Chandigarh, July 23
Fear has gripped corrupt officers in the field following a over two-month-long campaign against corruption by the Haryana Vigilance Bureau. In this period, informed sources say, about 100 officers and officials have been arrested under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Unlike the past, it is not only petty officials like patwaris or linemen who have fallen in the Vigilance net. The sources say 17 gazetted officers, including three Executive Engineers, were caught by the Vigilance authorities in a bid to implement the Chief Minister’s promise making “Haryana free from fear and corruption”. The Bureau authorities have not let their colleagues off the hook also. The sources say in the past two months, about 20 policemen, including an SHO posted at the prestigious DLF Police Station in Gurgaon, were arrested for alleged corrupt practices.

Encouraged by the success of the campaign, the Vigilance Bureau has now decided to undertake sting operations to catch the “big fish”. Confirming the plan, the Chief Secretary, Mr Prem Prashant, told TNS that besides the sting operations by the Vigilance Bureau, it had also been decided to activate the vigilance machinery of various departments to have an in-house mechanism to check corruption. He said soon directions would be issued by the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, to put up sealed complaint boxes in each public-dealing office so that a person who might be harassed by any official could easily complain against him.

He said even if the complaint was annonymous, senior officers of the department, who themselves would open the complaint boxes, would come to know that something was wrong in their departments. Since no penal action could be taken on annonymous complaints, the senior officers would at least take remedial action to prevent harassment of citizens.

The Director of the Vigilance Bureau, Mr Ranjiv Dalal, told TNS that according to an analysis, it had been found that rural people face harassment mainly from officials of the revenue, electricity, irrigation and police departments, while the urban people faced problems from officials of the Town and Country Planning, Haryana Urban Development Authority, civic bodies, sales tax, pollution, electricity and revenue departments.

He said one of the main problems in catching the big fish was that normally the people came in contact with junior functionaries who, in many cases, accepted illegal gratification on behalf of their seniors also. Hence, the Vigilance Bureau had decided to undertake sting operations.

Chandigarh, July 23
The Haryana State Legal Services Authority will hold special lok adalats for settling cases related to the Hindu Marriage Act, matrimonial disputes, Section 125 of the Cr.P.C and Section 498-A of the IPC in all district and subdivisional courts of the state on July 29.

Mr Shekhar Dhawan, Member-Secretary of the Haryana State Legal Services Authority, said here that lok adalats were held today at Fatehabad, Tohana and Gohana where 138 cases were settled. Out of these, 10 cases pertaining to death or injury arising out of vehicular accidents under the Motor Vehicle Act were settled where in Rs 4.39 lakh was awarded as compensation. Also, 128 cases pertaining to civil, petty criminal and bank loan cases were settled.

Fatehabad, July 23
The police succeeded in arresting one the most wanted criminals of the area today. Rohtash was wanted by the police in as many as 12 cases, many of which were crimes of heinous nature.

Giving details to mediapersons at the Sadar police station, DSP Samunder Singh said a police party was on patrolling when it got a tip-off that Rohtash was coming from Agroha to Fatehabad in his white Maruti car. A barricade was put at canal bridge, near Bhoda village.

On seeing the police, Rohtash tried to take a U-turn. The police chased and nabbed him. An unlicensed firearm and 14 live cartridges were seized from his possession.

While most of the cases registered against Rohtash pertained to Fatehabad district, he was also wanted by the police of Punjab and Rajasthan in one case each. He had been declared a proclaimed offender or bail jumper in many of these cases.

Rewari, July23
After 72-hour wait for identification, the bodies of a young woman and her two children, which had been lying in the mortuary at the Community Health Centre, Bawal, since July 19, were cremated by the Bawal MC staff yesterday.

An unidentified woman (25), along with her three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son, had reportedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a running train on the Rewari-Jaipur track near Tihara village, around 17 km from here, on Tuesday night.

Ambala, July 23
Mr Venod Sharma, Power and PWD Minister laid the foundation stone of a herbal park near village Dhulkot at Ambala city today morning which would be developed in 25 acres of land offered by the Army. Forest and Tourism Minister, Ms Kiran Chaudhry, presided over the function.

While speaking on this occasion, Mr Sharma said that the plantation of medicated and herbal plants was needed. Rare herbal plants could be protected through such herbal parks. He asked the people to plant more and more trees in their localities to make the environment better.

Ms Chaudhry said that around 4.5 crore saplings would be planted in the state during the current year and 2.5 crores saplings would be distributed free of cost to the farmers.

Later, Mr Venod Sharma inaugurated development projects in Ambala City. While laying the foundation stone of Center of Excellency at Ambala City, Industrial Training Institute he said that the state government had been giving priority to technical education. 

Fatehabad, July 23
A team of artists from the National School of Drama, New Delhi, enthralled the audience with two plays— 'Angan ka ped' and 'Bin paani sab soona'— enacted in the local Panchayat Bhawan Hall on Saturday evening.

The plays were not only captivating but also eye openers, emphasising the need for conservation of trees and water. The Forest Department, Haryana, had organized these plays with the help of the National School of Drama (NSD) and Shuruaat Samiti.

Sanjay Upadhaya, Director, NSD, directed the plays. Deputy Commissioner O. P. Sheoran, SP Saurabh Singh and Divisional Officer, Forest, S. K. Goyal were among the audience.

The play 'Angan ka ped' depicts how an old widow from a village wails when she comes to know on returning from the city that his son had cut the tree standing in the vicinity of their house. She says the old tree not only gave shade and fruits but also reminded her of her late husband. Eventually, she succeeds in inspiring her son to grow another tree in the house.

The second play 'Bin paani sab soona' was based on the need to conserve water. The play portrayed the plight of a village, where water has become a scarcity due to lack of rains and pollution of the canal by a chemical factory nearby. The villagers, who had decided to sell their lands and shift elsewhere, are inspired by a bird, to dig a new pond by collective effort instead of fleeing their ancestral village. The play not only emphasizes the importance of water but at also tells that together we can do what otherwise appears impossible.

The organizers of the plays said it was through the efforts of Haryana Minister for Forests, Ms Kiran Chaudhary, that the play was being enacted at all district headquarters of the state.