Atam Prakash Chugh’s voice trembles as he relives the evening of January 14. Sixteen days ago, his 32-year-old son Manoj was sitting in his auto parts shop on GT Road in Hansi, a town near Hisar, when he was shot dead by two assailants. ‘‘One stood at the entrance, while the other went up to him at the counter and shot him point blank in the chest.,’’ his voice trails off. It was a double blow for this retired Education department employee, whose younger son Rajesh was gunned down a year ago on January 10. ‘‘Now I don’t what to tell my daughter-in-law and two grandchildren,’’ says Chugh. Rajiv Sharma, general secretary of the local unit of Beopar Mandal, laments that business in the township with a population of 1.5 lakh is on the decline with no let-up in violence by local gangs. At Hisar, Bajrang Das Garg, president of the Haryana Beopar Mandal, says there is rampant lawlesness in the state. ‘‘Abductions, extortions and killings have become commonplace. Traders no longer feel safe,’’ he alleges. Chugh says he spent the last year running from pillar to post for justice, but met with disappointment. ‘‘I even approached the then DIG, Resham Singh, who told me that he thought it was the handiwork of a gang in Rajasthan. And each time they send a police party across the border, the gangsters manage to give them the slip.’’ He also petitioned local MLA Subhash Chander Goyal, but was humiliated. ‘‘Goyal said, ‘Maarne wala bhi Congressi hai, aur marne wala bhi’,’’ alleges Chugh. Now the police have told him to wait till the elections are over. Dr K.C. Garg, however, decided to take action on his own soon after he was shot at in his hospital. Barely 100 yards away from Chugh’s shop, Inder Sain Hospital got its first taste of violence on June 9, last year. Dr Garg says he was in his OPD, when two youths came with a registration slip. ‘‘Before I could ask them anything, one took out a revolver and shot at me. Luckily, I ducked and the bullet hit my left wrist.’’ Though injured, Dr Garg managed to grapple with his assailants and his chemist also gave them a chase. ‘‘Later, police claimed to have caught the two though there was no identification parade.’’ Today, Dr Garg has employed a security guard and keeps a revolver. Dr Ashok Singla, who was shot at outside his hospital on May 23 last year, agrees, but he is relying on the police for security. The local unit of the traders association did take up his case and even jammed GT Road in protest, but they were lathicharged and arrested. While the doctors are diplomatic about the police role, Chugh says the level of insecurity is unbearable. ‘‘Jis rajya ka raja hi behra hai, hamari kya sunwayee hogi (In a state where the king is deaf, how can we get a hearing?’’
