New Delhi, May 8
A case of human trafficking has been unearthed by the Delhi police with the arrest of an editor-in-chief of a web portal who used fraudulent means to send people to Europe.

Amit Chaturvedi was apprehended from German embassy in Chanakyapuri on Friday when he approached for a visa for himself and a student who allegedly wanted to go to that country to write a report on its culture for the website, the police said.

A senior officer of the embassy's visa section wrote to the police that Chaturvedi, a resident of Gurgaon, was suspected of human smuggling as he organized visas for Indian citizens who wanted to emigrate to Europe, especially Germany and Belgium.

"Chaturvedi applied for a visa at the embassy in May for himself and a 22-year-old woman whom he claimed was his employee. He said he was the editor-in-chief of a web TV operating from south Delhi's Safdarjung Enclave area.

"The woman was said to be a student of a private university in Uttar Pradesh and it was told that she was to join Chaturvedi in Germany to write an article about German culture for the website," a senior police official said.

During the visa interview, the official said, embassy officials became suspicious of the woman as she could not explain any details of the trip and that she had never written an article before.

"There were serious doubts about the woman. The embassy officials said they suspected that Chaturvedi intended to organise a visa for the woman to emigrate illegally," the official said.

The embassy officials also found that Chaturvedi's passport had been altered allegedly by sticking two pages so as to hide a visa refusal stamp of the Swiss embassy dated April 27, 2010, the official said.

"Chaturvedi and the woman got a visa refusal stamp from the Italian embassy on April 11, 2011. So he had already tried to organise a visa for her before," the official quoted the embassy as saying.

"It also came to light that the bank statements of the Syndicate Bank given by Chaturvedi were found fake by the embassy officials," the official said.

Meanwhile, the German embassy was also in possession of information from their counterparts in Belgium embassy, warning about the activities of Chaturvedi, who had allegedly organised visas for 12 Indians through fraudulent modes.

"According to Belgium embassy officials, Chaturvedi and his consultant editor Sanjiv Dev had applied for visas for themselves and 12 employees of the website. However, those who got visas never worked at the website," the official said.

A case under sections 420 (cheating), 120B criminal conspiracy, 468 (forgery) and 471 (using forged documents) has been registered.

Ghaziabad, May 8
Over 40,000 commuters from Ghaziabad will be able to travel to Noida and Delhi by the Metro from next month when the Anand Vihar-Vaishali section link is expected to open.

The 2.57-km route that will have two stations at Vaishali and Kaushambi will directly connect Anand Vihar to Ghaziabad.

The Metro will pave way for a safe and comfortable journey for the commuters from the newly developed areas," said Mohan Sangwan, from Indirapuram RWA confederation.

Though the agreement for the project was signed between the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) and the DMRC in March 2008, the work was delayed due to shifting of electricity transmission lines and water pipelines en-route the Metro sites.

According to GDA vice-chairman Narender Kumar Chaudhary, the GDA paid around Rs 260 crore for the project and around Rs 50 crore for other related works.

With the commencement of two elevated Metro stations at Kaushambi and Vaishali, the city would also get its first two pedestrian bridges for the commuters to move towards Indirapuram, Vaishali and Kaushambi on one side and Sahibabad Industrial Areas and other colonies on the other.

Apart from provision of elevators, parking spaces have also been constructed for 100 and 200 vehicles at Kaushambi and Vaishali, respectively.

Although the GDA officials said there was no provision of the Metro feeder buses at present for the commuters, the residents were apprehensive about lack of adequate parking facilities in the vicinity and that they would have to depend on the local transport to take them to the Metro stations.

"The majority of the commuters use their vehicles and in such a case more parking spaces would be needed around these two stations. If you don't use your vehicle, cycle-rickshaw charges around Rs 25 to Rs 30 to take you to the Metro stations," said Sanjeev Sethi, a local resident.

New Delhi, May 8
A 28-year-old man, who got married just a month ago, was killed and 11 others were injured today when a speeding Blueline bus hit them near the ISBT at Kashmere Gate in north Delhi, the police said.

The incident occurred when the bus (route no 221) was descending a flyover near the ISBT and rammed into the people around 5.40 am.

The injured were rushed to hospitals -- Sushruta Trauma Centre, Bara Hindu Rao Hospital and Lok Nayak Hospital.

Pyara Singh, who along with his wife Harjeet Kaur was waiting for a bus, was killed in the accident. He had de-boarded an interstate bus with his wife.

The driver of the speeding Blueline bus managed to flee the spot immediately even as the local police attempted to ascertain series of events and rushed the injured to medical facilities nearby.— PTI

On Akshya Tritya, around 15,000 couples got married in a complete chaos. But to get the Band-Baja-Baraat in good order was a nightmare. Bumper-to-bumper traffic jams and still people were hopping from one place to another. This day was the last auspicious day of the season and then one will have to wait till November to tie the knot.

