The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

	Councillors dissatisfied with MCD drives Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 3 The MCD’s Standing Committee today expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which demolitions and sealings are being carried out by the civic body and also complained that the other activities of the Corporation were suffering due to the two drives. The councillors, cutting across party lines, complained that there were irregularities in the demolition and sealing drives and demanded a reply from the MCD Commissioner. Leader of House Mr Jitender Kochar said the MCD had failed to remove encroachments on government land as part of its court-ordered demolition drive. He also complained that the junior engineers and other personnel were all being diverted to the demolition and sealing drives, affecting the other activities of the MCD. “Most junior engineers and other staffers are busy in the demolitions and sealings and due to this developmental work is suffering. There is no manpower to utilise the funds and do some work,” Mr Kochar said. Some councillors also claimed that the shops of some shopkeepers were sealed despite their having filed affidavits as per the court requirement. “It seems the only job of MCD now is to demolish, seal and impose fines,” Mr Vijender Gupta, a BJP councillor said. In his response, MCD Commissioner Mr A K Nigam said the two drives were being undertaken as per court orders and there was a deadline to be met. He, however, promised to look into the issue of diversion of junior engineers and other employees to the demolition and sealing drives. “Demolition of illegal structures and sealing of shops in residential areas is being done as per court orders and therefore must get priority. As far as the requirement of staff in developmental projects is concerned, adequate measures are being taken to ensure that the projects are not halted,” he said. On the complaint regarding sealing of shops whose owners have filed affidavits, the MCD Commissioner said, “Some affidavits were incomplete and did not meet all requirements and thus the shops were sealed”.
	Katara case: Govt seeks time Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 3 A Delhi court today granted the Ministry of Home Affairs time till May 11 to file its report on whether or not the non-bailable warrant had been served upon Bharati Yadav, daughter of UP politician D P Yadav, and a prime witness in the Nitish Katara murder case. Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur posted the case to May 11 after an Under Secretary to the Ministry submitted a report seeking time, stating that as per last available information from the UK Home Office, the process had been sent for service upon Bharati on April 20. Last week, Bharati had failed to appear in court despite there being a non-bailable warrant against her. Upon her non-appearance, the court had asked the Home Ministry to present a status report on the service of the warrant. Today, in response to a prosecution request regarding the revocation and seizure of Bharati’s passport, the court said it would seek a similar status report from the External Affairs Ministry on developments after the revocation, and on whether she was still available at her given UK address. The state also asked the court to issue notice to Bharat Singh, Bharati’s maternal uncle, drawing its attention to a two-year old order passed by it on May 24, 2004 where Singh had made an undertaking to produce her for evidence. However, the court said the request would be considered only after the Home Ministry submitted its report.
	How avarice corrupted a young girl Parmindar Singh Noida, May 3 How the urge to become a millionaire overnight can blind even educated people to commit robbery in the house of a close relative like one’s paternal uncle is amply illustrated by niece of Dr T. N. Dudha, who masterminded the Rs 20 lakh loot in the doctor’s house in Sector 22 here on Sunday along with her lover Amit. Both had tried their best that the needle of suspicion should not point towards them, but destiny had something else in store for them. An amount of Rs 16.57 lakh was recovered by the police from Amit’s house in Sector 11. The police have arrested both of them. When a young man decamped with Rs 20 lakh from Dr Dudha’s house in just seven minutes, the police could make out that it just was not possible. When Amit, after demanding the cupboard key, had opened the lock by taking out a bunch of keys from his own bag, the cops suspected something fishy. Secondly, Amit was in constant touch with Neetu on the phone. The two did not realise that talking on the phone could prove their undoing. SSP R. K. M. Rathore said the masked man had intruded into Dr Dudha’s house on Sunday when the doctor and his family had gone to Ghaziabad to attend a function. The doctor’s niece, Neetu, and maid were the only persons at home. Both were locked in a room while the criminal decamped with Rs 20 lakh from the cupboard. Initially, the needle of suspicion pointed at the maid, engaged only a few days earlier. The maid and Neetu were interrogated separately and Neetu’s version confirmed police suspicion. When the police took her mobile phone’s call details, it became clear she had been in touch with her lover, Amit, son of Iqbal Shah of Sector 11, Noida, all along. During interrogation, both confessed to having planned and executed the loot. The next day, Dr Dudha told the police that Rs 4 lakh out of Rs 20 lakh were found in the house as they were kept at a different place. Amit had spent Rs 25,000 out of the booty. He works in a coffee house as a manager in Sector 18. Amit and Neetu were childhood friends. Dr Dudha is reported to have a soft corner for his niece who almost robbed him of a fortune. “Everybody makes a mistake in life. Neetu has also made a mistake. I only wish she is let off with minimum punishment in the case,” says the kind-hearted doctor.
