The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

	Tantrik, accomplice sentenced to death for murder Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 25 Condemning it as a crime of “exceptional depravity”, a sessions court today sentenced to death a UP-based tantrik and another man for cutting up the body of his wife’s lover after murdering him and packing it off in the cargo section of a passenger train bound for the Capital. The dismembered body, identified as that of one Giani Ram, was found on March 2, 2001 in three gunny bags by railway porters while unloading the cargo from the train at Delhi Main Railway Station. “The convicts, after committing the murder, cut the body into pieces in the bathroom of their house...this shows that they had crossed all limits of revenge in a civilised society,” Additional Sessions Judge S C Rajan said. The tantrik, Jameel Ahmed and his accomplice Dilshad, both natives of Khandla village at Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, were found guilty of offences under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC. The court, however, acquitted two of their co-accused, Ahsan and Fazluddin, for lack of evidence. Ahmed and his family were frequent visitors to the deceased’s house in Delhi and regularly sold medicines and charms to the latter. However, the convict started growing suspicious of an relationship between his wife and the deceased. Acting on his suspicions, Ahmed called up the deceased from Khandla on February 27, 2001 and offered him a partnership in an ice factory he was to start shortly. When the deceased consented, Ahmed told him to start for Khandla the very same day and bring Rs 1 lakh as his share of the business. Ram immediately left for Khandla and was never heard of again until his body was found in the bags. Ahmed, who was accompanied by Dilshad, had met the deceased at his house the next day and confronted him about the illicit affair. After a heated exchange of words, the duo strangled Ram to death, cut his body to pieces with a saw and packed it in the gunny bags. They then hired a rickshaw to Khandla railway station and booked the bags marked ‘Kishan Urea’ to Delhi in order to escape detection of their crime. Meanwhile, after waiting for two days for the return of the deceased, his son Dinesh and brother Nanak Chand arrived in Khandla on March 1. They met Jameel who told them that Ram had returned for the Capital on the very day of his arrival. Jameel had even accompanied Dinesh to the local police station to file a missing report. In his defence, the convict contended that his crime was justified as the “deceased himself had committed the brutality of developing illicit relations with my wife”. Brushing aside the defence’s plea for leniency on the ground that both convicts were first time offenders, the court said that “maximum punishment was required to keep the interests of the society safe”.
	Call for CBI probe into Unitech deal Parmindar Singh Noida, May 25 The Congress and a few associations of Noida and Gautam Budh Nagar have alleged a big conspiracy and scam in the Express City project which the Noida Authority had awarded to Unitech for Rs 1,583 crore. They have called for a probe by the CBI and the CVC into the alleged scam. It has been alleged that at least Rs 500 crore has changed hands in connection with the award of this project to the private builder who will in turn mint money at the cost of the farmers and people of Noida. The associations who have joined hands with the Congress against this decision of the Noida Authority and the state government include Manav Sewa Samiti, Gautam Budh Nagar Brishtachar Unmoolan Samiti, Abadi Bachao Sangarash Samiti, representatives of Noida citizens and Noida farmers. The BJP has also been agitating against this project, alleging corruption in the deal. The BJP MLA, Mr Nawab Singh Nagar, has sent a memorandum addressed to the UP Governor signed by a thousand people against this decision. “Awarding the project to a private bidder who does not have a formidable track record in developing colonies or residential sectors is against the law. The only objective of political leaders and the officials concerned seems to be to earn illegal profits at the cost of the farmer and the citizen. For the first time in the history of the Noida Authority, no provision has been made for giving plots to farmers, industrialists etc in a project,” he alleged. The UP Industrial Land Development Act had been violated and land use had also been changed in an illegal manner, it is alleged. While the government had given Rs 300 per yard compensation to the farmers for the land acquired from them, the same land had been given to the builder at the rate of Rs 11,520 per sq metre which the builders would sell to people at least at the rate of Rs 1.50 lakh per sq metre, it was alleged. Besides, mandatory allotment for all reserved categories — farmers, industrialists, Noida employees etc — had also been done away with for the first time. Advocate Amit Khemka said the Noida Industrial Development Authority was set up for the industrial development of the area and was not like Ghaziabad or any other development authority. The basic objective here was to develop the industries. By handing over 350 acres of prime land to a private builder for developing residential sectors, the whole purpose had been negated as there would be no role for the industrial development in the area being handed over to the builder. The reserved rates of the Noida Authority for prime sectors was Rs 31,000 per sq metre, but the land to the builder had been given at Rs 5,740 per sq metres just to create artificial scarcity, it was alleged. Advocate Khemka said a writ petition on the subject was almost ready and would soon be filed in the high court challenging the way this project had been offered to the builder “on a platter by vested interests”.