On the Hindu calendar, this is one of the most auspicious days to get married. As soon as the engagement is done, halls are booked and so are the caterers. Flowers are flown in. As the temperature rises to 40 degrees, the flowers start wilting, the prices of the flowers go double and even after that you don't get the best quality. So the jaymalas are ordered from Thailand and transported in ice-boxes. The 'Ghodi' carries the groom and the price of the white one goes up ten times. The mehendi walas have a field day and are booked much in advance. The cops are extremely busy on this day trying to keep traffic in order. You can hear the grumpy guests complaining like hell about the problems they have driving to the venue. The bride may have got the groom she wanted but the beautician she wanted was already booked and her family sure would not be very happy with the service of the caterer.

Most bandwalas made the baraats wait. The priests were running from one wedding to the other trying to make it on time. The gold prices may have gone up, but the prices of the marigold flower which is the auspicious Hindu flower also doubled at this time of shortage.

New Delhi, May 8
The Delhi police today claimed to have busted a human trafficking racket which used to send people illegally to the Gulf after luring them by promising hefty pay package there.

Niranjan Singh (55) and Meraj Khan (23) were arrested based on a complaint filed by Ali Mohammad and two others -- Nishar and Jarrar -- residents of Palwal in Haryana, alleging that they were induced to go to Saudi Arabia and assured of a good employment with lucrative salary.

The police also recovered a total of 42 passports and Rs 76,500 in cash from the accused.

The duo demanded Rs 1.25 lakh from Mohammad and Rs 90,000 and Rs 80,000 from other two victims with the assurances that they would arrange visa for Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

"The complainant was sent to Qatar and was made to work under a Pakistani contractor as labour, instead of driver as promised by Niranjan Singh. He was treated badly at Qatar and was not given any salary," Chhaya Sharma, deputy commissioner of police, South District, said.

Sharma said Mohammad was subjected to cruelty and he managed to return home after 25 days.

When he returned to India, he asked for the money from Singh, who refused to give back.

Acting on a tip-off, a special police team arrested Singh after conducting a raid in Zamrudpur in New Delhi.

On sustained interrogation, the accused disclosed that he used to

identify and trap innocent gullible persons who are looking for getting a job opportunity at Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, Sharma said.

"The accused further disclosed that he used to share the ill gotten money with R K Sharma and Miraj Khan. He admitted duping of more than 200 innocent people. Recently, few persons have returned from the

Middle East without getting the promised job after some time," the official said.

A day later, another accused namely Miraj Khan was arrested from Sarai Jullena. -- PTI

New Delhi, May 8
Though the city government has stopped registration of new private security agencies, it has decided to review the functioning of registered agencies following complaints that persons working with the agencies are involved in criminal cases.

Earlier, there were no registration of private security agencies, but its necessity was felt when securitymen were reported to be involved in criminal cases and in 2005 Security Act was constituted by the Union government.

The Delhi government has also made compulsory the registration of private security agencies two years ago.

A senior official of the city government said that now there was a need to review functioning of these agencies as the departments concerned still

receive complaints of irregularities against them. The agencies will be asked to submit the list of persons they have employed.

The government has provided authorisation certificate to around 90 private security agencies under provisions of Private Security Agencies Regulations Act, 2005.

Over three lakh security personnel are currently working with these agencies.

The official said a large number of such agencies are also operating in the city without registering with the government.

The official said that a few years ago, a security agency staffer had run away with Rs 2 crore. The money was to be delivered to a private bank. In January this year, two persons working for a private security agency, providing security to the HDFC bank, were arrested for fleeing with Rs 67.5 lakh in a cash van. The amount was meant to be deposited in different ATMs. Two security persons involved in the crime were arrested from Haryana.

New Delhi, May 8
Whether through gifts, a session at a spa or simply rustling up a meal at home, Delhiites had a variety of ways to make their moms feel special on Mother's Day on Sunday.

Call centre employee Anushka Verma said she booked a session at a spa for her mother.

"Whenever I feel the need to relax, I go for a massages or a fish pedicure at a spa in a mall nearby. But my mom has never been to one. So for Mother's Day, I decided to gift her a spa session and needless to say, she was thrilled to bits!," Verma said.

"Of course, I am going to be there too so that I can guide her and we can do some mother-daughter bonding," she added.

Avir Choudhury, an IT professional, said that he planned to spend the entire day with his parents, something he rarely gets to do, courtesy his hectic schedule.

"I told my mom 'no cooking today'. It has been ages that the three of us have gone out anywhere. So today, I am taking them out for a movie, then maybe some shopping and then a grand dinner at some good Chinese joint, since my mother loves Chinese food," Choudhury said.

For Anisha Dev, the perfect Mother's Day gift for her mother is spending time at home.

"I work six days a week and therefore catch up with my friends on Sundays. So when I asked my mom what she wants on Mother's Day, she simply said 'a little bit of your time'. I was so moved that I have decided that from this day on, I will take out some exclusive 'mom-and-me' time every Sunday," Dev said.

"But to celebrate the day, I am cooking a meal for my parents today. I don't have any grand plans. Frankly, I think these days are just created by the marketing teams of card companies to increase sales. But then again, if this can actually bring about a good change, then why not?" she added.

