Hisar, November 13
An uneasy calm prevailed in Barwala on Thursday as the police and self-styled godman Sant Rampal’s supporters appeared headed for a face-off ahead of the November 17 deadline to produce him before the High Court.

Rampal’s aide Ram Kumar Dhaka, co-contemner in the case who is out on bail, ruled out the possibility of the godman’s surrender. He said it seemed the judiciary had turned against them and they would approach the Supreme Court on Friday against the High Court’s directions.

“We hope for relief from the apex court. We will move an appeal in the Supreme Court tomorrow challenging the High Court’s non-bailable warrant, with a plea that Sant Rampal is unable to move due to poor health,” Dhaka, also president of the Rashtriya Samaj Sewa Samiti (RSSS), said.

He said he, along with members of the RSSS, were ready to face the consequences of contempt cases by the High Court, but Rampal was being wrongly dragged into the case.

Director General of Police SN Vashisht, who held meetings with top district officials in Barwala, said the force was prepared to implement the orders of the High Court, which had issued non-bailable warrants against the godman.

The police has set up nakas on main roads leading to the ashram and the district administration has imposed prohibitory orders to ban congregation of five or more persons in Barwala subdivision and carrying of weapons.

The police is learnt to be adopting a wait-and-watch policy. “The police will wait for the outcome of the application moved by Rampal’s supporters in the Supreme Court,” a source said.

Rampal aide Ram Kumar Dhaka scotched speculation of back-channel talks with the district administration and the state government to facilitate the godman’s surrender. “Nobody from the government has approached us. So there is no question of any talks. Followers are staying put at Satlok Ashram in support of Sant Rampal. The police can arrest him only after treading over our bodies,” he said. 

On graft

What can be more glaring than what I found during my briefings — the previous government, in its industrial policy, offered a single-window clearance for projects, but not a single project was cleared under the system — On what lies ahead

I intend putting systems and checks in place in the remaining months of this financial year. Next year will be a year of reckoning when the impact of the changes will be visible on ground — On election result

The election result was no ordinary mandate. It was a mandate for change, for transparency. We cannot fail the people especially since the previous political leadership ignored governance. Leadership was missing and there was no vision, no systems in place. The big challenge is to bring government into self-propelling mode

Palwal, November 13
Curfew continued in Hathin for the second day today after violence erupted between two communities over a disputed site yesterday. All shops and education institutions remained closed, forcing residents to remain indoors. The district authorities claimed they were making efforts to ease the tension.

A clash erupted after persons of a community tried to hold prayers at the disputed site located adjacent to old police station on Tuesday evening. The violence left dozens of vehicles, shops and houses damaged. More than 10 companies of the police, Rapid Action Force and India Reserve Battalion have been posted in the town.

The police that had registered four FIRs against nearly 80 persons on Wednesday registered another 14 FIRs. In all, 469 persons have been booked. Of them, 69 have been named in the FIRs, police sources said. One of the accused identified as Navin was arrested on Wednesday and remanded in judicial custody.

The 2.5-acre disputed land reportedly belongs to the Haryana Government, but members of the two communities have been claiming ownership of the plot.

“A series of meetings, involving senior leaders of both communities, have been underway since morning. It is hoped that normalcy will be restored and the administration will relax the curfew perhaps in 12 to 24 hours,” a spokesperson for the district administration said.

Bhagat Singh of nearby Kondal village blamed authorities for being slack in resolving the issue. “Had the administration been serious, rioting and damage to public property could have been avoided.” 

Chandigarh, November 13
The Haryana Congress Legislature Party (CLP) has assailed the hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel prices by Rs 1.50 per litre, saying it was a “a serious body blow” to the economy. 

“The BJP-led Union government’s move to mop up additional Rs 13,000 crore in revenue may translate into similar increase in retail prices of petrol and diesel as well,” CLP leader Kiran Choudhry said. — TNS

Sonepat, November 13
In an effort to accelerate the recovery of stolen articles in the infamous Gohana Bank heist, the special investigating team (SIT) today recovered 5.91 kg of ornaments from a vacant plot in Katwal village.

On the direction of the Rohtak police range IGP Amit Kumar Roy, the SIT reportedly used metal detectors to locate the stolen property from the plot.

