has increased from 15.7 per cent in 2009 to 24.4 per cent this time,” the INLD state president said.

Meanwhile, the party held a roadshow in Jind today. “We will contest all 90 seats. We had announced that we would give unconditional support to Narendra Modi and fulfilled our promise,” Dushyant Chautala said after the roadshow.

Party leaders of the district were present during the roadshow. “I request all party workers to start preparations for the elections from today. I request all senior leaders to work hard, like they have done during the General Election,” he said. He said he would work hard for bringing residential projects for the poor and leave no stone unturned for the welfare of poor farmers in Hisar.

“Only Rohtak got development projects in the last 10 years. INLD MPs will raise the issue of neglected areas. We will do our best to ensure development of the entire state,” he said.

Dushyant ruled out any efforts by INLD leaders to form an alliance with the BJP.

He advised BJP leaders to keep in mind that Assembly and parliamentary elections were separate things. He claimed that the BJP did not have a leader who could lead it in the Assembly elections. He said the BJP had won the General Election due to Modi wave.

New Delhi, May 20
Following poor performance of the Congress in Haryana in the Lok Sabha elections, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar and AICC general secretary and in charge of the state affairs Shakeel Ahmed discussed ways to rejuvenate the party ahead of the coming Assembly elections.

Ahmed said: “Minute details of the poor performance will be discussed later at a separate forum.” Ahmed said the party had performed below par across the country in the Lok Sabha elections, however, it would do well in the Assembly elections, including in Haryana.

“Preparations regarding Assembly elections in Haryana were discussed in the meeting. It was decided to remove the shortcomings which contributed to the abysmal performance in the Lok Sabha elections,” he said.

Ahmed directed the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) to prepare for public and workers’ meetings from next month as part of the preparations for the Assembly elections.

New Delhi, May 20
Following his defeat to INLD candidate Dushyant Chautala in the crucial Hisar Lok Sabha constituency, HJC president Kuldeep Bishnoi today trashed apprehensions of a rift with his alliance partner, the BJP.

To send the message that all was well between the two allies, Bishnoi attended the ceremony today that marked the election of Narendra Modi as the BJP parliamentary party chief in the Central Hall of Parliament. He was, however, not among the alliance leaders who were called to the dais to speak and repose faith in Modi's leadership.

Visibly dejected by his electoral loss, Bishnoi put up a brave face inside the Parliament’s Central Hall and later outside the complex where he clearly said that the BJP-HJC alliance was intact and congratulated Modi on the historic mandate of 335 seats out of 543 in the Lok Sabha for the BJP-led NDA.

Bishnoi laid the blame of trying to rock the BJP-HJC alliance on the door of the INLD.

Ironically, present also in the Central Hall today was Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal, who had campaigned in favour of Dushyant Chautala in Hisar.

Asked if there was a rethink on the HJC tie-up with the BJP and the fact that it was an ally of the NDA, Bishnoi said: “There will be no change in our pact. All senior BJP leaders support us. The INLD is trying to create a rift between us. It had tried the same during my Lok Sabha election in Hisar. But in politics, we have to take defeat in our stride and move on. We are still together.”

The speculation was further fuelled by BJP’s Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit’s recent comments that the BJP should go it alone in Haryana, where the Assembly elections are due later this year.

Reacting to Rao Inderjit’s comments, Bishnoi said: “What Rao Inderjit said was very unfortunate.”

Sirsa, May 20
The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) state executive will meet in Sonepat on Thursday to review results of the parliamentary elections and to prepare strategy for the Assembly polls in Haryana, due in October this year.

Prahlad Singh Bharukhera, a state executive member of the AAP, said Ashawant Gupta, state convener of the party, would preside over the meeting.

The parliamentary election results in Haryana, the home state of Arvind Kejriwal, have not been encouraging for the AAP.

While the AAP has been able to win four seats in Punjab, none of its candidate has come on the top three positions in the state. This despite the fact that the leadership considered Haryana a fertile ground for the AAP due to allegations of shady land deals, prosecution of some ruling party politicians and conviction of top leaders of the main opposition party of the state in teachers recruitment scam.