Stressing further on the joys of simple things, Shanta Sharma, mother of two seven year olds, said: "I had no idea that it's Mother's Day until my children slipped a hand painted card near my pillow early in the morning. I don't think I have received anything so beautiful ever before...it really made my day!" -- IANS

New Delhi, May 8
A Delhi court has set free an HIV-positive youth after convicting him on charges of committing robbery, setting off his sentence against a yearlong jail term that he had already undergone while facing trial.

"In view of the facts and circumstances of the case, nature of the offence, antecedents and medical condition of the convict, I am inclined to take a lenient view," said Additional Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandan.

"The convict has already spent one year and three days in the custody. Therefore, he is sentenced to the period already undergone by him in custody," the judge said while ordering the authorities to set him free.

The court let off the man with a mild punishment after the amicus curiae (appointed by the court to assist it in the trial) informed it, "He is 25 years of age and is not a convict previously. He is HIV-positive and the sole breadwinner of his family consisting of mother and two younger sisters. He lost his father some years ago."

The resident of north Delhi was nabbed in November 2006 for robbing a mobile phone and some cash from a man in the Sabzi Mandi area near Tis Hazari courts. He was also accused of assaulting the victim, leaving him unconscious.

The police arrested him after an FIR was lodged in the Sabzi Mandi police station.

The prosecution had produced seven witnesses to prove the accused guilty and sought maximum punishment for the convict, saying that such offences were on the rise.

The court found him guilty on charges of robbery. As per the penal provisions, a robber is liable to be sentenced up to ten years of jail term.

New Delhi, May 8
A Delhi police inspector arranged trade fair tickets for a "judge" and hotel room for his relatives but little did he know that he was being taken for ride for months by an impersonator until the real judge himself telephoned him recently.

The inspector was even made to pay some part of the hotel bill by the impersonator, whose "relatives" were evading payment at the money at the guest house.

It all started last November during the India International Trade Fair when the inspector, then posted at Pragati Maidan, received a call from a man claiming to be an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM). He asked the inspector to arrange some passes.

Though the inspector had not met the ACMM personally or appeared in his court, a senior police official said, he obliged and handed over some passes to a person who was sent by the caller. The request for passes was made again and the "judge" was sent the required number of passes.

Last month, the inspector again received a call from the "judge" asking him to "arrange" a suitable guest house in Connaught Place for a short stay for his relative with family and later rented accommodation for a longer stay. The inspector arranged a room for the family at the Janpath Guest House, whose manager later told the officer that the guests have not paid some of the dues.

"The inspector called the guest and asked him to make the payment... However, the manager later told the inspector that the guests have left the hotel without making the payment or handing over the keys. The officer called him several times to pay but evaded on one ground or another," the official said.

On the instance of the caller and the pressure of hotel manager, the official said, the inspector had to pay a part of the total bill. In the meantime, the inspector also left for training in Pune.

The hotel staff then met the ACMM whose name the inspector has taken last Wednesday. The judge denied making any requests to the inspector.

"The hotel manager made a call to the Inspector in front of the judge and handed over the phone to him. The inspector immediately realised that the voice of the judge was different from the one whom he was talking to," he said.

The judge told the inspector that he had never directly or indirectly talked to him for a favour.

In a police complaint, the inspector claimed that a man named Vishal had met him on behalf of the impersonator and that he could identify him and the woman who stayed in the hotel along with a child.

No arrests have been made and a case.— PTI

New Delhi, May 8
Students of Mass Communication, Jamia Millia Islamia, sitting on hunger strike since yesterday, were removed today.

The administration called the police and removed them forcibly. When the students protested against the use of force, they were reportedly beaten up. Two students sustained injury marks.

However, the police said that the students were not beaten up. They were just asked to leave the campus. There was no violence at all.

A university spokesperson, Seema Malhotra denied the allegation that the police was called to remove the students. The university informed the police about the students who were rusticated from the college on disciplinary ground.

She said that some students had their attendance short and they were not allowed to appear for the examination. They went to the Delhi High Court. The court also issued its order in favour of the university. Now the university is bound to follow the court order, she said.

Ghaziabad, May 8
About 10,000 criminal cases are pending with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) due to severe shortage of staff, the probe agency's chief said here on Saturday.

CBI director A.P. Singh said: "We are short of officers. At least 30 per cent of the posts within the CBI are vacant. The central and state governments are not deputing additional officers for here. We are loaded with fresh cases from states, Union government and courts."

The director was the chief guest at the investiture ceremony of sub-inspectors at the CBI Academy here.

He said that it had become a Herculean task for the agency to deal with the finance-related crimes.

"We had requested the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to provide us some skilled officers to deal with the financial crimes. But the RBI also had shown its inability to provide such skilled staff. Hence, about 10,000 criminal cases are still pending," the officer said.

He said the agency was hopeful of early disposal of its cases as 71 new special CBI courts were being set up across the country. --IANS