New Delhi, May 4
The MCD standing committee, at a special meeting here today, passed resolutions for notification of additional roads for commercial and mixed land use and implement an amnesty scheme for providing relief to those who were still under threat by the sealing and demolition drive of the MCD.

The standing committee under the chairmanship of Vijender Gupta notified 307 roads for commercial activities and mixed land use. Of them, 80 roads are for commercial use, 158 for mixed land use, six for pedestrians and 63 for others. These proposals would be sent to the Delhi Government for execution.

The amnesty scheme was mentioned in the election manifesto of the BJP, which had been fulfilled today.

The opposition members led by Jai Kishan Sharma opposed the proposal of the amnesty scheme, saying that it was a totally political stand of the BJP. This scheme was recommended by the Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra committee during the NDA government at the Centre. But it was not implemented by the government. At that time, Jagmohan was union urban development minister and a large number of unauthorised constructions were demolished.

The opposition members said had the amnesty scheme worked out the problems of the Delhi citizens there was no need to bring out the Master Plan 2021 in a hurry..

New Delhi, May 4
The expert committee set up by the Supreme Court to study the concept of interceptor sewage proposed by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to help clean up the river Yamuna has completed its report and would submit it by May 8.

The five-member committee which comprises one representative each from the ministry of environment and forests, urban development, two from the water resources ministry and an IIT engineer, besides a representative from the DJB has gone through the pros and cons of the new system and finalised its report, sources said.

The committee was set up by the Supreme Court to find a more effective way to check pollution in the Yamuna

The committee was set up following strong objections by the amicus curiae who said that “despite having spent about Rs 1,700 crore in 12 years, we did not achieve what we should have”, implying that pollution has been rising.

Arguing that the proposed technology was an innovative solution, the DJB told the court that at present treated and untreated effluents enter the Yamuna.

Seeking directions to implement the technology, the board said the new method envisages interception of smaller drains before they flow into bigger drains.

Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had also expressed doubts over the interceptor plans saying, the DJB should be asked to certify that.

The Delhi Government is consulting the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to form a unified body that can control various agencies managing sewage in the National Capital Territory of Delhi..

New Delhi, May 4
The Capital experienced another pleasant day today with a strong breeze and cloudy skies bringing down the mercury to nearly 4 degree Celsius below normal.

“This weather may continue till Saturday evening,” an India meteorological department (IMD) official said.

The temperature touched the 36-degree mark this afternoon, a slide of four degrees.

The adjoining towns of Ghaziabad and Noida received mild rains in the forenoon, and the impact was felt in the Capital, the official added.

“The weather is amazing. Rain in the middle of scorching heat has brought great relief. We wish it continues,” said Sarmila Basu, a resident of Ghaziabad. She added, “It started raining at around 11 am and continued for almost an hour.”

Weathermen forecast the Capital might witness a few spells of light rain till Saturday afternoon. “Light rain coupled with thundershowers are expected in Delhi today and tomorrow,” said an IMD official.

Met officials said low-pressure areas in northwest India, especially Punjab and Rajasthan, were affecting weather conditions in Delhi and adjoining areas.

On Wednesday, Delhi had reordered light rain. A drizzle coupled with strong breeze brought down the maximum temperature to 32.3 degree Celsius, eight degrees below normal.

In the last fortnight, north-west India went through a heat wave with mercury soaring much above the normal level.

Delhi recorded a maximum of 43 degree Celsius on April 28 while Churu in Rajasthan agonised due to 46.2 degrees of intense heat on April 30.

New Delhi, May 4
A Delhi court has sentenced three Nepali nationals having suspected Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) links to five years’ rigorous imprisonment each for planning to carry out bomb blasts at various places in the Capital three years ago.

Additional Sessions Judge Rajpaul Singh Teji held Ibrahim (35), Bilal Ahmad (25) and Inamul Haq (27) guilty and slapped a fine of Rs 17,000 on each of the convicts.

