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Politicians on back foot over illegal structures
Extortionists rule the roost in Gurgaon
Preparations for R-Day on in full swing
Police on alert for R-Day celebrations
District Judge tries to placate lawyers
BSES to honour HC order on compensation
Metro station renamed after Chandni Chowk |
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PIL on hiring of vehicles for VVIP security
Ruthlessness is the trademark of Bawariya gang
Teachers agitated for being asked to do non-teaching work
Dadri a hot-bed of illegal weapons
Moti Goel accused of tampering with revenue records
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Politicians on back foot over illegal structures
New Delhi, January 12 Most of the politicians, who hit the headlines for allegedly owning illegal constructions, were united in their opinion that they welcomed and honoured the court’s direction, while one legislator even went to the extent of demolishing such a structure in his house voluntarily. DPCC chief Rambabu Sharma, whose name figured among those who allegedly owned illegal constructions in the national Capital, said, “If the MCD feels there were irregularities they can go ahead and pull it down”, but felt that was not the way out of the situation. Mr Sharma, who is a member of a high-level panel formed by the Congress to find a solution also against any special treatment for politicians, said the ideal solution was to implement the V K Malhotra Committee II report. “There are 70 per cent unauthorised constructions in Delhi and it’s not possible to demolish each one of them. The government should implement the Malhotra Committee report,” he is reported to have told newspersons over phone from Mumbai. But other politicians were not that forthright. While Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Vice Chair-person Anjali Rai said the media reports about unauthorised constructions were “exaggerated”, Congress MLA Mukesh Sharma said he did not own the property that was under the scanner. The Delhi Urban Development Minister, Dr A. K. Walia, was of the view that the property owned by him was constructed before building bylaws came into effect. Interestingly, the BJP legislator from the Badli constituency today went ahead and demolished a structure which had been termed illegal. “I demolished some extra constructions inside the boundary wall, though they are not unauthorised,” he said. The BJP, meanwhile, said there should not be any discrimination during the demolitions. “If you are taking action against illegal constructions then it should start from the top as all union ministers in Delhi have unauthorised constructions in their houses,” Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Mukhi said. He also asked the Delhi Government to implement the Malhotra Committee report and file an affidavit in the high court seeking six months’ time to implement the report and to notify the Master Plan Delhi 2021. The court stricture sparked off a flurry of activity yesterday with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit meeting Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy and discussing the possibility of setting up a ‘construction code committee’ on the lines of the V. K. Malhotra Committee to suggest changes in building bylaws. In a related development, Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit said today that the politicians named in the Delhi High Court’s notice on ‘selective demolitions’ will be given a fair chance to explain themselves, even as she complained that there was “confusion” on the role of Delhi Government in the entire issue. “A proper procedure has to be followed. A fair system would be to give notices to the people concerned. Based on the replies, the MCD can either take action or present the replies to the court,” Ms Dikshit told reporters here. She said the government’s stand on the issue was clear, that law must not be interfered with. “Law must be implemented. The court should be explained as to why certain things are being done or are not being done,” Ms Dikshit said. The Chief Minister, however, said there was confusion regarding her government’s role in the entire matter. “How did the (Delhi) Urban Development Secretary come into the picture? He has got nothing to do with it. There is a lot of confusion in the minds of the people on what are the Delhi Government’s responsibilities in the matter and what is expected of us,” Ms Dikshit said. She added that it was for the MCD to take action in the matter, adding that the Urban Development Secretary together with MCD would reply to the court. The High Court has sought an Action Taken Report on the illegal constructions belonging to politicians by January 31. Ms Dikshit informed that she has spoken to the politicos concerned and told them that they would be receiving notices from the MCD. “They are responsible citizens and I am sure that they will reply with a sense of responsibility,” she said. Meanwhile, about 20 unauthorised structures were today demolished by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi as part of its ongoing demolition drive on the orders of the Delhi High court. Of the demolished structures, six were in Shahdara area while two unauthorised properties each were demolished in Civil Lines, Karol Bagh, Narela, SP Zone and central West zone. Of the demolished structures, 6 were residential properties while 14 were commercial constructions. Under its drive to demolish about 18,000 unauthorised structures in the Capital, which began on December 19, the MCD has till now demolished about 717 properties, including 501 commercial and 216 residential. On December 7, the High court directed the MCD to clear encroachments in the entire city within six weeks. The deadline for the MCD to submit a report on the demolitions to the court has been fixed at January 18. Given the tardy pace of demolitions by the MCD authorities, it now seems clear that the corporation may miss the deadline set by the court.
