New Delhi, October 3
The auditions for the MTV reality show ‘Roadies’ in the Hauz Khas area of South Delhi were cancelled today after some people vandalised the venue leading to a mild baton charge by the police. More than 10 people have been reportedly injured in the incident.

The Delhi auditions for the show were being conducted at NCUI auditorium, where about 4000, mostly college students, had gathered since early morning.

According to organisers, things were going smoothly, till some people barged into the auditorium and started pelting stones and breaking window panes. Posters of the show were burnt along with a bike. About 100 private security guards present on the spot could not stop the men from entering the auditorium. The organisers had to call the police to control the vandals. “Some people jumped the queue and resorted to vandalism breaking furniture and glasses. We had no option but to cancel the auditions and call the police,” said Vaibhav Vishal, associate vice-president of the shows.

He added that had the auditions not been, cancelled, unsocial elements that destroyed the venue could have caused more havoc and hurt the participants.

The situation could only be controlled after the police arrived and took to baton charge.

According to eye witnesses, many people got hurt in the melee.

As per unconfirmed reports, one of the girl participants had to be admitted to hospital.

However, the police has denied indulging in lathi charge.

“There was no lathi charge at the venue and the police only scared away the vandals,” said HGS Dhaliwal, DCP (South).

The identities of those who created the ruckus were being confirmed.No arrest has been made so far.

The organisers of the show would announce the next dates for auditions in near future. 

New Delhi, October 3
Anti-smoking squads fined 80 violators for smoking in public places across the Capital today, a Delhi government official said.

“Eight anti-smoking squads conducted raids at 50 public places including restaurants, bus stands and Inter State Bus Terminals (ISBTs) across the Capital. The squads raided 289 buses throughout the day,” Delhi Tobacco Control Officer R.P. Vashisht said.

“During these raids the squads collected a fine of Rs 8,940. Eighty people — 79 males and one female were fined,” Vashisht said.

The Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules — 2008, passed by the union health ministry, came into force on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The new rules expand the definition of public places from government buildings to office buildings, hospitals, schools, colleges, railway stations, airports, bus stands, hotels and restaurants. If caught, smokers will have to pay up to Rs 200 and even the owners of the premises will can be held liable.

“The maximum number of violations were found at ISBTs — particularly Anand Vihar bus terminal. However, I am very happy that there was not a single violation found in buses,” Vashisht added.

Delhi has been implementing anti-smoking rules since 1997. According to official records, “From 1997 till July 2008, the Delhi government has fined more than 87,000 people for smoking in public places.”

“Every year, on an average, Rs 700,000 are collected as fine,” Vashisht added.

He stated that strict guidelines have been given to the squads for the implementation of anti-smoking rules.

“We have given strict guidelines to the squads and told them that no one should be harassed. We have asked them to be polite but firm,” Vashisht said.

“The squads have been told to educate those found violating the rules due to ignorance. Anti-smoking law is a social law and it is to educate and make people aware,” he added. — IANS

New Delhi, October 3
To put a check on the increasing number of fatal accidents in the country, the Union Government is planning to install speed governors in all vehicles across the country by early next year.

Speaking during a two-day conference on ‘Mobility and Safety in Road Transport’, organised by the International Road Federation (IRF) in the city today, K.H Muniappa, union minister of state for road transport and shipping, said that although the country has developed world-class infrastructure that has enhanced mobility and speed, the mortality rate on roads remain high. “India overtakes all countries in road accidents and deaths because of improper illumination, absence of railings and markings on roads, missing signs as well as lack of proper traffic management.

Based on the recommendations of various committees, it has been felt that speed control is not possible without speed governors,” said Muniappa, adding that the process of installation of speed governors would be started soon.

About 1,30,000 deaths took place on Indian roads in 2007, which is about 10 per cent of world’s total fatal accidents. Around 40 per cent of the accidents were on highways. 

New Delhi, October 3
Deepu had come to the national Capital in January in search of a job. He now lies lifeless in a hospital, declared brain dead by doctors, because of the injuries he suffered in the September 27 Mehrauli terror blast here. His grieving parents have agreed to donate his organs to save the lives of needy people.

Deepu, 22, a gardener, suffered grievous head injuries in the explosion at Mehrauli Serai Market, in South Delhi that left one dead and at least 24 injured.

“He was brought in an unconscious state to the hospital with severe head injuries,” M.C. Mishra, chief medical officer, AIIMS trauma centre said.

