New Delhi, November 6
An eight-year-old girl was brutally killed after having been kidnapped allegedly by a neighbour in west Delhi's Raghubir Nagar on Tuesday.

The accused has been identified as Gian Chand (35). He had allegedly tried to sexually assault her, but killed her when she started shouting, according to the police.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (West District) Ranvir Singh said that Chand went to the victim's house on Tuesday and asked her to come with him. "Chand lured the girl on the pretext that her mother was calling her. As they were acquainted, the victim went with him," Singh added.

Chand took the girl about seven kilometres away from her home to a place near Paschim Vihar railway tracks. He gave her sweets and then allegedly tried to sexually assault her. "As she started shouting, Chand became furious and attacked the girl. He crushed her head with a stone," Singh said.

The girl's father approached the Khyala police station after he found her missing from home. He told the police that he had left his house for office on Tuesday morning and his daughter was not at home when he returned. "He suspected Chand's involvement in the incident," Singh added.

A case of kidnapping was registered at the Khyala police station. The police shared the descriptions of the girl and Chand with all the police stations in Delhi.

"A search was started to find the girl in several parks in the areas near her home," Singh said.

Chand was detained for questioning. He allegedly confessed to being involved in the girl's murder and helped the police recover her body.

The police found out that Chand has a criminal history. He was earlier arrested in 1995 in a criminal case registered at the Rajouri Garden police station. In 2002, he was allegedly involved in the murder of a man named Chandu in Raghubir Nagar. "Chand was imprisoned for around seven years in the case," Singh added.

New Delhi, November 6
The Central Election Committee of the BJP today at a meeting under the presidentship of Rajnath Singh announced the list of 62 candidates to contest the assembly elections on December 4. The remaining eight candidates will be announced later.

The meeting was attended by L.K. Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and all the members of the Central Election Committee of the BJP.

The committee has decided the following names for the ensuing elections to the Legislative Assembly of Delhi: Neeldaman Khatri, Narela; Shrikrishna Tyagi, Burari; Vijay Bhagat, Badali; Kulwant Rana, Rithala; Manoj Shaukeen, Mundaka; Anil Jha, Kirari; Susheela Bagadi, Sultanpur Mazara (SC); Ramkishor Narwaria, Mangolpuri (SC); Jaibhagwan Agrawal, Rohini; Ravindra Bansal, Shalimar Bag; Shyam Lal Garg, Shakur Basti; Nand Kishore Garg, Tri Nagar; Mahendra Nagpal, Wazirpur; Ashok Goyal, Model Town; Jaiprakash, Sadar Bazar; Suman Gupta, Chandani Chowk; Mohammad Nizamuddin, Matia Mahal; Motilal Sodhi, Ballimaran; Surendra Ratawal, Karol Bagh; Poornima Vidyarthi, Patel Nagar; Subhash Sachdeva, Moti Nagar; Kailash Sankla, Madipur; Akali Dal, Rajouri Garden; Akali Dal, Hari Nagar: Rajiv Babbar, Tilak Nagar; Jagdish Mukhi, Janakpuri; Kishan Gehlot, Vikas Puri; Pawan Sharma, Uttam Nagar; Praduman Rajput, Dwarka; Rajesh Gahlot, Matiala; Ajit Khadkhadi, Najafgarh; Satprakash Rana, Bijwasan; Dharamdev Solanki, Palam; Karan Singh Tanwar, Delhi Cantt; R P Singh, Rajinder Nagar; Vijendra Gupta, New Delhi; Pankaj Jain, Jangpura; Shikha Rai, Kasturba Nagar; Aarti Mehra, Malviya Nagar; Anil Sharma, R K Puram; Pravesh Verma, Mehrauli; Gaganshrilal Pradhan, Deoli (SC); Khusiram, Ambedkar Nagar (SC); Dr SCL Gupta, Sangam Vihar; Ajay Malhotra, Greater Kailash; Akali Dal, Kalkaji; Ramesh Bidhuri, Tugalakabad; Ram Veer Bidhuri, Badarpur ; Sunil Vaidya, Trilok Puri (SC); Dushyant Gautam, Kondli (SC); Nakul Bhardwaj, Patparganj; Abhay Verma, Laxmi Nagar; O P Sharma, Vishwas Nagar; Dr Harsh 
Vardhan, Krishna Nagar ; R C Jain, Gandhi Nagar ; Akali Dal, Shahdara ; Jitendra Mahajan, Rohtas Nagar; Kaushal Mishra, Seelampur; Sahib Singh Chauhan, Gonda; Naresh Gaur, Babarpur; Ranjit Kashyap, Gokulpuri and Mohan Singh Bisht, Karawal Nagar.