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Extortionists rule the roost in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, January 12 Mahesh, alias Attack, a resident of Jharsa village, surrendered before the court recently when the police announced a reward of Rs 10,000 on him. He was allegedly involved in 11 cases of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, robbery and dacoity, etc in the city. While in jail, Mahesh allegedly used a mobile phone to terrorize the business community and expanded his network of extortion racket. Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent of Police Hanif Qureshi informed that the police today arrested three more persons, Anuj, Sonu and Bijender, alias Teja, all residents of Jharsa village for allegedly running extortion racket. All belong to the Mahesh gang, informed the SSP. Yesterday, the police arrested three members of his gang, Kapil Batra, Arun, alias Bholu, and Vivek Chaudhary who used to work on his behalf and take money from the public after intimidating them. The SSP informed that another hardcore criminal Sandeep Gadauli was also running his extortion gang from the jail and used to charge money. He even allegedly took the services of an advocate who would collect money on his behalf. The police had recently arrested advocate Sanjeev Chaudhary who was collecting money. Mr Qureshi further informed that the district police had suggested to the higher-ups at Chandigarh to install mobile jammer at the district jail in Bhondsi. Meanwhile, the police with the coordination of the jail authorities have intensified efforts to nail criminals in jail. The SSP revealed that a criminal was found in possession of a mobile phone of a match box size. The criminals had adopted various ways to hide their mobile phones in the jail, added the officer. However, the SSP appealed to the masses to inform the department if any criminal tries to intimidate them. Their identity would be kept secret. The police would go all-out to catch such criminals, added the SSP. He lamented that the police found themselves helpless for want of a complaint. The SSP informed that the police had introduced an email address: spggn@dataone.in and a mobile number: 9871333100 for SMS so that the aggrieved persons can use them and send their complaints to the police. He said that he would personally supervise and check e-mail and SMS facilities. Some shopkeepers in the main Sadar Bazar got the extortion calls recently and were told to pay a particular amount to the criminals if they wanted to run their business. Some entrepreneurs were even told to vacate the rented shops which they were occupying as the criminals told them that they had bought the shops from the owners. Recently, a couple of shopkeepers vacated the shops after getting the calls from the criminals. Some shopkeepers told ‘The Tribune’ on condition of anonymity that the extortion racket could not be run without the connivance of the police officials as the criminals come out in two-wheelers in broad daylight. They warned the business community of dire consequences if it failed to toe their lines. One shopkeeper who had vacated his rented shop at gunpoint recently at Sadar Bazar said that he did not approach the police as he felt intimidated. The criminals had told him to vacate the property, otherwise they would eliminate him and his family. The police need to win the confidence of the shopkeepers and improve their working culture if they seriously want to catch the criminals engaged in the extortion racket, suggested V.K. Jain, president of District Vyapar Mandal.
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Preparations for R-Day on in full swing
New Delhi, January 12 The children, who are part of the contingents from several schools scheduled to perform at the Republic Day Parade at the Rajpath on January 26, have been doing rehearsals over the past more than a week, from 5.00 a.m. in the morning till about 5.00 p.m. in the evening despite the biting cold. Though a few students have fallen ill due to the severe cold wave in the Capital, a majority of them have been seen to be persisting in their practise. Also undergoing rehearsals at the Rajpath are about 50 folk dance troops drawn from all the states and Union Territories that will perform at the Republic Day parade. On the Republic Day, march-past by the contingents of military, police, Home Guards, National Cadet Corps, Civil Defence, National Service Scheme volunteers and school children, mark the celebrations in the national Capital every year. Besides, attractive tableaux and folk dance performances on Rajpath by tribals in their traditional attire depict the rich
cultural diversity of the country. The main parade at Vijay Chowk on January 26 is preceded by ground preparations and rehearsals. Three days after the Republic Day, the bands of the Armed Forces perform at the ceremonial ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony, a day before Martyrs’ Day, which marks the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The notes of ‘Abide With Me’, a favourite of Mahatma Gandhi, is played with final retreat marking the end of R-Day celebrations.
