Lashkar terrorist killed in encounter
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22
The Delhi Police Special Cell today gunned down a terrorist of the banned militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), in an encounter at Deenpur village in the Najafgarh area in the wee hours.

The police also seized an AK-47, four magazines, 92 live rounds and six hand grenades from his hideout. The police said the slain terrorist, Arif Mohammad alias Abdul Aziz, from Pakistan was in the city to cause disturbances in the Capital.

The encounter took place around 4.30 in the morning. When the sleuths reached the hideout, Aziz refused to surrender before the police and fired at least 28 rounds at the police party with an AK-47. The sleuths fired 48 rounds in retaliation at the terrorist before he was killed.

The Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), Mr Neeraj Kumar, said the police had to fire after the terrorist refused to surrender and challenged the police.

Neighbours in the village, who expressed shock over the incident this morning, said Aziz had been staying in the village for about two years and they never knew that he was a terrorist. Panic gripped the area since there was an exchange of fire from both sides and a large number of people gathered at the spot to witness the scene of crime.

Arif, who bought the plot initially in the village, later constructed a building and used it as a hideout in Delhi. The encounter comes a day after the arrest of another LeT terrorist, Mehboob, resident of Muzaffarnagar, by the Special Cell yesterday. Based on the inputs provided by him during the interrogation, the Special Cell went on a search for Abdul Aziz.

The sleuths had information that Mehboob would be coming near Bhajanpura crossing and apprehended him. One pistol along with eight live cartridges were seized from his possession.

Mehoob told the police he was in the city to meet Arif, whom he met a year ago through his distant relative, Nawab. Mehoob also said it was only after they became close friends that Arif told them that he was an LeT terrorist and in Delhi to accomplish some target. He also persuaded both Mehboob and Nawab to join the outfit.

After gaining his confidence, Arif gave him a suitcase containing an AK-47, magazines, pistol, hand grenades and ammunition. But Arif took back the suitcase after some time from Mehboob. Arif also took Mehboob to Anantnag to introduce him to his supreme commander. But only after reaching Anantnag did they realise that the commander had left for Pakistan, following pressure from the security forces.

Mr Neeraj Kumar said the sleuths after locating his movements, asked him to surrender but Aziz did not pay heed to their request and fired at the police party while trying to escape. The police also said they were in the process of investigating to ascertain if there were some more terrorists in the Capital.

Mehboob was produced in the POTA court and has been remanded in 10 days of police custody.

DDA scam: Yet another judge wriggles out
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22
For the third time in a week, a Delhi High Court judge declined to hear the bail pleas of three key accused in the DDA land scam. After Justices RC Chopra and BN Chaturvedi had refused to deal with the petitions on May 16 and 20, respectively, Justice OP Dwivedi today declined to hear the applications. The petitions will now be put up before some other appropriate Bench by the Chief Justice.

Yesterday the bail pleas of Vice Chairman Subhash Sharma, Commissioner (Land Disposal) Anand Mohan Sharan and Director (Land) Jagdish Chander could not be heard in the high court as their applications had not been listed.

After two judges had refused to hear their bail petitions within a span of five days, the cases were to be referred to the Chief Justice on May 20, who was to assign them to an appropriate Bench for hearing yesterday. However, the petitions were not listed in the court’s list of business.

On Friday last, Justice RC Chopra had, without assigning any reasons, refused to hear the bail applications. Justice BN Chaturvedi also refused to hear the bail pleas without assigning any reasons on May 20. Today, too, Justice Dwivedi gave no official reason for declining to hear the petitions but it is understood that he declined because he is related to one of the counsels appearing for the accused.

Justice Chopra had issued a notice, returnable on May 16, to the CBI on petitions filed by Sharma on May 6, Chandra on May 13 and Sharan on May 2. He had also directed the Investigating Officer in the case to be present in court on that day with all relevant records.

Former Delhi High Court judge Shamit Mukherjee, another key accused in the case, has already been granted interim bail. On May 5, Justice Chopra rejected Mukherjee’s regular bail application but granted him a month’s interim bail from May 7 when his CBI custody was to end.