The ornaments were found from the vacant plot of Satish, one of the four main accused, who broke open 87 lockers from the strongroom of the PNB branch in Gohana on the intervening night of October 26 and 27.

According to SP Arun Singh the recovery was made and later sealed in the presence of Gohana DSP Rajiv Deswal.

With this, the total recovery in the case so far includes 49.885 kg of ornaments, cash worth Rs 3.35 lakh, one country made pistol and 21 live cartridges. — OC

Jind, November 13
As many as 47 video clips, sent to media by unidentified persons last night, show the then Jind SP Anil Dhawan pacifying protesters and cops protecting the Civil Surgeon (CS) while in the earlier clips by doctors show that the policemen were nowhere in the scene and they came to the aid of the CS.

The incident happened on the night of November 5 when a local shopkeeper, Darshan Pal, was shot dead and his relatives and locals allegedly vandalised the local government hospital and attacked the doctors.

The earlier video clips by the doctors had painted a completely opposite picture of the attack.

In light of the new video clips, there is no footage showing Dhawan refusing to help the doctors. The doctors had alleged that the SP was standing in corridor in front of the emergency of the hospital. Since there is no CCTV at this place, the doctors could not obtain any footage to prove their allegations, the doctors had contended.

However, in the video recorded by the local media, the protesters can be seen beating the CS, Dr Ravinder Punia and other doctors, but the SP is missing. This footage shows that junior cops were fighting with the mob to protect the doctors.

In their statements, besides the CS, Dr Prabhu Dayal, Dr Pankaj and a private security guard have accused the SP, of inaction but the latter has been countering the allegations, making things tougher for Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the incident.

A local media person had recorded the whole incident but we have procured only the relevant clips from him, said Dr Arun Kumar, district general secretary, HCMSA.

Commenting on the latest video clips, he said that he was not unaware about them but alleged that some cops might have released them to help their former boss. “I cannot comment as investigations are on,“ Dhawan said. On November 10, Haryana government gave additional charge of Jind to SP Kaithal Kuldeep Singh. “I am in a meeting” said DSP Siwani Bhagwan Dass from SIT, who has been conducting investigations of all case. 

Jind, November 13
INLD’s Jind MLA Dr Hari Chand Middha’s son Dr Krishan Middha, accused of attacking doctors of a government hospital here on November 5, surrendered before the police today.

The court rejected his anticipatory bail application, leaving no option before him but to surrender.

On the night of November 5, miscreants shot dead local businessman Darshan Aneja. His relatives and locals, including Dr Krishan, allegedly vandalised hospital property since they claimed that doctors were not present in the heath facility when Aneja was taken there. Later, they assaulted doctors.

“It was a case of murder, but doctors gave it a caste angle as the deceased belonged to the Punjabi community. Doctors misguided the police and administration and leveled baseless allegations against us (Aneja’s supporters). We will expose all at an appropriate time,” said Dr Krishan while addressing his supporters outside the police station.

As the news about the rejection of anticipatory bail application spread, Dr Krishan’s supporters gathered at the house of the INLD MLA. They organised a protest march, raising anti-police slogans and declared to intensify the agitation if the government failed to cancel the FIR against Dr Krishan.

“Had doctors treated my husband in time, he would have been alive today. Doctors presented doctored CDs of the CCTV footage to the police to prove that they were present in the hospital when my husband was taken there,” alleged Neelam Aneja, widow of Aneja.

She claimed that the government was biased and registered cases against innocents, while there was no action against doctors, who did not provide timely treatment to Aneja. SHO Sadhu Ram could not be contacted in spite of repeated attempts.

Sirsa, November 13
Jeeto Bai (70) of Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar sustained a head injury as she fell waiting for her social security pension at the local Municipal Council today.

She was one of the several elderly persons made to wait for several hours in the Municipal Council.They had to run from one seat to another for their pension. However, no one gave them a clear answer as to when they would get their pension.

When a harried and disappointed Jeeto Bai was coming out of the Municipal Council office to return home, she felt dizzy and fell on the floor near the main gate of the office. She sustained a head injury and started bleeding profusely. However, no employee of the Municipal Council came to her rescue.

