Cops watch as undertrials escape

HISAR, Aug 20: In a daring act, few unidentified persons today managed to get two undertrials -- Jatinder and Rajiv -- freed on gunpoint ...

HISAR, Aug 20: In a daring act, few unidentified persons today managed to get two undertrials — Jatinder and Rajiv — freed on gunpoint from the Haryana roadways bus near Hansi, about 25 km from here while they were being brought from Bhiwani after hearing in a court.

According to police sources, the assailants, who were in a Maruti car, were folowong the bus from some distance before ordering the driver to stop the bus near Alakhpura village. Armed with with revolvers and daggers, they threatened the head constable and constable of Bhiwani police who were accompanying the undertrials and made good their escape, the sources added.

The incident spread terror among the commuters who ran away to save themselves. The Bhiwani police have registered a case in this regard.

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Meanwhile, the police have sealed the nearby areas and launched a manhunt to nab the assailants.

A murder accused, Ranbir had escaped from police custody near the Hisar Central Jail about a fortnight ago.

Minister’s call: HARYANA’s Development and Panchayat Minister Kanwal Singh has called upon women sarpanches and panches to shun outdated viewpoints and come forward to contribute in the development of villages by propagating various developmental schemes.

Singh was addressing a rural gathering in village Ladwa, about 15 km from here last evening after inaugurating a school building. He said that one -third reservation in panchayat polls was given to women and though officially the women had contested the elections, the male members of their family had worked instead, and had pushed them back once again.

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He appealed to the district officials to impress upon women sarpanches and panches to make themselves present in all the meetings meant for development of rural areas besides discouraging the participation of their husbands.

Addressing another public meeting at village Shukarpur, the panchayat minister reiterated the government’s resolve to provide irrigation water all over the state.