New Delhi, February 22
With the arrest of 12 persons, the Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch today claimed to have busted a gang of forgers, who used to fraudulently procure Income Tax Refund Orders in the names of various individuals and opened bogus bank accounts to encash amount worth lakhs of rupees.

The accused persons arrested have been identified as Anil Kumar Srivastava (39), R. S. Sharma (56), Yogesh Sharma (31), Kuldeep Sharma (44), Arun Srivastava (51), Rakesh Dewan (51), Ramesh Pandey (43), Satish Pathak (30), Kamlesh Pathak (28), Rakesh Kumar (21), S. N. Kesari (29) and Hukam Singh Bisht (28).

Acting on a complaint from one Veena Raj that one Jastinder Singh filed income tax return on July 31, 2003, claiming a refund of Rs 1.68 lakh on the basis of TDS amounting to Rs 1.85 lakh. Accordingly Rs 1.75 lakh was issued to him on December 24, 2003 and since he filed for a mutilated refund order and requested for revalidation of the same, another refund order of Rs 1.75 lakh was issued in his favour.

But when the officials verified his documents, it was revealed that he filed the income tax returns in different wards and had also given fake address.

Based on this, the sleuths during investigation collected records including account opening forms, particulars of introducers, status of account, statements of bank accounts and scrutinised the same.

In the process, one Anil Kumar Srivastava’s name cropped up and the sleuths found a huge amount of refund orders were transferred to his account maintained in SBI, K.G. Marg branch. The said account was also in the name of Srivastava’s father, late Kailash Bihari Srivastava.

During investigation, it also came to notice that Anil Kumar posed as a Chartered Accountant and was involved in liaison work with Sales Tax, Income Tax departments and DDA as well. He also arranged loans to several persons and in the process developed close contacts with banks and Income Tax officials.

He also roped in one Ramesh Pandey, who runs a chemist shop in Yusuf Sarai and involved him in his nefarious activities.

New Delhi, February 22
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) today took out a march demanding a Central legislation during the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament to check the ongoing commercialisation of education.

The march, which began near Jantar Mantar, was stopped by the police from reaching the Parliament House. The functionaries of the ABVP warned that if the government fails to fulfil their demand they would continue to stage protests in this regard.

The ABVP has been demanding a legislation to control the “commercialisation of education and monitor the self-financing professional colleges”.

It was pointed out that in the last decade and more there has been a phenomenal expansion of self-financing educational institutions, especially in the field of medicine, engineering and management.

Calling for a need to regulate the fee structure in these institutions, the ABVP members said that a large number of students are driven to despair owing to the fees structures and many have been compelled to commit suicide.

New Delhi, February 22
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi organised a function to honour the memory of the saint- philosopher Swami Shradhanand.

The function was organised at the ‘Balidan Sthal’, Town Hall, in Chandni Chowk area. The Mayor, Mr A. R. Verma, garlanded his statue on this occasion.

“The life of Swami Shradhanand inspires us to make the supreme sacrifices for the country and society. Swami ji rendered great services in the field of education by establishing the ‘Gurukul system’ and always stood for Hindu-Muslim unity,” Mr Verma said.

New Delhi, February 22
The Delhi Master Plan 2021, which lays special emphasis on aesthetics of development, has most surprisingly been drafted without consulting the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC), a statutory body set up to advise the government on the subject.

The Commission was not consulted when the proposals were being drawn up, which has happened for the first time. According to sources, experts in the statutory body are not happy with the way they were sidetracked in a process so comprehensively and vitally affecting the life in the Capital.

‘’In the drafting of the second Master Plan, which was basically just an amended version of the first Master Plan of 1960, the Commission was actively involved, but this time, it was not asked to give its expert comments,’’ they said.

‘’There are ways of doing things. First you study and remove the lacunae in the previous plan. After that you should draw up a strategy to implement that. This practice does not seem to have been followed this time,’’ they added.

Both the DDA and the Union Urban Development Ministry did not give any direct answer to the question why the DUAC was avoided this time at the draft stage.

An official in the Urban Development Ministry said, ‘’a number of organisations are consulted in the process and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) must have taken the Commission’s advice.’’

A DDA spokesperson said only this, ‘’We held so many seminars to discuss the proposals, with a number of experts from different government and non-government bodies participating in it. After the draft is ready, it will be put for knowing the views of the public and different bodies.’’