The judge had hoped that the investigating agency would not press for further police remand unless the same was absolutely essential and trial court also would be equally careful in considering the request for further police remand on the basis of the material placed before it.

On May 7, the CBI, however, moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the High Court’s order. While the Apex Court rejected the CBI plea, it said the order of the High Court would not come in the way of a further police remand or its extension thereof, which could be considered by the trial court independent of the High Court’s order.

On the same day, the lower court extended the former judge’s police remand till May 12.

Finally, on May 12, the special trial court granted one-month interim bail to Justice Shamit Mukherjee, so that he can look after his ailing wife and old mother.

Mukherjee was arrested on April 30 by the CBI on charges of corruption, bribery and sleaze.

The CBI has filed four cases since March 26 relating to corruption in the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the country’s biggest urban development agency.

Apart from Mukherjee, the CBI had arrested 14 others, including Subhash Sharma, Dharamvir Khattar, suspended DDA Commissioner (Land) Anand Mohan Saran, DDA Commissioner (Planning) Vijay Risbud, DDA Director (Planning) Jagdish Chandra, suspended private secretary to Vice Chairman Ashok Kapoor, employee of DLF Universal Ltd Ajay Khanna, Pradeep Kapoor, Anil Wadhwa, Ved Prakash Kaushik and S Minocha of APY Hoteliers and Developers, property dealers GR Gogoi and Ravinder Taneja and Director of Modern School Education Society (Shalimar Bagh) Amrit Lal Kapoor.

The names of Sharma and alleged middleman Khattar figure in all the four cases. 

CASE OF ROAD RAGE?
Businessman crushed to death
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22
The North West district police have launched a massive hunt to trace the driver of a truck who sped away after crushing Rajinder Singh Josh, a local businessman, to death near Peepul Thal in the Jehangirpuri area last night. The victim was the brother of the former Delhi Industries Minister, Mr Harsharan Singh Balli.

The police said the number of the truck has been flashed to all police stations and the border check posts alerted. The number has also been flashed to the adjoining states as the police believe that he may have crossed the Delhi borders after the incident last night.

According to the police, the incident occurred last night while the deceased and his son Pukhraj Singh were returning home in their Maruti car. The son was driving when the truck reportedly rammed into their vehicle. There was an exchange of hot words and Mr Josh reportedly came out of his car and demanded that the truck driver hand over the registration papers, so that he could lodge a report with the police. Mr Josh reportedly climbed on to the step of the truck which was resented by the driver and his helper. During the ensuing scuffle, Mr Josh reportedly fell down and was crushed under the rear wheel when the driver tried to speed away.

However, Mr Pukhraj Singh reportedly told the police that his father was crushed to death intentionally by the driver who had threatened to teach him a lesson for demanding the registration papers. The police said his statement had been recorded and further investigations were on.

While the police were reluctant to comment, the family of the victim insisted that it was a case of road rage and wanted a case of murder to be registered against the truck driver. The police said that they were investigating all angles and if it was proved that death was caused intentionally, a case would be registered.

This incident comes close on the heels of another incident of road rage in which a young woman property dealer, Mrs Sunita Chadda, was shot dead by three youths when she intervened in a quarrel on a road in Rohini. The incident had shocked the Capital’s road users. Sunita Chadda had reportedly reprimanded the youths for abusing a scooterist, who was reportedly involved in a skirmish with their car.

Rs 1 cr trade tax evasion detected in raids
Our Correspondent

Noida, May 22
Trade tax sleuths have detected trade tax evasion of over Rs 1 crore from three sweetmeat sellers, four timber and plywood merchants, two hardware and sanitary goods sellers and one marble merchant as a result of raids organised by the Special Investigation Wing of the Noida Trade Tax Department in Rampur Beta-I market in Greater Noida.

Giving this information, the Joint Commissioner of Trade Tax Investigation Wing, Mr R. N. Chaturvedi, said at least 22 officials of the department had examined the books and accounts of these traders and discovered trade tax evasion of over Rs 1 crore by these traders.