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Police on alert for R-Day celebrations
New Delhi, January 12 Most of the cyber cafés and STD booths in and around the neighbouring cities of Delhi are under the scanner, said a senior police official. “We do not want to take risks of any type during Republic Day celebrations,” said the official. Evidently, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police had arrested a Pakistan-based spy from a cyber café in South-West district while he was sending important defence related documents to Pakistan. The owner of the cyber café and the other people present in the café at that time reported the matter to the police and subsequently a raid was conducted and the accused arrested from there. The incident took place around 10 months back. Meanwhile, an alert has been sounded within the security apparatus here in the wake of intelligence inputs that at least eight Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists had sneaked into the national Capital to carry out a suicide attack around Republic Day. The inputs warn that five more terrorists would be joining them to carry out the attack in the Capital where the main celebrations are held and the President of India takes salute of the parade in the presence of the top brass of political and military leadership. Alarmed by the information, senior officers of Delhi Police today held a series of meetings to review preparedness for the Republic Day. Discussions were also held with officers of Intelligence Bureau (IB). The intelligence agencies have informed that the terrorists could use the underground sewage canals for sabotage and hence the cops have scanned the entire underground sewage around the entire route from Rashtrapati Bhavan to Red Fort. Although the police have no specific information about so called terrorists who have reportedly entered the city, but the force has been briefed in this respect. Local intelligence has been tightened, the SHOs in some parts of the city are holding meetings in the slum clusters and informing the slum dwellers not to let in their hutment any stranger or inform the police immediately. According to the DCP Special Cell, Mr Ajay Kumar, “We are receiving some inputs related to some unlawful activities during the Republic Day celebrations but not very specific. But we are taking all the steps to avoid any such eventuality especially when the city has witnessed two serial bomb blasts during last year.” The police officials said that the security had been tightened as usual at all the vital installations and also for the VIPs. “A repeat of serial bomb blasts during last year could happen and hence no chance could be taken as far as the security is concerned,” said a top brass in Delhi Police. “For the security of the general public, which is equally important, local intelligence is necessary and hence all the DCPs and ACPs have given directions in this concern,” the official added.
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District Judge tries to placate lawyers
New Delhi, January 12 The Delhi High Court’s directive to trial court judges to proceed with cases even without counsels spurred some of the lawyers to represent their clients, some of them even in plain clothes, as permitted by the judges considering the gravity of the situation. “We are thinking of bringing back those police stations situated nearer to Tis Hazari but have now come under the jurisdiction of the new courts in Rohini. But for this, the lawyers have to stop their agitation and agree for talks,” Dhingra told reporters. Construction of chambers in Rohini complex for all lawyers, one of the main grievances of the Bar, is also under consideration, he added. Meanwhile, a group of lawyers shouted slogans outside Dhingra’s court for “trying to suppress their legitimate demands”. Judge-in-Charge of Rohini courts, Reva Khetrapal, who took a round of the courts in the complex, noted that agitating lawyers had set up a close-circuit camera at the entrance to identify members trying to enter court premises. Litigants whose cases were transferred to Rohini had to run from pillar-to-post to get details and dates of their cases as their lawyers continued to abstain from work. The High Court had passed a resolution on Monday asking trial judges to proceed with cases and directed the District Judge to report any act of disruption. Meanwhile, prohibitory orders will be clamped in and around the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court and the Patiala House court from January 18, the police said. According to the order issued by Commissioner of Police, K K Paul today, the prohibitory orders, which will remain in force for 60 days from January 18, will cover the areas around the Supreme Court complex like Mathura Road and Bhagwan Dass Road and those around the High Court and the Patiala House court. The order, issued in view of the threat of disturbance to smooth functioning of the courts, prohibits the holding of any public meeting, assembly of five or more persons and holding of demonstrations in the area for the specified period. However, religious functions, rallies or public meetings can be held in the area with prior permission, in writing, of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi district. Any person contravening the order shall be liable to be punished under section 188 of the IPC.
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BSES to honour HC order on compensation
New Delhi, January 12 BSES in a statement issued here, however, clarified that the incident occurred on June 17 2002, during the regime of the Delhi Vidyut Board. The tragic accident, the BSES, said occurred owing to the negligence of the staff of the contractors employed by the DVB and not the BSES.