Some other elderly women, who had also come to the Municipal Council office for their old-age pension, hired a three-wheeler to take her home. No medical assistance was provided to the hapless woman, who did not have a penny to get treatment from a private doctor .

Women Kartar Kaur, Ram Piari, Kailash, Reshma, Bishan Devi and several others, who had come from Ward No 20 of the town and Balbir Kaur, who had come from Ward No 27, alleged that the Municipal Council authorities had an indifferent attitude towards senior citizens.

“First we came to the office on Monday for our pension but we were told to come on Thursday. Today, we have been running from one seat to another, but no one is even ready to give us a proper reply. They behave as if we are beggars,” alleged a woman Raj Kaur. She said earlier the pension was given in wards.

Efforts to contact BN Bharti, Executive Officer of the Municipal Council, did not succeed as calls made on his mobile did not evoke any response. 

Chandigarh, November 13
Nearly seven years after two youngsters were allegedly killed by the police in a fake encounter, the mother of one of the “victims” today sought a CBI probe into the matter.

In her petition filed through counsel Mansur Ali, Shanti Devi of Bhiwani district alleged that her son, Mukesh, and Sandeep, alias Kalia, were kidnapped on July 18, 2007, and murdered on July 21, 2007.

Mansur Ali added on her behalf that the police initially was not taking any action on her complaint compelling her to move an application under Section 156 (3), CrPC, for registration of an FIR.

The trial court dismissed the application on May 24, 2013, after which the petitioner moved the sessions court. Thereafter, an FIR was for murder and other offences was registered at Badhra police station in Bhiwani district. But ever since the registration of the FIR, the official respondents were not taking any action.

Mansur Ali sought direction to the respondent to transfer investigation into the case FIR to the CBI “in view of the fact that senior police officials were accused and Haryana is taking no positive steps to investigate the FIR”.

Chandigarh, November 13
Early disposal of cases pertaining to insurance has led to a steady increase in the flow of cases coming to the office of the insurance ombudsman over the last two years. While 1,784 cases have already been decided in this financial year, insurance ombudsman Manik Sonawane, said a ‘record’ 9,132 cases have been decided in the last two years.

Speaking on the occasion of ‘Bima Lokpal Day’, Sonawane said the ‘record’ had been registered in the Greivances Cell of Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India, Hyderabad, regulator of the insurance sector. He said a maximum of life insurance disputes were being referred to him.

“We have a disposal rate of 65% in Punjab which accounts for 43% of the total cases while Haryana is placed second with 36% cases while the remaining 21% cases are distributed among the states of Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir. Our office caters to these states and one UT,” he explained, adding that theirs was a quasi-judicial grievance redressal mechanism to decide complaints of insured persons against 52 life and non-life companies.

Sonawane said he presently had the power to settle cases up to Rs 20 lakh. “However, since there is a lot of delay in settlement of cases in the state consumer forums, we have asked for greater powers and sought a raise to settle cases up to Rs 50 lakh. That demand is under active consideration,” he said.

While stating that concerted efforts were being made to settle a maximum number of cases, Sonawane maintained spreading awareness about the redressal mechanism available to the people for maximum utilisation was their prime objective.

Sirsa, November 13
Citizens for Responsibility, Accountability and Transparency (CRAT), a group of retired and serving bureaucrats, journalists and social activists, has demanded a vigilance probe into allegations of embezzlement and irregularities in the Forest Department.

Pawan Bansal, Director, CRAT, has written to CM Manohar Lal drawing his attention towards the cover up of the various acts of omission in the department’s functioning at Rohtak. — TNS

Sirsa, November 12
Sixty students of Mata Harki Devi College for Women donated blood in a blood camp organised on the college campus at Odhan today to mark the birth anniversary of Harki Devi, wife of former Deputy PM Devi Lal.

Admiral Rao Surender Singh, MD of JCD Vidyapeeth, inaugurated the blood camp. Principal Shamim Sharma donated blood for the 37th time. — TNS

Yamunanagar, November 13
RPF constable Gurpal Singh was killed after he was run over by a train while crossing the tracks near the Railway Workshop, Jagadhri, today.