The traders were making sale and purchase on a large scale but were not meeting the requirements under Section 8-A of the UP Trade Tax Ordinance within 30 days, which would attract a heavy penalty, Mr Chaturvedi said.

The Deputy Commissioner of this wing, Mr O. P. Rai, said seven cases of trade tax evasion were detected from hardware and sanitary sellers who had not paid trade tax since 2001 for large-scale sale and purchases. Pads, books, challan books and other documents have been seized as proof of the tax evasion and offence by these traders. Sweetmeat sellers, who were also running eateries, were having a sale of up to Rs 4,000 per day. The authorities had also detected hundreds of cases where no cash memos had ever been issued for sale of sweetmeats.

Similarly, timber and plywood sellers too were having per day sales of Rs 5000, but no proper records or cash memos were ever maintained or issued. These raids, Mr Chaturvedi said, had sent a message to Greater Noida traders to get themselves registered early for trade tax else such raids would continue against them.

Re 1 a day allowance for serving summons!
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, May 22
The hoary practice of shelling out a measly Rs 30 per month (a rupee a day) as bicycle allowance to process servers — who hand over the court summons — still persists in the courts of this district and elsewhere in Haryana. The allowance was fixed by the colonial rulers when the rupee was robust. But today, given the weak-kneed rupee, the pittance cannot even pay for a puncture.

The increase in the cost of conveyance notwithstanding, the bicycle allowance remains unchanged for the last five decades.

There are at least 20 process servers in various judicial courts in the district headquarters. Of them, 13 are deployed in civil cases while the rest serve summons in criminal cases.

On an average, about 500 summons are handed over to the process servers in a week and they have to serve them before the next date of hearing. As they cannot cover all the areas on their bicycles, at least 25 per cent of the summons are returned without being served, which results in repeated adjournments in the courtroom. This causes severe hardship to the litigants as well as the process servers.

A process server has to seek the help of the village chowkidars for identifying the persons on whom the summons are to be served. Sometimes, the chowkidars are not forthcoming and refuse to help the process servers. Finally, the process servers have filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking the revision of their remuneration from Rs 2,650 per month to Rs 3,050 per month.

Haze makes Delhiites bite the dust
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22
For the second time this month Delhiites woke up to a sultry, dusty morning. A layer of dust descended on the Capital, disrupting normal life. While motorists found it difficult to negotiate the roads on account of poor visibility, others chose to stay inside their houses.

The Meteorological Office points out that the hazy conditions are likely to continue for the next 48 hours. They have blamed the South-Western disturbance and winds blowing over Rajasthan for causing the dust storms.

It was pointed out that there are indications of rain in the evening, which in turn is expected to bring down the temperature in the city.

The denizens of the city were trying hard to keep the dust from percolating indoors. “We are trying to seal the doors and windows. Owing to these dust storms our health has been seriously affected”, said a resident of East Delhi.

Though the Met Department says that a dust storm is not a very uncommon phenomenon in May, which generally experiences four to five such storms, the people found it hard to take it in their stride. “We have been cleaning the house since morning. The dust is making it difficult to breathe. It is a strange phenomenon and we hope that it passes off quickly otherwise it will lead to whole lot of health problems”, said a resident of Vasant Kunj.

Doctors have advised people, especially those prone to dust allergy and breathing disorders, to stay indoors. They have also advised covering the nose with a moist cloth to avoid inhaling dust and have recommended washing the eyes with clean water.

Headmaster, woman teacher roughed up

SONEPAT: Mr Rishi Prakash, Headmaster of Indian Modern School, and a woman teacher, Ms Anita Devi, were roughed up by certain armed persons in the presence of the students in the classroom here yesterday.

It is stated that the armed assailants had entered the classroom when Mr Rishi Prakash was holding a class. The alleged assailants started beating him with belts. When Mrs Anita Devi came to his rescue, she was also beaten up. One of the assailants allegedly whipped out a pistol and threatened them with dire consequences, if they reported the matter to the police. OC

Task cut out for new Faridabad Mayor
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, May 22
Although Faridabad has finally got a new Mayor, residents are apprehensive on whether he will he able to provide an answer to the complex civic problems faced by this prime industrial hub, already burgeoning with a population of about 15 lakh.