However, the DUAC’s arguments are that its advice would have mattered more if it had been taken while proposals were being formulated.

The DUAC was set up in May 1974, under the Delhi Urban Art Commission Act, 1973, as an Advisory Body of the Central Government and the local bodies in Delhi with a view to preserving, developing and maintaining the aesthetic quality of urban and environmental design within Delhi.

The main purpose of the DUAC is promotion of those qualities in the planning of the city, which ensure proper living ambience, or in other words, to foster the attractiveness and functional utility of a place to live and work.

It is also expected to preserve the city’s heritage by maintaining the discernible character of the areas of special historical significance.

The Commission has a Chairman and not less than two and more than four members. The members are prominent persons having sensibility and interest in plastic or visual art or possess special knowledge of architecture and art.

Ghaziabad, February 22
Two men in village Mukinpur ki Mundiya in Pilkhua shot dead their 65-year-old father-in-law.

The deceased was a patient of tuberculosis and had been getting treatment at his nephew’s house for the last 45 days.

The nephew has lodged an FIR in Kotwali Pilkhua, naming the sons-in-law of the victim for his murder. Property dispute is said to be cause of the crime, police said.

According to police, Tirlok Chand, 65, of village Bondra under police station Agota, had been suffering from TB.

He had married off his two daughters. For over a month, he had been staying with his nephew Kanchhid in Mukinpur ki Mundiya for treatment.

At about 11.30 pm last night, his son-in-law Chander of village Chhayesa, under police station Jarcha and Gajender of village Manglore, police station Bulandshahr, came and shot Tirlok Chand dead. All the inmates were at home at the time of murder.

Ghaziabad, February 22
Some criminals active in Ghaziabad were suspected to be involved in the murder of a woman in a Hardwar hotel a week ago.

Several hotel employees hinted at this possibility to the Hardwar police.

The police have also arrested a local youth in this connection.

A police team led by SI Ramveer Singh from Hardwar reached Ghaziabad and with the help of the Sihani Gate police, the Uttaranchal police raided a house in Maliwada area and arrested one Ravinder, alias Veera.

When asked about the murder, the Uttaranchal police said that people who had stayed in the hotel along with the woman had given their addresses of Secunderabad in Bulandshahr and while talking they were mentioning Ghaziabad also.

The police had first inquired about the criminals in Secunderabad and Bulandshahr and then raided a house in the city.

One woman and two men along with children had stayed in Deep hotel near Hardwar railway station on February 13.

Next morning, the room was found locked from outside. Finding something fishy, the hotel manager informed the police.

The police reached the spot immediately and broke open the door.

As the door was opened, the body of a woman with head severed had been found. 

Gurgaon, February 22
A section of the Residents’ Welfare Association and the Women Action Forum active in DLF City have expressed resentment against a senior employee of the DLF management and the police in connection with the outburst in crime in the area during the past few days.

The DLF residents are quite worried in the wake of yesterday’s dacoity at a house in Phase-III. There have been a series of dacoity attempts in the area during the past 10 days.

The Women Action Forum alleged that in the last election of the RWA, some anti-social elements resorted to anti-democratic methods and stopped several women from casting their votes.

A property dealer was leading the pack and acted as a stooge for some nominees, who have now become the office-bearers of the RWA, the forum alleged.

The incident was brought to the notice of the police and the district authorities by the Women Forum, but no action was taken, it was added.

The Women Forum as well as a wide section of the public in DLF has also taken exception to the large number of jhuggies coming up in several pockets in and around DLF

It is alleged that the jhuggi clusters have come up with connivance of some employees of the DLF and the governmental authorities.

The forum wants an investigation into the change of security agency by the DLF management and the simultaneous rise in crime in this pocket.

The security agency was changed about a fortnight back, coinciding with several dacoity attempts.

Faridabad, February 22
The local authorities have started preparing the draft of the electoral rolls in view of the forthcoming elections of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF). Based on the qualifying date of January 1 this year, the revised voter list for the purpose will be published on March 31.

While the work of the revision of the list began this morning, it will continue till February 26 in various wards of the corporation.

It may be recalled that the fresh delimitation has increased the total number of wards in the city to 35, from the present 25 wards.

According to the officials concerned, the claims and objections if any to such lists will be invited from February 28 to March 10, during which the concerned officials will hear and announce their decision. However, the persons or individuals not satisfied with the decision at this stage, will get a chance to make an appeal before the Deputy Commissioner by March 18 next and these will get disposed by March 23, clearing the way for the final publication on March 31 next.