	Labourer shot by guard over drinking water Our Correspondent Noida, May 3 Livid workers jammed the GT Road for three hours in protest against the death of a labourer who was shot dead by a security guard of HCL Pvt Ltd on the GT Road in Dadri last night. An argument between the worker and the security guard over drinking water had resulted in the security guard shooting the labourer. The worker had died on the spot. After the SP (Rural) had promised to pay compensation to the kin of the deceased and meet other demands, the workers agreed to lift the jam on the GT Road. The body has been sent for autopsy by the police while the security guard is absconding. The police have registered a case and are trying to nab the culprit. Devinder, son of Bhandu, was on duty at HCL Pvt Ltd near Chhapraula on the GT Road yesterday as usual. At night, he had gone to the company gate for drinking water where he had an argument with the security guard. When Devinder opposed him, the security guard fired at him. Devinder immediately slumped to the ground. The workers came running to the gate. Finding Devinder in a pool of blood, they informed the police and company bosses. The company management is reported to have tried to hush up the matter with the connivance of the police. In the morning shift, a large number of workers gathered at the gate, raising slogans against the police and company management, and jammed the GT Road. When matters came to a head, senior district and police officials reached the scene and persuaded the labourers to lift the jam which lasted for three hours.
	Estranged son held for killing father, uncle Abhay Jain Gurgaon, May 3 An estranged son and his relative, who had hired criminals for killing his father and his paternal uncle, were arrested by the local police today. The Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Hanif Qureshi, informed that professional criminals had shot dead two aged persons, Hosihar and Ram Kartar, in their field at Telpuri village near the Pataudi-Rewari border on April 28. The police today arrested Naresh, Ram Kartar’s son, and another relative, Shree Krishan, who had married his daughter to Hosihar’s son Kulbhushan a couple of years ago for planning and hiring criminals for killing the duo. The officer added that Shree Krishan’s daughter had died under mysterious circumstances last year. Hosihar, his wife Somvati and Kulbhushan were arrested under Section 304-B of the IPC (dowry death). Hosihar and Somvati were released on bail but Kulbhushan was still in jail, informed the SSP. Naresh wanted to take revenge on his father as he was debarred from properties by Ram Kartar. Shree Krishan was angry with the family as his daughter had died, said the officer. Naresh and Shree Krishan allegedly hired Satish, alias Sunil, a professional killer from Ghaziabad, for Rs 20,000 for killing the aged duo. Sunil’s two colleagues, Sanjay and Pawan, alias Joni, allegedly fired at least eight rounds at Hosihar and Ram Kartar who died on the spot in the field on April 28. The police had arrested Naresh, Shree Krishan and Sunil while Sanjay and Pawan were still absconding, added Mr Qureshi.
	BSES enforcement team manhandled, locked up Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 3 In a raid that stretched well into the evening, a BSES enforcement team on Tuesday caught Maharani Jewellers — a prominent jeweller based in Laxmi Nagar in East Delhi — indulging in direct electricity theft of 12 KW. According to a BSES official, the showroom is liable to have a penalty of over Rs 2 lakh imposed on it. Interestingly, this is not the first time that the jeweller has been caught for power theft. The shop was raided and booked on April 13 and April 20 and a penalty of Rs 1.77 lakh was imposed on it. When it was again raided and caught yesterday, the owner and his staff allegedly prevented the team members from doing their mandatory inspection, manhandled them and locked them in a room. “They did not stop at this; they took out wads of currency notes from the locker and threw them on the floor to make it look like an attempt of robbery by miscreants, and called the police,” a BSES statement said. Eventually, the police and senior BSES officials intervened in the matter. The owner was later taken to the police station for questioning. What perhaps saved the day for him was the intervention of representatives of the Laxmi Nagar Traders Association, who promised to support the BSES drive against power theft and persuaded the jeweller to pay Rs 2 lakh in penalty to BSES within the next 48 hours — he has since paid Rs 1.5 lakh – besides clearing all remaining dues within the next 15 days. According to BSES, the jeweller owes the company over Rs 5 lakh in accumulated dues in addition to the penalties for the two raids. The shop, it claimed, had not paid a single penny for electricity since it was provided a connection of 1 KW in 1999. BSES disconnected the meter in March 2006.