Dr Attar Singh is the third person to occupy this post, which has become a symbol of status and power for local politicians, in the last three years. The dethroning of two Mayors in the past signals to the nature of the hot seat it has become.

The real challenge for the new Mayor is not only to keep his seat in tact for the next 19 months (till the term of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad expires), but also to carry out the development of civic facilities in a proper manner.

While there are several problems that required to be addressed, but the important ones include improving the financial health of the corporation, which is in dire straits at present. The financial crunch has had its effects on the amenities.

Roads in most parts of the city are facing a virtual blackout due to non-functioning of streetlights. The electricity department has switched off supply to streetlights because of the non-payment of dues by the MCF.

The civic body has been told to clear the dues of over Rs 21 crore if it wanted resumption of power supply.

The corporation also owes several crores of rupees as payment to its contractors, who also have protested on various occasions. The situation the MCF is in gets clearer when one knows that it faces shortage of funds to pay even the salary of its staff.

Thanks to the shortage of funds, many schemes of development have either been delayed. There are several colonies, which do not have adequate water supply. Protest rallies for water at the MCF office has become a routine affair.

The corporation has also failed to collect various dues, including house tax from government, semi-government and private buildings, which reportedly owe several crores of rupees to corporation.

The cess collected by the electricity department through its bills has accumulated and has not been released, according to MCF officials.

The MCF’s share in the local area development tax (LADT) and property transaction tax has not been given or adjusted against.

Although the district contributes the maximum in the form of revenue to the state exchequer, no grants are sanctioned by the state government after the abolition of the Octroi. As a result, the corporation is almost bankrupt and local residents, who pay all kinds of taxes, suffer.

Roads in a majority of the sectors and colonies have not been repaired or relaid for months and years.

There has been no regular removal of garbage from the residential areas.

The residents have been forced to hire sweepers and garbage collectors in nearly all the areas on a contribution basis.

The plan of handing over cleanliness work to a voluntary organisation by paying Rs 25 lakh a month has flopped.

NDPL chief warns of power failures in coming days
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22
The New Delhi Power Ltd (NDPL), which last year took over electricity distribution in north and north-west districts of the Capital, today warned that power supply might be affected in the coming weeks following reduction in power generation.

Delhi needs 4,000 MW of power to take care of contingencies arising from forced outages of generating units or transmission lines, NDPL CEO A. K. Sardana told mediapersons.

The Capital is the only metro, which does not have its own electricity generation facilities. Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Chennai can meet their requirements if there is any problem or shortfall at the grid level, he said.

Mr Sardana said they had inherited an establishment, which was in a mess, and it would take sometime to clear it up. The company was using state-of-the-art technologies and modernised systems to streamline power supply in the Capital, he added.

He claimed the company had brought down power theft by five per cent since it had taken over in July last year. The thefts would be brought down after all consumers were made to install meters. Mr Sardana said the company was facing great resistance from the people and their elected representatives in installing electric meters, which they had been avoiding during the Delhi Vidyut Board regime, and had thus become used to having free power.

The state-of-the-art meters, which could be read from remote places, were being installed for big power consumers so as to reduce chances of their tampering, he added.

He said the NDPL was also installing individual transformers, which would greatly help reduce free power consumption. These transformers were installed on 11 KV lines, which were replacing LT lines, making it impossible for people to hook electric connections, he pointed out.

The NDPL CEO said they had achieved notable success in recovering power dues. On an average, the NDPL was recovering Rs 1 crore in arrears per month.

He said the NDPL had tied up with the US-based utility for technology upgradation. The NDPL was also going to launch its website through which consumers could trace their power usage history, see old bills, get them printed and pay them online, he added.

Mr Sardana said the company was undertaking safety audit of important buildings like those of schools, cinema halls and hospitals and nursing homes and it had sent a notice to many of them in this connection. The state of safety in their electric installations was pathetic because of which tragedies like Uphaar fire had taken place, he added.