	HC ire against DDA for non-collection of dues Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 25 The Delhi High Court today passed serious strictures against the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for not recovering misuse charges since 1983 from the defunct Rachna cinema, which accumulated at more than Rs 5 crore with interest till date. Mr Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the Vice Chariman of DDA to conduct a departmental inquiry and “fix the responsibility as to why the alleged dues which accumulated at more than Rs 5 crore with interest against the owners of the cinema in the present suit was not recovered from the year 1981-83 till the date”. Directing the Vice Chairman to place the action taken report in three months before the High Court, the Judge said, “Take conscious decision as to who would be liable to pay the financial loss caused to the DDA for all these years. The people of the country would have to bear the burden for the inaction and negligence of the officers of the DDA. Who should be held responsible to pay these amount?” the 20-page order said. In 1983, the DDA had informed the owners that Rs 81 lakh would be levied from the owners for the misuse of the building. But when the owners petitioned the authorities against the decision, no action was taken. Counsel Sobha Aggrawal appearing for Aggarwals submitted that the premises was never put to any misuse. Subsequently, the misuse charges with interest had been calculated at Rs 5.43 crore till November 25, 2005 due to negligence in the part of the DDA officials. “The records of the DDA clearly shows that no steps were taken by the DDA to recover misuser charges for all these years,” the Judge said. The Court directed the owners to approach the court after the conversion of the land from lease-hold to free-hold after the finalisation of the issue for further direction to proceed with the sale of the property. Mr Justice Kumar had earlier directed the management to close the hall permanently after the accountant testified that the cinema had incurred a loss of Rs 1,18,827 in six weeks between September 7 to October 20, 2005 during which it had shown the film ‘Saalam Namaste’. As directed by the court, all the partners — both Aggarwals and Suris — had submitted a note mentioning the procedure to convert the land to freehold from leasehold and the compensation package to 23 employees. It is submitted before the court that the partners would have to pay Rs 1.17 crore to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to make it freehold from leasehold and Rs 25 lakh for compensation to the workers. The petition sought the direction of the court for disposal of the 2000 sq mtrs of assets and sharing of the sale proceedings by the partners. The cinema, launched as a joint venture with 12 partners, has been entangled in litigation since 1981.
	Villagers lay siege to highway over water shortage DSP among several injured in subsequent clash Bijendra Ahlawat Tribune News Service Faridabad, May 25 A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Hodal subdivision was among several persons injured in a clash between the police and residents of Banchari village near here when they were blocking National Highway 2 in protest against poor water and power supply. Thousands of vehicles passing on the highway got stranded on both sides for hours due to the blockade that continued for over seven hours. While the police had to fire in the air and resort to a cane charge, several vehicles were damaged by the irate mob. Though the SDM of Palwal reached the spot, it is reported that the protestors did not give in despite the promise made by him that their demands would be heeded. Villagers said they would continue the blockade till the water supply was restored to the village. According to reports, more than 200 residents of Banchari village assembled on the highway at about 12 noon today and went on to create a blockade in protest against poor water supply in the village for the past many days. They claimed that despite complaints and reminders, no action was taken by the authorities concerned. As the news of the traffic disruption reached the administration, a police team headed by a DSP was rushed to the spot, but it is learnt that the officials could not persuade the protestors to end the blockade. A tiff over some issue led to a clash between the police and the mob there. While it is alleged that the police resorted to a cane charge on the protestors, the agitated residents started pelting stones and throwing wooden logs on the police party, which resulted in injuries to at least 12 persons, including the DSP, who was hit in the head. The police reportedly fired a round in the air to disperse the crowd but this apparently did not work and the agitators damaged several vehicles in the melee. Certain tourists stranded at the spot were also manhandled by the mob, claimed eyewitnesses. The police team had to retreat after the incident and the authorities sent more cops and the SDM of Palwal to pacify the villagers and persuade them to lift the blockade. The Deputy Commissioner was reported to be busy in a meeting at the time of the clash. No senior official of the district administration except the SDM, Palwal, reached the spot to solve the problem, said a villager. In addition, the residents of nearby Sondh village also resorted to blocking the link road from Hodal to Nuh in Mewat in protest against water supply shortage in their village for the second day today. They had also blocked this road on Tuesday on this issue. It is claimed that despite the assurance, no action was taken by the department concerned to solve the problem.