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Metro station renamed after Chandni Chowk
New Delhi, January 12 The decision to change the name of the station on Delhi Metro’s Line 2 was taken after requests from traders in the area, DMRC sources said. The name had been officially changed and shortly all name-plates would carry the new name, it was added. It would become the only station, name of which was being changed after operations of trains had began. Earlier the name of a station of Metro’s Line 1 in West Delhi, Tri Nagar, had been changed to Inder Lok. Names of two stations on the newly-opened Line 3 – Janak Puri East and Uttam Nagar West – were also changed from Ganesh Nagar and Prem Nagar respectively. The names of stations were kept as per official records but they sometimes had to be changed as name of a place changed with time or there was a demand by area residents through Community Interaction Programmes organised by DMRC or letters and representations received from them. Meanwhile, though the Delhi Metro has been missing its 6-lakh target ever since its Line 3 opened just about 14 days back, the DMRC spokesperson says the Delhi Metro is able to achieve its revenue target of Rs 50 to Rs 60 lakh per day. The number of passengers travelling on the three lines is close to 4.5 lakh commuters daily, falling short of its target of 6 lakh primarily due to lack of feeder buses on the Barakhamba-Dwarka line. At present, only rickshaws are available at several Metro stations on Line 3. Due to lack of connectivity to Metro stations on Line 3, several people prefer to take buses or commute by private vehicles. DMRC officials admit that unless there is a proper feeder and RTV bus service in place, the Metro will continue losing out its several potential customers. The Delhi Transport Department needs to double the number of feeder buses it was running for the Metro to achieve its target. As per the DMRC spokesperson, proposals for more feeder buses have been sent to the transport department and tenders already floated. “We expect to reach the 6-lakh passenger target soon,” says Mr Dayal, adding that even now the DMRC was making sufficient operational profit everyday. “Even though the number of passengers travelling is lesser than we expected, they are travelling a longer distance,” he says.
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PIL on hiring of vehicles for VVIP security
New Delhi, January 12 A Division Bench of Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Rekha Sharma which issued the notices posted the matter for further hearing on February 27. The petitioner Paramjit Singh Chandihok, through his counsel Arvind Kumar Gupta, alleged that the authorities for the past three years had been illegally hiring hundreds of vehicles (Ambassador cars and Maruti Gypsy jeeps) for use as escort and pilot vehicles for VVIP security without inviting any proper tenders. It was alleged that the officials connived with two particular transport operators of the Capital and allotted various contracts to them by deliberately modifying the terms and conditions from time to time. The petitioner submitted that the action of the officials not only denied a fair opportunity for other transport operators to participate in the bidding, but also caused substantial loss of money to the government exchequer. The petition urged the court to direct the government to constitute a committee for formulating a scheme to procure vehicles from private operators in a transparent manner, besides terminating the contracts awarded to the two transporters.
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Ruthlessness is the trademark of Bawariya gang
Greater Noida, January 12 According to the police, women are intrinsic part of the Bawariya gang. Interestingly, woman members of the Bawariya gang excel in spying. A hardened tribe with criminal background, the Bawariya gang is ruthless, savage and brutal in their operations. The victims are usually attacked on the head with heavy clubs, rods or stones and their face and skulls are smashed. Along with murder and loot, the Bawariya criminals are known to be ruthless with women. According to police sources, they have also equipped themselves with firearms, including sophisticated rifles.
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Teachers agitated for being asked to do non-teaching work
Faridabad, January 12 Moreover, the teachers would be overworked as they have been asked to conduct these poll-related survey without disrupting the school routine. In effect, it would mean that the teachers would have to conduct these surveys before or after school hours. A teacher on condition on anonymity said that it was “injustice” on the part of the administration, as it would adversely affect the routine of not only the teachers but also the students. He said it was a kind of “humiliation” and “exploitation” of the teachers, whose main job was to teach and not to do “absurd” survey works. Some of the leading organisations of the government schoolteachers in the state have criticised the practice and have appealed to the government to spare the teachers from such duties in the interests of the students.
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Dadri a hot-bed of illegal weapons
Noida, January 12 “It is quite difficult to carry out a house-to-house search for illegal arms,” say the cops. Since the police have so far failed to prevent firing from illegal weapons during celebrations, how one can expect the cops to prevent firing from illegal weapons by anti-social elements in crimes. Even senior police officers agree it is a grim situation, but no solution appears in sight. Police agree that Dadri is a thickly populated town with narrow streets and lanes. Police also don’t rule out the possibility that illegal guns manufacturing units might be functioning. Whenever a search campaign is conducted in Dadri, the youths are usually found with illegal locally made guns which show that they do procure them from somewhere. An illegal gun is available for Rs 200 to Rs 800. On Wednesday, a large number of young men were dancing in Nagrele Chowk, Dadri. They were all said to be tipsy. Half-a-dozen youths among them had illegal guns, police were told, but nobody was prepared to identify them. Even after the murder of a young man, nobody was prepared to lodge a report in the police station. Someone informed the police late night that a youth had been shot dead by some people known to be his relatives.
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Moti Goel accused of tampering with revenue records
Greater Noida, January 12 It is alleged that Moti Goel has got transferred some 25 bigha land in Tugalqpur village in the name of his father and some of his accomplices.
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