CIVIC CORNER
Residents of substandard GDA flats have the jitters
Our Correspondent

Ghaziabad, May 22
People living in the GDA flats constructed under its residential scheme in Indirapuram are living under constant fear. The flats have been found to be constructed with substandard building materials so much so that they can’t withstand the tremors of an earthquake.

As many as 3,552 flats of 111 building blocks constructed in the first phase are reported to be fast becoming unfit for human living. There are 35 flats in each building. Their walls have developed cracks and fissures on account of the inferior quality building materials used in its construction, it is alleged.

One minor tremor can bring these buildings to the ground like a pack of cards. The flats had developed cracks during January 2000 earthquake, the residents allege.

The GDA had constructed these LIG flats in 1988-89 in Indirapuram under its residential schemes. However, thanks to the substandard building materials and faulty construction, the plaster is coming off the walls of rooms and staircases. Cracks have developed in almost all buildings. In many buildings, even the bricks have started coming out.

Ten buildings, which were left incomplete at that time, are almost on the verge of collapse. They have not been allotted to any applicants so far, it is learnt. There are only between 500 and 700 allottees living in each building block. They were allotted flats at Rs 60,000 to Rs 65,000 a unit then. The buildings had been in a very delicate position even at the time of allotment, says Minoo Singh, one of the allottees.

Computerised draw for allotment of plots
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has decided to hold a computerised draw for the allotment of 589 alternative residential plots to farmers whose land had been acquired under the scheme of Large Scale Acquisition Development and Disposal of Land.

The draw will announce the allotment of land to the eligible candidates recommended from the East, West, North and South and Narela zones. The alternative residential plots will be allotted in Rohini, Dwarka and Narela residential schemes and will be made in accordance with seniority, based on date of taking over the possession of land as intimated by the land building department.

As many as 180 of those recommended are awaiting allotment of these plots, whereas 730 are awaiting for allotment in Rohini, 48 in Dwarka and 32 in Narela.

In a statement issued today, it was pointed out that efforts are being made to provide land to the rest of the 221 recommendees.

The computerised draw will be held on May 26 at the Auction Hall, Vikas Sadan, near INA market.

DDA allots alternative plots to those whose land is acquired under the Large Scale Acquisition Development and Disposal of Land in the city.

These alternative plots are allotted on the basis of recommendations from the Land and Building Department of Government of NCT, Delhi.

CPWD engineers stage rally

Joint Forum of Associations of CPWD Junior Engineers, Assistant Engineers and Promottee Executive Engineers yesterday organised a rally at Nirman Bhawan against the apathetic attitude of the CPWD authorities and the Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation.

The association members said that Junior Engineers of CPWD were not given promotion eve after putting in 26 years of service though 300 post of executive engineers are lying vacant. They demanded continuance of second upgradation under A.C.P. scheme in the existing format and issuance of yearlong awaited orders, immediate promotion from A.E to E.E. and stop attempt to dilute GFR, a press release said.

Cantonment ‘not sealed’

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Defence today denied the “entire” Delhi Cantonment area was sealed. It said only security checks were being carried out based on intelligence inputs.

“Keeping in view the security threat to vital and vulnerable defence installations in Delhi Cantonment and also soft targets such as families of armymen within the cantonment limits, such measures have been take to prevent repetition of Kaluchak-like incidents,” the statement said. TNS

Anomalies in house tax notices anger residents
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, May 22
Discrepancies in house tax notices, the proposed annual increase in the tax and “negligent” attitude of the officials of the local municipal council continue to irritate the residents of this town, which has around 40,000 house tax payers.

According to inquiries made by the NCR Tribune, wrong billing has allegedly been continuing for the last many years. The house tax amount paid last year is again shown as outstanding in this year’s notices. When discrepancies are brought to the notices of the officials of the council, they treat it as a casual error saying that it was a computer fault and ask the complainants to show the receipt of the paid bill for making necessary amendments in the notices.

“If by chance, we lose the receipt, it is not easy to get a duplicate receipt due to the uncooperative attitude of the officials,” said a number of residents of West Ram Nagar and Ram Bazar.