“The party believes that parliamentary results in Haryana, though not as per our expectation, were not bad either. We have not performed up to our expectations where we had high hopes. At the same time, the party achieved better than expected results on some other seats,” said Bharukhera.

AAP candidates came on the fourth position on five seats in Sirsa, Sonepat, Rohtak, Gurgaon and Faridabad thus pushing the BSP to the fifth position. In Ambala, Kurukshetra, Hisar, Karnal, Bhiwani and Mahindergarh, BSP candidates pushed AAP contestants to the fifth position.

Hisar, May 20
The ruling Congress has shown worst performance in the Hisar parliamentary seat in the General Election, where the party nominee forfeited his deposit despite having seven of the nine Assembly segments been represented by the party.

Party candidate Sampat Singh, MLA from the Nalwa Assembly segment got 1,02,509 votes, which is meagre 8.8 per cent of the total 11,55,914 votes polled.

The party MLAs represented six of the nine Assembly segments, including Nalwa, Hisar, Hansi, Barwala, Uklana and Bawani Khera.

The Congress faced the biggest defeat in the Hisar Assembly segment which was represented by Savitri Jindal. She got mere 5,035 votes out of over 10,000 votes polled in the city. The party got 7,488 votes in the 2011 byelection. In Adampur, he got 9,289 votes while only 9,352 voters supported him in Barwala.

He found only 11,697 takers in the Nalwa Assembly segment. In the Uchana Kalan, Uklana, Narnaund, Hansi and Bawani Khera segments, he secured 13,070, 13,002, 13,351, 12,093 and 15,602 votes, respectively.

The Congress nominees in the other areas have performed better than those in Hisar.

Along with the anti-Congress sentiments, the poor performance is reflective of the factionalism in the party in Hisar as different factions had reportedly worked against the party nominee in the elections. Party sources indicated that concerned over the dismal show, which is much below the expectations even though a win was least expected, the party is looking to strengthen the district unit in the next few days.

Rohtak, May 20
Congress MLA from Rohtak Bharat Bhushan Batra is under fire from various quarters. After being in the dock for the slim margin achieved by incumbent party MP Deepender Singh Hooda from Rohtak Assembly segment in the recent Lok Sabha poll, Batra is now being targeted by the local BJP leadership.

Local BJP leader Manish Grover, who is also the general secretary of the party’s state unit, stated here today that BJP workers would stage a dharna in front of the local MLA’s residence if the law and order situation in the town does not improve within a week. “While the local police administration has failed to check the increasing incidence of crimes like chain-snatching, loot, theft, kidnapping, rape and murder, the people’s representatives owing allegiance to the ruling party are also apathetic towards the resident’s plight,” maintained the saffron party leader.

Grover, who is a frontrunner for the BJP ticket from the Rohtak Assembly constituency in the upcoming elections, said either Batra should resign from his post or he should be sacked by the government in view of the prevailing situation.

He alleged that instead of providing relief to the aggrieved residents, certain leaders of the ruling party were shielding criminal elements engaged in nefarious activities.

“Thanks to the callous and indifferent attitude of the government functionaries, Rohtak, which happens to be the hometown of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has become a safe haven for miscreants, who are indulging in all sorts of crimes with impunity,” alleged Grover.

He lamented that the police patrolling had become a headache for the common masses to which traffic policemen appeared as extortionists in the garb of khaki uniform.

The BJP leader held the local MLA responsible for the rising crime graph, adding that he had been unable to exercise control over the local police administration and ensure peace and order in the town.

Chandigarh, May 20
The state government has decided to established a centre of excellence through art and design (CEAD) in Government Senior Secondary School Nathupur, Gurgaon.

This was stated at the 38th meeting of the Executive Committee of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary SC Chaudhary here today.