For the ward number 1,2,3,4,5 and 8, the Estate Officer of the HUDA here has been authorised to take up the claims and objections between February 28 and March 10. 

Greater Noida, February 22
The Bharatiya Kisan Union organised a rally at the Collectorate, Gautam Budh Nagar to protest against the transfer of District Magistrate Ajay Kumar Singh from GB Nagar.

The Bar Association of GB Nagar is also angry and has decided to boycott the visit of the Divisional Commissioner, Meerut. It was decided in a meeting of the District Bar Association that all advocates in the district will keep off work in protest against the transfer of independent District Magistrate for GB Nagar.

A delegation of the advocates will try to meet the Divisional Commissioner, Meerut, Mr Rajiv Kumar, and also apprise him of corruption in the Collectorate. Those attended the meeting of the advocates included Chairman Anil Bhatti, Secretary Atul Sharma, Varinder Bhatti, Desh Pal Bhatti, Rajkukar Naggar, Chander Pal Sharma and others.

Addressing the farmers’ dharna against the DM’s transfer and giving GB Nagar’s additional charge to the Ghaziabad District Magistrate Santosh Kumar Yadav, BKU district president, Inderjit Singh said that the government should post another DM to safeguard the interests of the people.

This meeting was attended by Ram Pal Singh, Harish Chander Singh, Nathi Sharma, Yash Pal Sharma, Raj Singh, Kamal Singh and Satpal Singh.

In Dadri also, the advocates from civil and criminal side protested against the removal of the District Magistrate and attaching the GB Nagar as subsidiary to Ghaziabad.

Noida, February 22
A free multi-speciality check-up camp was organised at Metro Hospital and Heart Institute in Noida on Sunday. As many as 20 senior specialists and super-specialists provided consultation to over 900 patients at the camp.

The camp created a lot of interest as for the first time, facilities were provided for a complete health check-up. Most of the patients utilised the services of as many as 7-8 consultants, like cardiology, pulmonology, endocrinology, psychiatry, eyes, ENT, medical and dental. These camps are specially held to serve the economically weaker sections of society, said Dr Parshotam Lal, Chairman of Metro Hospitals.

Metro hospitals have been holding these camps for the public and the schoolchildren to spread awareness about diseases and their prevention.

New Delhi, February 22
In a continuing effort to reduce complications in ‘minimal access surgeries’, experts from across the globe would gather here and share their experiences to make laparoscopic procedures more safe and comfortable for the patients.

“At the three-day International Congress, ‘Endosurgery-2005’ from February 27, over 800 surgeons, including about 100 from abroad, would learn from one another’s experiences to avoid further complications,” said Dr Pradeep Chowbey, Chairman, Department of Minimal Access Surgery at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

The Congress, jointly organised by the department with the Association of Gastro-Intestinal Endo Surgeons, would provide the surgeons a platform to share their experiences in the decade-old modality of surgery, Dr Chowbey told reporters here today.

Though surgical approach has made various operations comparatively safe, there are some areas like neck and gall bladder operations, which need to be deliberated upon, he said.

The International Congress would exclusively focus on safety issues and showcase meticulous and rigorous time- tested surgical audits as proven methods for improving clinical outcome of the patients, he said.

Minimal access surgery, currently applied in almost all surgical procedures across the world, is performed with minimum skin opening and significantly reduce both the cost and the hospital stay of the patient, he said.

New Delhi, February 22
The Outer Delhi MP, Mr Sajjan Kumar, today said that the project report for extending the Delhi Metro services from Dwarka Sector 9 to Sector 22 and from Rithala to Narela via Bawana is being prepared.

Mr Kumar said that he had placed both the proposals before the Urban Development Secretary, Mr Anil Baijal, in a recent meeting. “Baijal, while acknowledging the utility and feasibility, instructed the concerned officials to prepare a project report on the same,” he said.

Sajjan Kumar stated that the area of 2.5 km between Dwarka Sector 9 to Sector 22 is a thickly populated area. —TNS

New Delhi, February 22
The University of Delhi is holding its 47th Annual Flower Show on February 25 at the University Cricket Grounds. The show will be inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Deepak Nayar and the chief guest on the occasion will be the Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit.

The show is open to all between one p.m. and five p.m.