One Ram Mehar of Kot Mohalla said: “Large scale irregularities are being found in the house tax notices. Many people have complained that they had to make repeated visits to the council’s office to get the notices rectified. Cases of including last year’s paid house tax in the new bills is very common and the house owners face harassment for no fault of theirs.”

Rajinder Kumar of Model Town and R. S. Dahiya of the old court flayed the new house tax policy of the government. The new policy envisages annual like in the house taxes on the bases of the annual increase in the collector’s rates of land, they added.

Scheme to provide potable water in kitchens launched
Our Correspondent

Rohtak, May 22
The government has launched an ambitious project called “swajal dhara” to provide potable piped water in the kitchens of rural population. This canal-based water supply project will cost approximately Rs 25 lakh, 10 per cent of which would be contributed by the villagers.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ashok Yadav, told the NCR Tribune that the scheme has been launched in 82 out of 147 villages in the district. Thus, over 54 per cent of the rural population in Rohtak would soon get potable water in their kitchens, he said.

He said that the project is being executed and maintained by the village panchayats, which would also take care of its launching. The villages have been advised to install boosters so that the houses at the tail end of the scheme also get piped water.

Mr Yadav said that priority has been given to those villages that have been facing water scarcity for the past many decades, nay centuries. The underground water in most parts of the district is brackish and unfit for human consumption. The womenfolk in these villages have to fetch water from far off places to meet the daily needs of water. After the implementation of the scheme, these women will benefit the most.

The Deputy Commissioner disclosed that the NCR Development Board has approved the project submitted to it for augmenting water supply in Rohtak town. The project costing Rs 1123.48 lakh would be completed in four years. Following the completion of this scheme, water supply in the town would increase by 30 lakh gallons per day.

Water supply in the town is canal based. The Deputy Commissioner said that at present, the residents are being supplied 110 litres per head per day water as against the norms of 150 litres per capita per day. He, however, hastened to add that there is no shortage of potable piped water in the town.

Mr Yadav said that a campaign has been launched to disconnect unauthorised water supply connections. Nearly 125 such connections have been detected and disconnected in the past two days in the interior localities of the town and another 35 in Bohar village, situated on the outskirts of Rohtak town. He has asked the public health authorities, who manage the water supply in the town and the rural areas, to intensify the campaign against illegal water users.

Record production by Panipat refinery
Our Correspondent

Panipat, May 22
Indian Oil’s Panipat refinery processed a record 61 lakh tonnes of crude oil during the fiscal year, said Mr Rohit Bhardwaj, Executive Director, Panipat Refinery, while talking to the NCR Tribune here today.

Referring to the achievements in the areas of safety, health and environment, Mr Bhardwaj informed that the refinery had received prestigious “Sword of Honour” award from the British Safety Council, London, and the Energy Conservation Award from the Ministry of Power.

He also said that Panipat Refinery had completed more than two years of operations without any accident, achieving accident-free 5.85 million man hours as on date.

The refinery achieved the highest capacity production by a major secondary unit producing record 2.04 lakh tonnes of LPG; 7.5 lakh tonnes of petrol, 2.32 lakh tonnes of aero-turbine fuel (ATF), 25.9 lakh tonnes of high speed diesel (HSD) and 3.86 lakh tonnes of bitumen surpassing its previous best production levels.

Mr Bhardwaj informed that a new product, Servocut LP, was produced by the Panipat refinery. Its production had already started. The product was used under the category of “Neat Cutting Oils” in engineering industries as a coolant and flushing media, he said.

This apart, the refinery had also started producing premium grade petrol, he said. This had better anti-knock property resulting in better engine performance and extra mileage. It removed carbon deposits and gave faster pick-up with reduced exhaust emissions, Mr Bhardwaj said.

Bus shelters built at inflated rates?
Our Correspondent

Bhiwani, May 22
Eight bus shelters constructed by Haryana Roadways in villages for the convenience of passengers are now subjected to an investigation as these have been allegedly built for an amount two to three times more than the prevailing market rates.

The roadways had given the contract for constructing bus shelters at Gagarwas, Bharwas, Budhera, Dhirana, Sorda, Kalond and two at Kharkari village. According to sources, the department spent Rs 55,800 on each shelter whereas the work could have been completed for Rs 20,000-Rs 25,000.

