New Delhi, July 31
Heavy rains that lashed various parts of Delhi this morning provided residents the much-needed comfort from the spell of muggy weather, but disrupted traffic at many places.

It being a Saturday when most offices remain closed traffic was relatively less, but the commuters still had a harrowing time. Flyovers like-- the one near AIIMS were overflowing with water, bringing the traffic to a standstill.

A newly-repaired road caved in the posh Greater Kailash-II area, taking down a Honda city car. The depression on the road was so deep that it appeared the car had fallen into a pit. The truck, carrying clay to fill it, also got stuck. In another case of road giving way, a large section of road - close to 100 foot long - in Mehrauli developed depression. The incident happened near Qutub metro station.

Residents of the area were angry over the shoddy work done by the authorities. The road had been repaired just about a fortnight ago. However, the rains today exposed the quality of work.

The heavy rains brought with it flooded streets and traffic snarls. Commuters had a harrowing time reaching their destinations as they were caught in long jams.

Waterlogging was reported from across the city, including Safdarjung, Punjabi Bagh, Mayapuri, Ring Road, Aasharm Chowk, Mangolpuri, Kalyanpuri, Model Town, Lajpat Nagar, Janpath Crossing, Ashram, Mahipalpur Chowk, Dhaula Kuan, Rajpath and Greater Kailash among others.

Many cars and autos stalled midway due to high water level at many places. People were seen pushing their vehicles to some safe corner and waiting for the water level to ebb away.

However, the rains also brought with a pleasant weekend. The maximum temperature settled at 29.6 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was recorded at 24 degrees Celsius. Being office holiday today, it was a perfect day as many came outdoors to enjoy the cool weather.

The Met department has forecast rains in the next 48 hours.

Greater Noida, July 31
Dadri Traders today kept their shops closed to protest against the rising extortion calls and the recent attack on Durga Hospital by an extortionist, after a doctor refused to pay the extortion.

The protest was held under the banner of the Dadri Bazaar Vyapar Mandal and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The protesters blocked the traffic at GT Road for two hours. Convenors Vijay Pandit and Satinder Shishodia said earlier too, several traders had closed their businesses and shifted to other places due to extortion calls.

"It became unbearable when extortionists attacked Durga Hospital recently. The police is unable to check the rising cases of extortion. The information given to the police is passed on to extortionists who attack the complainant. Now, traders have stopped informing the police for fear of attack," said Shishodia.

"Dr Pravin Goel of Durga Hospital had received an extortion call from Sanjay Kumar a few months ago. Goel informed the police and Kumar was arrested. After getting bail, Kumar contacted the doctor again and demanded an extortion of Rs 65,000, saying that he had spent that much amount on getting bail and other related expenditure. He made several threatening calls to the doctor," said Rahul Kumar, deputy superintendent of police.

"On Wednesday night, Kumar along with his accomplices damaged the hospital property and assaulted the guard. One guard suffered injuries. His condition was stable till late this evening," said the DCP.

"Last evening, an attempt to murder and extortion case was registered against Kumar. He was absconding till late evening. He has been charged under the Gangster Act. Later, the NSA will be clamped. He has made extortion calls to other traders too," he said. 

Cops are normally seen as strongmen who get things done by means fair or foul. So it would come as a shock to many that they are among the silent sufferers of the water crisis plaguing parts of the city.

Geeta Colony in east Delhi has witnessed many protests against lack of water supply and the local police colony is among the worst affected. But the dilemma for the men in khaki is that they can't take to roads in protest against the government, something expressly prohibited by their service rules. By no means can they be seen talking to the media even if their grievances are most legitimate. So they suffer in silence.

Harried cops returning home after putting in 12 to 15 hours of duty take to fetching water from outside so that their buckets are filled and the morning chores don't suffer.

New Delhi, July 31
A group of over 100 children suffering from cancer along with their family members visited the Metro Museum at Patel Chowk Metro station today and had a joyride on the Metro train for the first time.

These kids hail from different parts of the country and are under treatment.

The children, aged between 5 and 14 years, spent over two hours with on the Metro train.

They were taken to the Metro Museum where they got to know about one of the most modern Metro systems in the world.

Thereafter, a train ride was arranged for them from Patel Chowk Metro station to Inderlok Metro station via Kashmere Gate Metro station, so that the kids could get an experience of both underground as well as elevated Metro sections.

Noida, July 31
Two brothers were last evening arrested for allegedly murdering their friend by pushing him off the fourth floor of the RBI Apartment Complex here on Thursday.