New Delhi, November 6
On a day when the BJP announced the names of its 62 candidates and made public its decision to allow its ally Akali Dal to contest four seats, sources in the Congress said that the first list of around 35 sitting MLAs may be released either on November 8 or 9.

The Congress leaders said that the list of the candidates is awaiting the approval of party chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who are apparently busy in rallies in different states and other election-related meetings.

Sonia, who presides over the committee, would consider the suggestions forwarded by the screening committee for selecting the candidates. She would return from a visit to Chhattisgarh and chair the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting that would finalise the Delhi list, said party insiders.

"Rahul's return from Jammu and Kashmir will decide whether the CEC meets on November 8 or 9. If he reaches Delhi late on November 8, the meeting will be held the next day," said a party leader, who did not wish to be named.

Initially, a list of 35 candidates will be announced. "Names of at least two Delhi Cabinet ministers may not figure in this list," said the sources. The Congress camp saw hectic activity in its screening committee for shortlisting candidates for the December 4 assembly elections after the BJP's announcement of first list.

Meanwhile, the screening committee interviewed eight sitting MLAs ahead of taking a decision on forwarding their names to the CEC.

New Delhi, November 6
In order to woo Poorvanchali voters, politics over Chhath Puja has started as leaders of both the Congress and the BJP fight over declaring the festival a gazetted holiday.

The four-time Congress MLA and parliamentary secretary to the Chief Minister, Mukesh Sharma, today charged the BJP with politicizing the issue.

"The BJP knows it very well that the number of gazetted holidays cannot be increased without first deleting one of the already prescribed gazetted holidays. In any case, the city government has already declared restricted holiday on Chhath," he said.

He said Delhi is the second state after Bihar to have declared a holiday on the Chhath occasion and the state government has made the necessary arrangements for the smooth conduct of puja at all the 72 ghats.

Whereas, a delegation of the BJP had recently approached the Lieutenant Governor, requesting him to make proper arrangements for the festival. "There have been untoward incidents on the day due to the apathy of the Congress," said Vijay Goel, Delhi BJP president.

On the other side, the Congress MLA attacked the three BJP-ruled municipal corporations for failing to keep hygiene on the Chhath ghats. He said it is the basic function of a civic body.

He said that it was only during the Congress regime that the government took note of this festival and got the gram sabha land and made ghats.

"At Hastsal village, Chhath parks and ghats are being built while in Uttam Nagar, more than 18 ghats have already been built," Sharma added.

New Delhi, November 6
The Delhi Police with the help of a women and child rights organization rescued seven women belonging to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, from a brothel on GB Road of central Delhi.

The women are aged between 20 and 25. They were brought from different parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on the pretext of providing them employment in factories in Delhi. Preliminary investigations revealed that the victims belong to poor families and were promised Rs 10,000 a month for working in the factories.

The police have arrested the brothel owner, Akila, who allegedly forced them into prostitution for the past four months.

"We raided brothel number 58 last evening along with two representatives of the women rights organization, Stop Trafficking and Oppression of Children and Women (STOP)," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central District) Alok Kumar.

Today, they were produced before the court and steps are being taken for their rehabilitation.

The STOP was earlier tipped off that eight women had been trafficked from AP and Karnataka and were forced into prostitution. A team of Karnataka police had approached NGO members who informed the police.

The police are now investigating the traffickers who lured these women into a trap and brought them into the Capital.

New Delhi, November 6
A 12-member delegation of the Border Guard Bangladesh will participate in the three-day Border Security Force Mela, which is a platform for art created by the force personnel.

The BSF Mela will be held from November 8 to 10 at the Mela Ground near the CGO Complex in Delhi.

Gursharan Kaur, the wife of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will inaugurate the event at 11 am on November 8. Ujwala Shinde, the wife of Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, will declare its closing at 4 pm on November 10. The timing of the event will be between 10 am and 9 pm.

An officer explained that the mela is a platform where the BSF personnel from across the country will display and sell artefacts. "Many of the products are made by the BSF Wives Welfare Association (BWWA) of different BSF frontiers," said the officer.

BWWA is a non-profit organisation which trains and assists wives of BSF personnel in areas such as skill generation, children's education, career counselling, health and lifestyle.

The Simanto Paribar Kallyan Samiti (SHIPKS) of the Border Guard Bangladesh will participate in the mela. This will be the first time in the history of the BSF Mela that a foreign paramilitary force is taking part in it.

A 12-member BGB delegation is reaching Delhi tomorrow.

The chief attraction of SHIPKS stall is Bangladeshi sarees, leather goods and handicrafts.

This year the theme of the mela is "BSF Mela-Ek Muskaan" to highlight the efforts of the force to organize medical camps, especially for the surgery of those who have cleft lips.

The mela will have a dance and music show. Indian folk singer Malini Awasthi will perform at the event. A free medical camp is being organized by the BSF Hospital, R K Puram.