Surina Rajan, Principal Secretary for, Education, said the CEAD would work as resource centre for all cultural centres. Under the campaign the state government would spent Rs 60 lakh during the financial 2014-15 for implementation of art education in four districts--Ambala, Fatehabad, Sirsa and Mewat. She said uniforms had been provided to all girls, SC and BPL boys under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. A sum of Rs 6213.77 lakh had been spent for distribution of uniforms.

She said one-day workshops on awareness for parents had been conducted in 150 government schools in Mewat .Yoga classes and self-defence training had been given to girl students in 726 schools in all blocks during the year 2013-14 at a cost of Rs 91.63 lakh .

She said a budgetary provision of Rs 168.34 lakh was made for early childhood care and education in 172 Bachpanshalas for the year 2012-13. A sum of Rs 122.4 lakh had been provided for swings in the aganwaris.

Chandigarh, May 20
Sudhir Rajpal, Excise and Taxation Commissioner, today said taxation officers should be deployed as ‘spotters’ at toll plazas and toll collection points (TCPs) at the entrance of Haryana to prevent the evasion of tax by buses.

Presiding over a meeting to review the passenger tax collection in the state at New Delhi today, Rajpal said these spotters would record the number of buses not paying passenger tax at the TCPs and inform the checking team of neighbouring district on the route.

Rajpal said systematic barricades should be laid on the highways to apprehend buses that try to avoid CCTV cameras installed at TCP, Kundli, in Sonepat district . He said the data of commercial vehicles registered in the office of the District Transport Officer should be reconciled with the record of the office.

Rajpal directed all District Excise and Taxation Commissioners to coordinate with the respective District Taxation Officers regarding obtaining no-objection certificates in respect of dues under the Passengers and Goods Taxation Act at the time of passing for effective recovery of arrears. He also ordered the preparation of a software for making online ledger of vehicles.

Chandigarh, May 20
The Haryana Secondary Education Department has invited nominations for the National Teacher's Award for 2013 by May 31.

An official spokesman said here today that those teaching up to class VIII would be eligible in the category of primary school teachers and those teaching classes IX to XII would be considered in the category of secondary school teachers.

The spokesman said classroom teachers with at least 15 years of regular teaching experience and Headmasters or Principals with 20 years of regular teaching experience were eligible for the National Award. However, for teachers promoting integrated inclusive education, the regular teaching experience would be reduced from 15 years to 10 years of regular service and in the case of Headmasters or Principals from 20 years to 15 years.

He said only those teachers having the requisite teaching experience on December 31 of the preceding year of the award would be eligible to be considered for the award.

Sirsa, May 20
Government teachers are up-in-arms against the Education Department’s decision to make them appear in a test on May 29 and 30. Various teachers associations have threatened to launch an agitation if the Haryana government did not abandon its move.

As per a communication from the Director, State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT), Gurgaon, all primary teachers (PRTs) and trained graduate teachers (TGTs) will have to appear in a training needs assessment (TNA) survey in centres set up at the block level on May 29, while post graduate teachers (PGTs) will participate in the TNA survey on May 30.

Earlier, the date for PRTs and TGTs was fixed for May 26, but through a letter issued by the SCERT on May 15, the date was extended to May 29.

The task of holding the TNA survey has been assigned to the Board of School Education, Haryana HBSE), Bhiwani.

A meeting of Haryana Rajkiye Adhyapak Sangh was held at Ratia today. Wazir Singh, state president of the Sangh presided over the meeting.

Terming the department’s announcement as unreasonable, the Sangh has demanded the process be abandoned without any delay. It has threatened to launch an agitation if the state government did not take back its decision.

Gurdeep Singh Saini, a spokesperson of the Haryana Rajkiye Adhyapak Sangh, said the department wanted to humiliate its teachers, who had been teaching for several years.

He said the Sangh would not allow this to happen and would ask teachers to boycott the test.

J Ganesan, secretary of the HBSE, however, said the TNA survey was neither a test and nor its outcome would have any impact on the career, promotion or any other aspect of the teachers.

Ambala, May 20
The engineers of the Haryana Power utilities have decided to launch an agitation next month over the authorities’ decision to appoint outsiders as directors in all four power utilities. They have also strongly opposed the new promotion policy for senior engineers.

