Will continue demolishing drug traffickers' properties: Haryana CM Khattar

Tribune News Service

Geetanjali Gayatri

Chandigarh, December 26

Haryana will continue to bulldoze its way through the properties of criminals and drug traffickers, constructed unauthorisedly or through illegal encroachment, till they leave the state for good.

72 properties bulldozed

In all, 72 properties related to criminals involved in narcotics have been bulldozed. The government will not hesitate in taking strict action against such people. Anil Vij, Health Minister

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On the sidelines

CM pens poem

CM Manohar Lal Khattar paid tributes to Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, the Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh, with a self-composed poem. He recited the poem soon after the obituary references were over.

MLA flags HSGMC

Congress MLA Shamsher Singh Gogi claimed the government had made RSS and BJP people members of the HSGMC. “Does the government want to take control of gurdwaras in Haryana?” he asked.

Punjabi ‘ignored’

Gogi also said that though Punjabi was the second language in the state, there was a shortage of Punjabi teachers. The government advertised posts for all subjects except for Punjabi, he said.

Potshots over potholes

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, with reference to the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said party leaders expressed shock over the condition of roads in Haryana. “Roads don’t have potholes. Potholes, at some places, have a stretch of road,” he said.

‘Not apt’ for debate

A question by Independent MLA Balraj Kundu on the bond policy was not taken up after Health Minister Anil Vij said the matter was sub judice.

This was stated by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and reiterated by Home Minister Anil Vij in response to a question by INLD MLA Abhay Chautala during the question hour on the first day of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha’s winter session here today.

Khattar said terming the state government’s action of demolishing the properties of the people associated with drug trafficking as “destructive” was ethically wrong. “We have and will continue to take strictest action against such smugglers,” he said, adding that the Opposition should be clear which side it was on.

Chautala sought to know if the government would demolish a house even if it was in the name of other family members for the fault of one person.

Stating that the money source was important, Khattar explained that the government would not shy from taking action if, during the investigation, it was found that these had been constructed with the proceeds of crime. Also, strictest action would be taken against all those who were found working in tandem with these accused.

Vij said 72 such properties had been demolished based on specific intelligence inputs regarding financial assets of those involved in heinous crimes. “We have to make Haryana safe. Either they should leave crime or leave Haryana,” Vij said, adding that the government would continue to tighten the noose in all such cases.

Citing the policy of “zero tolerance” in corruption cases, Development and Panchayats Minister Devender Singh Babli, in response to a question asked by Maman Khan regarding corruption in the MNREGA scheme during the financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21 in Gram Panchayat Hajipur of Punhana block in Nuh district, said the Panchayati Raj Vigilance Wing of Rohtak would complete the report in two months or it would be handed over to the Vigilance Bureau.

He said as the complete physical record of works done under MNREGA scheme was not available in the office of Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Punhana. “The department has requested the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India to provide complete digital records,” he said.

Responding to another question, Babli said after receiving the said investigation report, action would be taken against the guilty.