It is learnt that ‘baloo’ sand was filled at the rate of Rs 450 per trolley to raise each shelter whereas a ‘baloo’ sand trolley is available at a rate between Rs 80 and Rs 120 in the open market. At least six trolleys were used to equalise a bus shelter. Nearly five quintals of iron rods were used for the construction of each tri-walled shelter. Metal chips, concrete and cement were also used in huge quantity. According to information, the department paid much higher than the prevailing market rates for painting the shelters.

About 5,000 bricks had been used in the construction of a shelter and the department paid Rs 4.46,400 lakh for the construction of eight queue shelters. If these shelters had been built at the prevailing market rates, the department would have to pay only Rs 1.92 lakh, it is said. The general manager of the depot was not available for his comments when contacted.

Motorists told to use Dhaula Kuan flyover
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22
As the second phase of the Dhaula Kuan flyover has been completed the Delhi Traffic police has asked the motorists to use it for smooth flow of traffic in the area.

Besides the flyover, one carriageway of Ring Road from Naraina towards Moti Bagh and two slip roads have also been opened for the general traffic. Motorists coming from Naraina and wish to go towards AIIMS through Ring Road, can now go straight by using the newly opened under-pass at Dhaula Kuan.

Similarly, traffic from Naraina to Karol Bagh, can use the upper ridge road through the new slip road.

Also, motorists wish to go towards Gurgoan can cross under-pass to take left turn on San Martin Marg and reach the Sardar Patel Marg through Abai Marg. The traffic authorities have requested the motorists to adhere to traffic rules to avoid any chaos till the completion of the flyover in the area.

NCR BRIEFS
Woman dies in mysterious circumstances
Our Correspondent

Noida, May 22
A woman of Sadarpur Colony was reportedly died on Tuesday night in mysterious circumstances.

Satya Prakash, originally from Agra, was married three years ago when he shifted to Noida for employment along with his wife, Rajeshwari. The couple had two kids but their penury often used to be a cause for marital discord.

The couple had gone to bed on Monday after a tiff. Next morning, it was discovered that Rajeshwari had died during the night. Some injury marks were found on her body and foam was emanating from her mouth.

The police feel she might have consumed some poisonous substance to commit suicide or she might have been murdered. The police sent the body for post-mortem examination.

Five robbers held in Noida

Noida police arrested five robbers who used to loot locked-up factories and houses. Illegal country-made revolver, cartridges and a number of cell phones and VCRs recovered from their possession.

SP City, Vijay Bhushan said that police had got a tip-off that a gang of robbers were hiding in Sector-8 and waiting for an appropriate time to commit a robbery.

SO Sudesh Gupta of Sector-20 police station organised a team and raided the indicated place. During the raid, the miscreants had fired on the police team. But cops were able to capture five criminals in the raid, Mr Bhushan said.

The arrested robbers identified as Ajay of Agra and Sulaman, Chandan, Deepak and Iqbal of Sector-9, Noida. The robbers confessed their involvement in a number of loots, robberies and told that some more criminals were also members of their gang. Police are trying to arrest the remaining thieves of the gang, SP City said.

Bomb scare at Police Hqrs

New Delhi: The Delhi Police went into a tizzy after they received an anonymous call this morning that a bomb had been planted in the police headquarters.

The Police Control Room, which received the call at around 9.30 am, immediately cordoned off the entire area besides activating the security apparatus to verify whether the call was genuine. The call was dismissed as hoax after a thorough search for two hours by the bomb disposal squad, sniffer dogs and policemen. Investigations are on to trace the call and the caller.

This is the second time in the last two months that the police headquarters has received a hoax call. The Delhi Police Headquarters is on top of the hit list of terrorists and has been receiving regular calls about possible Fidayeen attacks.

The officials have restricted the entry of outsiders through the main entrance and are frisking them as well.