The Haryana Power Engineers’ Association today wrote to the Haryana chief minister and sought his intervention in the matter, as the power utilities managements were not serious in redressing the demands of engineers.

KD Bansal, president of association, said the power utilities management had been downgrading engineers for many years on issues such as proper pay scales to assistant engineers, restructuring of discoms as per work load norms and now the new promotion policy.

He said the posting of outsiders as directors would block the promotion of senior chief engineers.

Bansal alleged that the induction of outsiders as directors in the discoms and introduction of the new promotion policy for filling up of the senior-level posts was a ploy to adjust ‘favourites’ in top posts. These policy changes were against the spirit of the Haryana Power Reforms Act, which stipulates that service conditions would not be changed to less favourable conditions after unbundling of the HSEB.

The power utilities, which had withheld the new promotion policy after the protest by engineers, have again introduced the policy with minor changes in the HVPN. He said the unwarranted changes in the policy would increase nepotism, favouritism and corruption. It would also be demoralising for the power utility officials. The proposed promotion policy and selection of outsiders as directors would prove counter-productive and it should be immediately withdrawn, he said.

After holding a number of regional meetings, the Haryana Power Engineers’ Association had decided to start a protest against the retrogressive policies of the utilities from next month, added Bansal.

The policy As per the new promotion policy, the Haryana Power utilities will appoint outsiders as directors The protesting workers allege that the power utilities had been downgrading engineers for many years on issues such as proper pay scales to assistant engineers, restructuring of discoms as per work load norms and now the new promotion policy They say filling up of senior-level posts is a ploy to adjust ‘favourites’ in top posts

Chandigarh, May 20
The Haryana Finance Department has removed the disparity between the contribution made by the state public enterprises to the provident/retirement fund of employees appointed before or after January 1, 2006.

An official spokesman said the state government had decided that in the case of employees covered under the EPF Act whose actual salary is up to the prescribed limit ( Rs 6,500), the state public enterprises should contribute to the EPF as the employer's share at the specified rate (12% at present) of the actual salary (basic pay+GP+DA).

In the case of other employees, the state public enterprises should contribute to the EPF as the employer's share an amount equal to the contribution made by the employee to the EPF subject to a minimum of Rs 780 per month, and maximum of 10 per cent of the actual salary (basic pay+GP+DA) of the employee, he added.

Jind, May 20
Former Congress minister Venod Sharma opened the office of his new party, Lok Sewa Panchayat, in Jind city today. He announced that he would fight for all those who had not got justice from the Congress and other governments. "I would keep fighting for all categories which have been ignored by all parties. The government has ignored many deliberately and they will have to support me if they want justice," Sharma said after the inauguration of the office.

He also alleged that some leaders had conspired against him and as a result he had to resign from the cabinet without any fault of his.

Sirsa, May 20
Unseasonal rain that lashed the area intermittently last week has delayed the sowing of cotton in Sirsa district, the biggest producer of the crop in Haryana.

Weather advisory issued by the Agriculture Meteorological Department of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University has again predicted possibility of thundershowers and light rain on May 23 and 24.

“I have sown cotton twice on my fields during the past one week. But every time, rain played spoilsport. Now, I have to sow it again,” said Satnam, a farmer who had come to Sirsa grain market for purchasing seeds.

Farmers said they had to spend Rs 5,000 to 7,000 per acre on sowing every time, but the rain ruined all their efforts as well as their hard earned money.

“Out of the total target of covering 6 lakh hectares of land under cotton in the state, the Agriculture Department has set a target of sowing the crop on 2.08 lakh hectares in Sirsa this year, “said Wazir Singh, Deputy Director (Agriculture).

He said though nearly 70 per cent of the target had been achieved, nearly 10 per cent farmers had to sow their crop twice due to unwanted rain.

“Rain results in crest formation on the surface of the soil making it difficult for the sprouts to come out. Some farmers are wise enough to break the crest by running tractor, but others who fail to do so have to sow their crop again,” said Wazir Singh.