"The accused brothers-- Gaurav Pratap Singh and Pranab Pratap Singh-were living in flat number 401 on the fourth floor of the RBI Apartments for the past few months. Their father, Nandan Pratap Singh, works for a private firm in Oman. The family hails from Mussourie in Uttranchal. Gaurav has done MBA and Pranab a journalism course. Both were looking for job," said V. C. Tripathi, deputy superintendent of police.

"One of their hometown friends, Kartik Bisht, also lived in Delhi with his relatives. He had done M.Com and was also unemployed. On Thursday, he had come to Gaurav's apartment and the three drank liquor," said Tripathi.

"Later, they had an altercation over some issue. The security guards of the complex saw them fighting in the front balcony of their flat and sent them inside asking them not to create nuisance," said Tripathi.

"The three then went in a room. There, they had another physical fight. Injuries on the faces of Gaurav and Pranab and broken bottles found in the room point out that Kartik too had attacked them," said Tripathi.

"During the fight, the brothers took Kartik to the back balcony and pushed him down," said Tripathi.

"Kartik's cousin, Gagan Bisht, has lodged a case of murder against Gaurav and Pranab," Tripathi added. 

New Delhi, July 31
The crime branch of the Delhi police has arrested a notorious criminal, Ravi Kumar (27), allegedly involved in more than 30 cases of murder, robbery, extortion and carjacking. He carried a reward of `15,000 on his head.

Kumar was arrested around 5 pm on July 29 from Sarai Kale Khan bus stand where he had come to meet his accomplice.

The police has recovered a 3.2 bore country-made revolver and three cartridges from him.

Born in Nathupur village in Gurgaon, Kumar has studied up to ninth standard. He was first arrested at the age of 12 for committing theft. At the age of 15, he started committing robberies and carjacking at gunpoint. He then came in contact with notorious criminal Kuldip Gadoli and started selling looted cars to him, which Gadoli used for commission of crimes.

Kumar's interrogation has revealed that Gadoli's gang is about to commit a crime in NCR and will then move to Kathmandu in Nepal to evade arrest.

Gadoli and another member of the gang, Babloo, are presently in Kathmandu. Kumar came to Delhi to gather information for a robbery planned by the gang.

"They could not be arrested earlier as they used stolen cars to commit crimes. After the commission of the crime, they would abandon the car and so the police could not trace them," said a police official.

Kumar has been declared 'proclaimed offender' by a Delhi court hearing a case against him wherein he had fired at a police team gone to arrest him. 

New Delhi, July 31
The Delhi police has arrested two men— Naushad (26) and Gopal (26)—allegedly involved in flesh trade and rescued a girl from their clutches. The two who used to lure innocent girls on the pretext of marriage and then raped them and forced them into flesh trade, the police said today.

The girl was rescued after the police on Friday received a PCR call that she had been illegally confined in Mangolpuri.

The girl, 20-year-old Mansi (name changed), was allegedly confined by Naushad.

On enquiry, it was revealed that Mansi used to work in a hotel at Assam being run by Naushad's cousin Alam. There she came in contact with Naushad, who made her believe that he loved her and on the pretext of marriage, brought her to Delhi in May.

He arranged a room for Mansi in Uttam Nagar and subsequently raped her. He told Mansi that they would marry her as soon as he saved some money, said deputy commissioner of police (Outer district) Chhaya Sharma.

One day, Naushad brought a friend, Sonu, and asked Mansi to establish physical relationship with him, as it would help them monetarily, Sharma said.

When Mansi resisted, she was beaten mercilessly and raped by both of them. After this incident, Naushad often used to bring someone to his room and forced Mansi to establish physical relationship with them. All the while, he would comfort Mansi by saying that her ordeal would be over as soon as he saved enough money for their marriage.

Mansi once tried to flee, but was caught by Naushad, who then locked her in a room.

In the third week of July, Naushad told Mansi that he had collected enough money and would marry her soon. He even took her to his elder brother Shamshad's house in Mangolpuri.

On July 26, he took Mansi to a plot in Naveen Vihar, Begumpur, on the pretext of marriage. But there, Naushad, Gopal and one Munir Khan raped her. He charged `600 from Gopal and Khan for this, a senior police official said.

Mansi finally broke her silence on July 29 when Naushad forced her to sleep with another man.

"Mansi raised the alarm and a woman of the locality came to her rescue. She rescued Mansi and informed the police," said Sharma.

The police has arrested Naushad and Gopal. It is now making efforts to arrest his accomplices.

A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Section 5 of the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act has been registered against Naushad and Gopal.

On interrogation, Naushad revealed that he was planning to sell Mansi to a brothel in Delhi so that he could go back to Assam to look for another target.