The incident took place around 8.30 am when he finished his night duty and left for home. A resident of Railway Colony, Ambala, he often used to travel by train.

The Government Railway Police handed over the body to the victim’s kin after a postmortem examination. — OC

Sirsa, November 12
In Literary and Fine Arts youth festival that concluded at Chaudhary Devi Lal University in Sirsa today, Shah Satnamji Boys’ College, Sirsa, bagged the first position in the Sanskrit declamation contest, on the spot videography, PPT and cartooning competitions.

The National College of Education, Sirsa, bagged the first position in symposium, debate while the first prize for Shlokacharan went to Rashoba College of Education, Sirsa.

Maharana Pratap College, Dabwali, was declared first in poetical symposium, while quiz contest was won by University Teaching Department of CDL University. Government National College, Sirsa, won the first prize in on the spot painting and poster making, while the collage making and rangoli making competitions were won by University Teaching Department. — TNS

Jhajjar, November 13
It would not be an easy task for the new IG to check the rising crime graph in the Rohtak range which has become a favourite ‘hunting ground’ for criminals.

The range comprises the districts of Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat and Panipat. Heinous crimes like murder, gang-rape, loot, robbery, chain snatching and burglary have become the order of the day here on which the IG would have to pay special attention. The steep rise in such crimes is not only creating panic among the citizens but bringing a bad name to the police. Though the police cracked the sensational Gohana bank heist within days, the incident has put a question mark over the efficiency of the police. Robbers had tunnelled their way into the bank strong room and looted jewellery and cash worth crores in a true Bollywood style.

The government has replaced Rohtak IG, Anil Rao, with Alok Roy who had been serving as IG (Crime) at the police HQ in Panchkula. Rao has been shifted as IG, Hisar Range. Sources said besides curbing the rising crime graph, Roy will have to chalk out a special strategy for nabbing the most wanted criminals in the range. Their number is more than half of the total of such criminals.

As many as 239 hardcore criminals figure in the state tally of which 154 criminals belong to the Rohtak range alone. “There are 56 most wanted criminals registered with Sonepat police followed by Rohtak with 33,” the sources added.

Chandigarh, November 13
The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge KK Kareer today convicted one person and acquitted two for the murder of an advocate in Fatehabad last year.

The court convicted Vijay Singh while the other accused, Budhi Ram and Raj Kumar, were acquitted of all charges. The quantum of sentence for Vijay will be pronounced tomorrow.

The police had booked six persons for the murder of an advocate, Suresh Bansal, on August 31 last year. Two accused were declared proclaimed offenders.

A resident of Khabran Kalan, Bansal, was hacked to death by the assailants during the auction of farm land at Bhattu Kalan village. The victim had died on the spot.

The defence counsel stated that there were no eyewitnesses and the accused did not figure in the CCTV footage, thereby meaning that the accused were not present at the murder spot.

Bansal had purchased a one-acre of the disputed land from his client Kanshi Ram and had tried to dispossess Vijay Singh whose family was farming the land in 2009. At that time too, Bansal and his father, Om Prakash, were attacked and the accused were jailed for three years.

Last year, Bansal had gone for the auction of the land and while the proceedings were on by revenue officers at the village panchayat bhavan, he was attacked by two youths with sharp edged weapons and hacked him to death.

The case was later transferred to Chandigarh court owing to tension in the area.

Jhajjar, November 13
After finding trees worth several lakhs missing, Rohtak Conservator of Forest (CF) has sought the department’s nod for lodging an FIR against Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Rohtak and Deputy Range Officer (DRO), Meham, in this regard.

G.Raman, CF, has written to Chhotu Ram Jotriwal, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) alleging that DFO Kuldeep Singh and DRO Shamsher Singh have not only ‘misappropriated the money by selling the trees’ but also tried to cover up their misdeed by instigating farmers to pressurize the department in their favour.

In his letter, Raman said that Kuldeep had informed him that a 495 trees had been uprooted on the Lakhan Majra-Meham and Lakhan Majra-Dhanana road following the storm on October last year. Meanwhile, Jotriwal told TNS that he was yet to recieved a letter from the CF so he could not comment on it.