While the untimely rain was playing spoilsport, agriculture experts said the resultant lowering of temperature was helpful for the crop, as it saves sprouts from being burnt due to excessive heat.

Gurgaon, May 20
At least four persons were killed and one injured seriously when an ATM van fell into the Gurgaon canal near Shah Chokha village in Punhana of Mewat this afternoon. The private van, carrying cash for IDBI Bank ATMs, fell into the canal around 1 pm. The amount of Rs 10 lakh which was being carried in the van was yet to be traced.

Residents of nearby villages pulled out the victims, four of whom were dead. The fifth victim was rushed to Al Afia Hospital in Mandi Khera. A doctor referred him to the medical college in Nalhar, where he was critical.

A police team led by Mewat SP Anil Dhawan reached the spot. The police called a crane to pull out the van and launched a search for the money.

"Two of the victims were identified as Ramniwas and Virender of Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh, who were security guards," said Allahbaksh, Punhana SHO.

Rewari, May 20
The agitation carried out by residents of Khaliavaas village in the district against a beer factory bore fruit after 10 days when the district authorities sealed the factory last evening.

A team of the district authorities, along with officials of the Haryana Pollution Control Board (HPCB), reached the village and officially sealed those machines of the factory which were found spreading pollution. Before executing the action, the Rewari Deputy Commission (DC) held a meeting of the officials and discussed the issue.

A panchayat of 11 nearby villages held outside the factory on May 14 had served a five-day ultimatum on the state authorities to seal the factory. The panchayat had also threatened to convene a mahapanchayat of 51 villages if the factory was not shut down by May 18.

The villagers alleged the factory was discharging effluents into the ground through a borewell dug on the factory premises, which later mixed with the potable water supplied by the Public Health Department in the village.

Over 200 villagers had fallen ill in two weeks after drinking the polluted water.

Taking a serious note of the outbreak of water-borne diseases in the village, the district authorities had constituted a special team to probe into the allegations levelled by the villagers against Bar Malt India Private Limited.

“The factory has been sealed after samples of air smoke failed the laboratory test. A report on the water samples is yet to come,” said an official of the HPCB.

Sonepat, May 20
Residents of several of villages led by Zila Parishad member Sanjay Badwasnia today started an indefinite dharna in front of the office of the Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO) in support of their demands.

The demands include possession of 100 sq yards allotted plots, release of the second instalment for construction of houses under the Indira Priyadarshni Awas Yojna and reissuing of the BPL cards to those eligible families whose cards were cancelled during the survey.

Badwasnia alleged that the possession of around 60 per cent of the allotted plots had not been given to the beneficiaries.

He said helpless widows, disabled and poor families had been victimised in the survey of the BPL families.

Construction work of the houses being constructed under the Indira Awas Yojna had come to standstill for want of release of the second instalment of the grant, he added.

He threatened to start fast if their demands were not accepted.

Karnal, May 20
The police have announced cash prize and appreciation certificates for providing information about 17 parole jumpers. SP Abhishek Garg has announced awards of Rs 10,000 and appreciation certificate for information regarding 11 parole jumpers and Rs 5,000 and appreciation certificate for information about six parole jumpers.

The cash prize of Rs 10,000 and appreciation certificate are for information on Som Nath of Singhpura, Panipat, Diwan Chand of Budakehra, Karnal, Krishan of Barsat village, Karnal, Krishan and Janardhan of Khanpur Kala, Jhinjhana, UP, Kalicharan of Ahmedgarh, UP, Sanjeev Kumar of Lalupura, Karnal, Arshad of Kerana, UP, Babu Ali of Muzaffarnagar, UP, and Sunil of Narukehri, Karnal.

Cash prize of Rs 5,000 and certificates are for Joga Singh of Nissing, Devanand of Rajpura, Punjab, Ramesh Kumar of Pawo, Kullu, Taru Ram of Bhunter, Kullu, Dinanath of Chamba, HP, and Sahab Singh of Rmana Rmani, Karnal.