	Union flays report on retrenched staff Tribune News Service Faridabad, May 3 The Sarva Karamchari Sangh, Haryana (SKS), a leading state government employees’ organisation, has rejected the recommendations of the three-member high power committee set up by the Haryana Government to consider the reinstatement of around 20,000 employees retrenched by the previous government. The committee, headed by the Haryana Finance Minister, Mr Birender Singh, had recently submitted its report to the government, reportedly promising some kind of reservation to the sacked staff in the fresh recruitment drive in the near future. A spokesperson of the Sangh said here today that though the government was still to make the contents of the report public, it had learnt about the recommendations, which were unacceptable to the employees’ union. The spokesperson said that the government, which had promised to absorb the sacked staff during the last Assembly elections, had failed to fulfill its promise. As the Chief Minister himself had promised to fulfill the demand, the government should reject the recommendation of the committee, he said. He said, as per reports, the committee has suggested providing some posts for the retrenched staff in recruitment to be made in the future. The affected staff would have to appear for the selection process again. The Sangh would not accept any step less than the direct reinstatement of the employees, he said. In this respect, the Sangh has announced a protest demonstration outside the State secretariat at Chandigarh on May 23 on the issue.
	DMRC celebrates Foundation Day Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 3 The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) today celebrated its 11th Foundation Day today. On this occasion, the Managing Director’s Award was presented to 23 officials for outstanding performance in their areas of work during 2005-2006. Two new awards were also instituted this year –‘Metroman of the Year 2005-06’ and ‘Best Station 2005-06’. The ‘Metroman of the Year’ award was presented to Group Station Manager of the Central Secretariat and Patel Chowk Metro stations, Mr Devendra Sharma. The Inderlok station on Line-1 of the Metro won the ‘Best Station Rolling Shield’ for its exemplary performance with respect to cleanliness, housekeeping, revenue and ridership. The station caters to about 8,000 passengers every day and earns on an average about Rs 34 lakh per month as fare box collection. The station also has parking facilities and a big shopping complex. Cleanliness was maintained even during construction of the shopping complex. Among those who won the Managing Director’s award include Gigi George, Kajal Chaurasia, Sarvesh Kumar Tiwari, Balbir Singh, Rupesh Kumar and R. M. Krishnan. Other winners of the award are Anuj Gupta, Bijay Kumar Banerjee, Deepak Sharma, D.K. Sinha, Jagmohan Mittal, Jitendra Malik, Navneet Kumar, Pankaj Kumar, Poonam Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta, Sanjeev Kumar, Satish Kumar, Sushil Kumar, Vijay Pratap Singh, Vir Abhimanyu, Vivek Katoch, and V. M. Tiwari.
	DUTA to discuss sexual harassment case Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 3 Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has called an emergency meeting of its executive here tomorrow to discuss the action being taken against a faculty member at the Dyal Singh College for an alleged sexual harassment case. DUTA is peeved that the college principal, Dr D Jagannathan, has “terminated the services of R K Sinha at the behest of the Governing Body without allowing him a chance to put forth his version”. The Staff Association of the college, which incidentally claims to have “resolved the matter”, has also expressed surprise at the principal’s decision. The principal on his part said, “There is no termination order issued as of now…there was an inquiry committee ordered by the Governing Body, which has reached a conclusion and it will be put up before the university.”
	HC petitioned against AIIMS Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 3 The Delhi High Court today requested the Medical Superintendent of the AIIMS to appear before it on May 11 to reply to the queries on the petition of a minor child, who had been allegedly afflicted with HIV-positive during blood transfusion in the hospital. The nine-year-old son of a BSF official was afflicted with cancer while his father was posted in 2001 at Pokhran nuclear site in Rajasthan. He had undergone blood transfusion at a Rajasthan government hospital and 35 times in the AIIMS in 2001. The contention of the child in the petition was that he might have contacted HIV during the transfusion of blood at AIIMS.
	Loadshedding continues in Capital Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 3 Several areas in the capital suffered from loadshedding as Delhi faced a power shortage of over 500 MW today owing to many of the power projects supplying electricity to it not working to their full capacity. While the peak power demand was recorded at 2,831 MW, the authorities had to resort to rotational loadshedding to tide over the shortfall in supply, a senior Transco official said.
	Teenager gang raped Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 3 A minor was raped by about eight persons last night in Sabzi Mandi area in North district. The victim, a 17-year-old girl, lives with her parents in slum clusters in Sabzi Mandi area. Police sources said that the number of accused was not certain as the victim was still to recover from trauma. “Although she has identified four of them, others are still to be traced out,” said the police official.