Youth suffers burn injuries

Sonepat: A youth, Rajbir, sustained serious burn injuries when he was touched with live wires while removing the electricity wires from a pole at Riwara village about 40 km from here on Wednesday night. The youth, resident of Bhavar village, has been living in the house of his relatives for the past few days. In the absence of power supply, he reportedly made an attempt to steal the electricity wires from a pole in the village.

When he was engaged in cutting the electricity wires, the power supply resumed and he was touched with live wires and fell down from the pole. The officials of the UHBVN reported the case to the police for further investigations.

DOWRY MENACE
Woman choked to death for dowry
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, May 22
A woman, Neeraj, was reportedly strangulated to death by her in-laws for not bringing adequate dowry at Murthal village, about 8 km from here, last night.

According to a report, the police sent the body for the post-mortem after registering a case of dowry death against her husband and four other members of her in-laws.

Raghbir, the father of the girl, resident of Roht village, stated that she had married to a youth, Virender, son of Mr Ranpat of Murthal village, on February 17, last year. The husband of Neeraj had demanded a Maruti car in dowry at the time of the marriage and when the parents of the girl declined to fulfil this demand, the in-laws backed out this demand and agreed to perform the marriage, after getting the cash for a scooter.

Raghbir also alleged that his daughter was harassed by her husband and other members of the in-laws immediately after the marriage. Thereupon, the girl left the house of her husband and started living with her parents.

When Virender offered an apology, Neeraj was sent back to the house of her husband. He also alleged that Virender had threatened her wife with dire consequences if she failed to fulfil the dowry demands.

Seven booked for dowry harassment

Bhiwani: Seven persons, including three women, were charged with the harassment of bride for dowry demand here today. According to information, Rajneesh, daughter of Shiv Lal of Ashok Colony, registered a complaint with the police against her in-laws for harassing her for more dowries.

Bus ploughs through pedestrians, three killed
Our Correspondent

Ghaziabad, May 22
Two persons committed suicide in two different places while three persons, including a woman and her baby, were killed as a private bus ploughed through them.

A private bus, being driven rashly, hit a motorcyclist from behind and crushed three pedestrians including a woman and her six-month-old child on Ambedkar Road. The bus driver fled abandoning the bus after the accident. Some angry people smashed the windowpanes of the bus and pelted it with stones.

The bus on Noida route had first hit another bus near Chaudhuri crossing, after which it hit a motorcyclist and a cyclist.

After this, the bus crushed the woman pedestrian and her child and another person, Jaswant. He was rushed to Ganesh Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. He was originally from Badayun and was employed in the railways and was reportedly going home after completing his duty, the police said.

The pedestrian woman could not be identified till late in the evening.

The driver of the bus, which was coming at high speed, had reportedly lost control over it.

In a suicide case, Arvind (20) of house D-308 at Lajpat Nagar in the Sahibabad area had reportedly gone to sleep in his sister’s house D-220 as she and her family had gone out of station.

He hanged himself with his sister’s sari, the police said.

In the Sihani Gate police station area, another youth, Upendra Kumar, ended his life by consuming some poisonous substance.

He was rushed to a hospital, but it was too late.

In another incident, Santosh, wife of Deepak of Pucca Talale, set herself on fire after sprinkling kerosene.

She was rushed to MMG Hospital in a critical condition.

LPG agency employee murdered
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22
Three unidentified armed youths murdered an employee of an LPG agency and robbed a few thousands of rupees from the agency’s office run by a handicapped man in Bhajanpura area last night. The owner of the agency, Vijay Kumar Jain, and his driver Dinesh were also stabbed when they tried to raise an alarm.

The incident occurred in the office of V.V. Enterprises when Mr Jain and his three employees — Ram Gopal, Harbir and Dinesh — were present. The suspects entered the office on some pretext and began threatening those present with knives and guns; they also demanded the dayay’s collections.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East), Mr Praveer Ranjan, the suspects stabbed Vijay when he raised an alarm. They also stabbed Dinesh when he rushed into the office on hearing the commotion.

Since the agency owner had already sent the sale proceeds to his residence, the suspects could only lay their hands on a few thousand of rupees. The suspects seemed to be professionals. Their fingerprints have been lifted from the cash box.