Acting on a tip-off, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested the trio on January 25, 2004, while they were receiving a large consignment of surgical instruments from one Saifulla, alias Salim, an ISI agent, at the New Delhi railway station.

The court convicted the three under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act and 25 of the Arms Act.

Saifulla, now living in Pakistan, had close links with Bilal Ahmad, according to the prosecution.

The police also allegedly seized three grenades, two detonators, four electric timers and 3 kg of explosive substances from their alleged possession.

During the investigation, it was revealed they were planning to use these explosive substances for terrorist activities.

“Keeping in view the serious charges levelled against the accused persons, I am of the firm opinion that the prosecution has been able to prove its case against them. I accordingly sentence them to their degree of committing the crime,” the judge said in his order.

New Delhi, May 4
A Delhi court today extended the judicial custody of suspended BJP MP Babubhai Katara and four other accused in the human trafficking case by another 14 days.

All the accused, including the lawmaker, on expiry of their previous judicial custody, were produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau, who sent them to jail till May 10.

Katara, along with Paramjeet Kaur, Sunderlal Yadav, Rajender Kumar and Kiran Dhar, were also asked by the court to cooperate with the investigating agency in the ongoing probe.

Meanwhile, Kaur, who was caught with Katara at IGI airport here on April 18 while trying to leave the country on the diplomatic passport of the MP’s wife, today moved a bail application.

“I am not an accused. In fact, I have been duped by one agent Joginder Singh, who took my original passport and had assured me that my visit will be legal,” she contended in her bail plea. Kaur’s counsel informed the court that her husband and other relatives had gone to the US with the help of illegal documents.

After hearing the brief argument, the court asked the investigating officer to verify the travel details of her relatives and also enquire about Kapurthala-based agent Joginder Singh, who went into hiding after the matter came to light.

The court then deferred the argument on her bail plea to May nine.

The court also deposed of Katara’s application in which he had alleged that the crime branch of Delhi Police had lodged two separate FIRs in the case, saying that the probe agency had considered of filing two FIRs in the same case. They will club them into one or in the alternative, they may seek cancellation of one FIR subsequently.

Earlier, on April 21, Sunder Lal Yadav, a betel shop owner, who was arrested in the case, had told the court that he had introduced travel agents – Mahesh Gupta and Rashid – to TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, MP from Karimnagar in Andhra Pradesh, Mohammed Tahir Khan, BSP MP from Sultanpur in UP, Ramswarup Koli, BJP MP from Bhayana in Rajasthan, and late Parliamentarian Ram Awadh.

The police have booked Katara under Sections 419 (Cheating by impersonation), 420 (Cheating), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using forged documents as genuine) and 120-b (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

He was arrested at the IGI airport here on April 18 while trying to take Paramjeet Kaur and a 15-year-old boy to Toronto on the passports of his wife Shardaben and son Rajesh, respectively. 

Faridabad, May 4
An Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Haryana police posted in Police Lines here committed ‘suicide’ this morning by shooting himself from a service gun. He had reportedly been depressed due to a departmental enquiry pending against him.

The deceased identified as Abhay Singh, aged about 50 years, had been in the First Reserve Guard at the guardroom of Police Lines in Sector 29 here. According to police sources, the ASI arrived in his office at about 8.45 am from his residence located in SGM Nagar here.

It is claimed that he went inside the guardroom, took a service rifle from there and shot himself on the left of his chest. He died on the spot and was declared brought dead when taken to hospital by the cops on duty.

According to sources in the department, the deceased had been upset with a departmental enquiry pending against him and others in a case of theft of mined material. He was then posted in the Pali village area, a couple of years ago. Survived by his wife and two sons, one of whom is employed in the police department, the victim hailed from a village in Mahendragarh district.

A team of ballistic experts have reached the place to enquire the matter. The body has been sent for post-mortem.

Meanwhile, the police have booked several persons in connection with blocking the National Highway number two on Tuesday last near Palwal town in the district on Tuesday last. The accused totalling about 27 belong to Mitrol village and had blocked the traffic on the highway in protest against shortage of drinking water.