Sonepat, May 20
Sat Narain, field man in the office of the Assistant Plant Protection Officer at Rai in Sonepat has been struggling for promotion for many years despite the fact that a number of employees junior to him in the seniority list have already been promoted to agriculture inspector.

His wife Nirmala Devi lodged a complaint with the Director General of the department on September 10 last that Surender Yadav, an assistant in the head office, had demanded Rs 30,000 as bribe for promoting her husband.

When she sought information under the RTI Act about action taken on her complaint, the department replied on November 7 that an inquiry officer had been deputed, but he had not submitted his report.

Sat Narain, serving in the department since April 30, 1981, had been placed 95th in the seniority list.

The department last promoted Sanjay Kumar Yadav, who had been enrolled on October 31, 1995, and placed 129th in the same seniority list.

Sat Narain pointed out that when he sought information under the RTI Act on Yadav’s appointment as field man, there were contradictions between reports submitted by the offices of the Deputy Director for Agriculture in Faridabad and Jhajjar.

Yamunanagar, May 20
Three persons were killed in separate incidents in the district today.

Aslam( 20) of Salempur village in Saharanpur district came under a tractor-trailer near Hathnikund barrage. He was rushed to the local Trauma Centre, which referred him to the PGI, Chandigarh, but he succumbed to his injuries on the way.

The police said Aslam and Salman were bringing poplar wood in a tractor-trailer for sale here. Salman was driving the tractor while Aslam was sitting beside him. Aslam fell down and came under the tractor-trailer.

Avtar Singh (22) of Bank Colony who consumed some poisonous substance last night died in a private hospital. Avtar’s uncle, Shankar Singh, said Avtar visited the colony for some work after having dinner. After some time, they got a phone call saying that Avtar was lying on the road in a critical condition.

He was rushed to a private hospital where he died today. Doctors of the hospital conformed that he had consumed a poisonous substance. The victim's post-mortem examination was conducted at the local Civil Hospital.

Himanshi (16) of Akbarpur village took some wrong medicine mistakenly. Her condition worsened after taking the medicine. She was rushed to a local private hospital where she died today.

Kurukshetra, May 20
A minor girl has accused her NRI father of attempt to rape. The father had returned two months ago to India after 16 years.

In her complaint to the police, mother of the victim, a resident of Pehowa, said, “My husband returned from Belgium two months ago and he has been physically and mentally abusing my daughter ever since. Last night, he tried to rape her and thrashed me when I opposed him."

Pehowa DSP Gorakhpal Rana said a case had been registered against him and investigation was on.

Faridabad, May 20
The police have recovered five-year-old Naman Kumar, who was kidnapped from outside his house on Sunday. They traced the mobile phone call for ransom to Tappal village of Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh.

The suspects knew the family of the boy. Prakash Chand told the police that his son was kidnapped while his family was busy preparing for the wedding of his daughter, due on June 17.

The victim was traced to a house in Tappal village last evening and was brought back last night. The kidnappers fled before the police raided the hideout. — TNS

Sirsa, May 20
A labourer died after he slipped from the terrace of his house at Kalanwali in Sirsa district last night.

Kala Singh, a resident of Khokhar Kalan village in Punjab, worked in a warehouse of the Food Corporation of India at Kalanwali and lived in a rented accommodation in the town.

Last night, when he was sleeping on the terrace of his house, he woke up to go to bathroom, but slipped and fell down on the ground.

Fellow labourers rushed him to the government hospital in Kalanwali where the doctors referred him to the Community Health Centre at Odhan.

However, the doctors at Odhan declared him brought dead.

In another incident, a man committed suicide by jumping in a pond of the waterworks.

Jhajjar, May 20
A body of a woman was found at a brick-kiln in Gijadaud village on the Jhajjar-Rewari road here today. The body, which was found naked and bore injury marks, is yet to be identified. The police have registered a case of murder against unidentified persons.

The incident came to light this morning when some labourers spotted the body lying in a pool of blood. They informed the police about it.— TNS