	Govt rapped by HC for denying funds to school Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 25 The High Court today directed the Directorate of Education to forthwith release a provisional sum of Rs 6.13 lakh to Air Force Gyan Jyoti School to help the school from being closed down due to financial problems. Mr Justice Vikrammjit Sen also asked the Directorate to provide a further sum of Rs 1.6 lakh every month to the school with effect from April 2006 for its day-to-day expenses. The court passed the directions on a petition filed by the school management complaining that the government was neither allowing the private school to close down nor willing to grant aid. Following a court order, the school had been paying salaries to its teachers at par with those of government schools since 2004. It was stated that the school’s only source of revenue was through fees collected from students. But during the past two years, the strength of the students has considerably depleted, on account of which the school approached the directorate asking it to take over the institution or allow it to be closed down. However, the authorities refused to concede the plea, after which the management moved the HC. Mr Justice Sen noted that the Gyant Jyoti school attracts mostly students from the non-affluent sections of the society and, therefore, the stand of the directorate in refusing grant-in aid or take over the institution was “inexplicable”. “It is therefore not possible to appreciate or understand the stand of the Directorate of Education in refusing to grant aid or take it over in the face of its making huge grants to a school like Sanskriti School which caters to the wards of gazetted officer,” Mr Justice Sen remarked. Rejecting the arguments that the grant of Rs 10 crore extended to Sanskriti School was towards the capital expenses, the court asserted that government resources should be made available firstly to the weaker sections of society and accordingly directed the directorate to provide the necessary funds to the school within 15 days.
	BJP leaders, activists held for arson Tribune News Service Ghaziabad, May 25 Three BJP leaders and around 90 party activists have been arrested for allegedly setting ablaze over 20 houses in a village here after a reported case of cow slaughter and the area SHO suspended for negligence in the matter. Former BJP MP R C Tomar, MLA Modi Nagar Narendra Singh Sisodia, BJP district chief Ashu Verma and 90 party workers were arrested on charges of rioting and arson for burning down more than 20 houses in Salepur Kotla village under Dhaulana block of the district last evening, the Senior Superintendent of Police said today. “Legal action will be taken under the National Security Act against all those found to have indulged in acts of arson,” he said. He said a car was also gutted by the mob that went on a rampage in the village after performing a ‘shuddhi yagna’ (purification rite) against alleged cow slaughter in the area. The Dhaulana police station house officer Sunil Kumar Verma had been suspended on charges of negligence and a probe was under way, the SSP said. State BJP President Vinay Katiyar alleged that 184 cows were slaughtered in Dhaulana area on May 12 and their meat was being smuggled through Moradabad and other places.
	Constable crushed to death at checkpost Ravi S. Singh Tribune News Service Taoru (Mewat), May 25 A constable on duty at a checkpost in Ghuspaiti village near here was crushed to death by persons on the run in a lorry and a jeep allegedly carrying cows for slaughter. Five police personnel at the checkpost, including constable Satbir Singh, were put on alert that certain persons were trying to smuggle out a lorry full of cows from Mewat. The lorry, led by the jeep used by the culprits, was alleged to be headed towards Gurgaon from Nuh, the headquarters of Mewat district. The two vehicles were spotted rushing towards the police checkpost. However, when challenged by the police personnel, they increased the speed of the vehicle in order to ram through the barrier. Satbir Singh, who was hit, died on the way to the Civil Hospital in Gurgaon. He was declared brought dead. The police have registered a case against eight unnamed persons of Adbari and Ghaseda villages of Mewat district. However, no arrest had been made yet.
	Three get bail in kidnapping case New Delhi, May 25 A city court today granted bail to three men accused of having kidnapped a six-year-old boy for ransom from a Delhi school here three years ago. Additional Sessions Judge S N Gupta enlarged on bail accused Senthil, Kannan and Senthil Kumar on their furnishing a bail bond of Rs 15,000 each with a surety of the like amount. However, two other accused, Jairaj and Mangesh, who allegedly masterminded the whole operation, continue to remain in judicial custody. It is alleged that on January 15, 2003, the class one student was whisked away by the five accused from the school driveway, just as school was about to begin that morning. — TNS
	Renewal of shop licences demanded Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 25 The Leader of Opposition in MCD Mr Jitender Kochar and Congress councillor Roshan Lal Ahuja have demanded renewal of licence for shops in residential areas which had been banned after the Delhi High Court’s order for demolition and Supreme Court’s order for sealing of shops in residential areas. They said that area police and MCD official reportedly demanded bribe from the shopkeepers who did not have a licence. They allow the shopkeepers to run their trades from the residential areas after accepting bribe. Once they are issued licence, this corruption will be finished, they said.