The police have also rounded about 10 persons of SGM Nagar here in connection with violence following an accident in which a dumper truck had crushed a local resident to death, a few days ago. 

Greater Noida, May 4
In Greater Noida and adjoining rural areas, criminals appear to be having a field day. In about past 20 days, seven murders and 18 loots have shaken the people’s confidence in the law and order machinery as most of the cases continue to remain unsolved by the police.

Two of the seven murders took place during assembly election days when the district police was on maximum alert and all types of criminals were being hounded up. Out of the 18 loot incidents, not a single one has been resolved by the police so far.

Four armed criminals, riding on motorcycles, had sprayed bullets on a brick-kiln owner of Phulpur village in broad day and had decamped with Rs 2 lakh on April 9. The police have yet to solve this murder and loot case. The next day, a golf course supervisor was shot dead by two criminals who just walked away at leisure after killing him.

While the police have yet to show any results in these two incidents of murder, on April 15, a man killed his brother-in-law by repeatedly piercing his spear into his stomach in Dhandhola village.

In Rampur village, a young man crushed his grandfather under the wheels of his tractor.

Later, a youth was shot dead in broad day-light in Hafizpur village by his father’s brothers in Dankore police area. Double murder in a liquor shop on Thursday night had also stunned the people in the area.

Besides, 18 loot incidents in the last fortnight have yet to be worked out by the district police.

Noida, May 4
An auto driver is reported to have given a drug-laced cold drink to a jeweller from Banda and looted gold worth Rs 57 lakh that the jeweller was carrying in sector 37 of Noida. Though the police have not formally registered an FIR, investigations were on, said the SSP. Banda jeweller Sanjay Agarwal had come to collect gold from ICICI Bank’s Sector 41 branch on April 28. He reached the Sector 37 crossing with 6 kg gold in a rickshaw. Here, one man is said to have offered to take Sanjay in a three-wheeler. Two other persons got in the auto, saying that they also had to go to Nizamuddin railway station in New Delhi.

At the Atta crossing, the auto driver took a U-turn, bought a cold drink and forced the jeweller to drink it. The jeweller lost consciousness. When he came around, he found himself on the steps of the Nizamuddin railway station on the evening of the next day, April 29.

He was picked up by railway police jawans who helped him call his home. Later, some relatives came to pick him up from Ghaziabad.

On April 30, the jeweller met Noida SSP Rajiv Sabharwal and wanted to file an FIR, but the Sector 20 police did not agree, citing jurisdiction reasons. The SSP, however, is understood to have assigned the investigation to circle officer-II Ramesh Kumar Bhartja. The Noida police are reportedly investigating the case in their own discreet way. But Sanjay Agarwal told some correspondents that Noida police did not trust his version.

Gurgaon, May 4
The police today registered a case against another personnel of the barrier on Pataudi Road for extortion of money from the operators of heavy vehicles in commercial category.

The police have already registered a case against the firm responsible for collecting toll tax at the barrier situated at Badshapur village on busy Sohna-Alwar Road.

The case was registered for extortion of money under Section 384 of the Indian Penal Code.

Significantly, the firm at Badshapur had pleaded guilty saying that the personnel assigned duties at the barrier were new and did not know the rules.

The modus operandi at the Pataudi road shows a common behaviour pattern.

According to observers, it is now fairly established that the firms which have won contract through auction are harassing the public at various toll tax barriers set up by the Haryana Government.

The personnel employed by the firm are reportedly of rustic background. 

New Delhi, May 4
Amity School, Noida has finally won the DBS Cup, while Modern School, Barakhamba was adjudged as runner-up in the hockey tournament.

The president of Hockey Federation of India K P S Gill and the managing director of Delhi Book Store Vijay Ahuja jointly gave the awards to the winners here today.

Twelve public schools of the Capital participated in this two-day hockey tournament, exclusively for school students, organised at Delhi Public School, R K Puram.—OC