“For the first three days we did not even know his identity. He was operated upon twice but is still unconscious and is not reacting to treatment. He id brain dead and we are mechanically keeping his heart and lungs working. There is no chance of his survival,” Mishra said.

The doctors gave the information to Deepu’s parents, who reached Delhi on Thursday after a 12-hour journey from Lucknow.

“Doctors told me that Deepu is almost dead and his organs can be donated. I have agreed to donate his organs so that they can be of use to some needy people,” said 50-year-old Bhagu Lal, Deepu’s father, who works as a labourer in Lucknow.

Deepu’s mother, Rajeshwari, is inconsolable. She has been sitting by the side of her son’s bed in the hospital.

“He spoke to me over phone a day before the blast and told me that he would come home during Diwali. He has not even opened his eyes once,” Rajeshwari said.

“It is really difficult to see my brother dying in front of my eyes. I feel so helpless but I cannot do anything,” Shamsher, Deepu’s brother, said with tears rolling down. — IANS

New Delhi, October 3
The Delhi High Court today directed the police to allow those arrested in connection with the September 13 serial blasts in the city to speak to their advocates and relatives.

A bench comprising Chief Justice A.P Shah and Justice S.Muralidhar passed the direction on a PIL filed by an NGO, People’s Union for Democratic Rights, which alleged that the arrested persons were being deprived of their constitutional rights by not allowing them to consult their lawyers.

The court asked the police to allow Zia-ur-Rehman and Saqib Nissar to meet their relatives and advocates in the evening and made it clear that the police would provide similar facilities to other arrested persons also, if they make a request on similar lines.

Greater Noida, October 3
After the lynching of Lalit Kishore Chaudhary, CEO of Italian multinational company Graziano Transmissioni India Pvt. Ltd, now its manager Phul Singh has received a death threat.

The killers of the late L.K. Chaudhary have not been identified with certainty yet, though a report has been lodged against key accused in Bisarakh police station.

In his complaint lodged with Bisarakh police, Phul Singh, a resident of Vijay Nagar in Ghaziabad, has named Sanjay, Kailash, Jaswant and Sohan Lal for threatening to kill him if he gave a testimony against them in the court. All four are wanted in Chaudhary’s murder case.

Phul Singh told the police that he was threatened on September 27.

L.K. Chaudhary had been beaten to death with iron rods, clubs and lathis by violent retrenched and disgruntled workers of the company on September 22 on the factory premises. The police had arrested over 100 persons from the premises out of which 73 workers were booked for a breach of the peace and 63 for their involvement in lynching Chaudhary. But some labourers had succeeded in fleeing. The police is still trying to nab these wanted accused.

The Italian embassy has in a letter urged the state chief secretary to resolve the case at the earliest. The embassy has warned that in case they are not provided satisfactory security by the UP government the management of the Italian multinational company will be constrained to close the factory in Greater Noida.

With the fresh threat, the matter has again assumed urgency.

Noida, October 3
In a bizarre incident, the police on Thursday took away the dead body of a man from burning pyre. The man had committed suicide by hanging himself.

The police had to do this, as last month it had cremated the body of an old man who had died in road accident without waiting for the mandatory 72 hours for relatives to claim it. Two police post in-charges and two other cops were suspended for the lapse.

To avoid similar punishment and embarrassment the police took away the half-burnt body of the man and kept it in the mortuary.

The body was of Gopal, 24, a resident of Mamura village,who had hanged himself from a noose on Wednesday night. He was employed in a factory in Noida’s Sector-58. Depression was said to be the reason behind the act.

The police had taken Gopal’s body for an autopsy at Antim Niwas on Thursday afternoon. After which, instead of waiting for his relatives , they called four of his colleagues and started the cremation.

However, when the senior officers learnt about, they immediately ordered the cops to stop the cremation. 

New Delhi, October 3
Four days after woman television journalist Saumya Vishwanathan was shot dead in South Delhi while returning home after a night shift, the Delhi police on Friday said they had been approached by a person who had apparently heard some sound while passing by the way that night.

Vishwanathan, who was working with Headlines Today news channel, was found dead in her white Maruti Suzuki Zen car in the Vasant Kunj area around 3.30 am on Tuesday. She was returning to her home in Sector-C of Vasant Kunj.

“A person who was passing on the same road (the Nelson Mandela Road) has approached us saying that he had heard some sound apparently when Saumya Vishwanathan’s car hit the central verge on the road around 3.30 am,” deputy commissioner of police (South Delhi) H.G.S. Dhaliwal said.

“The person said the sound could have been of a bullet. We cannot reveal anything more than this as it might hamper investigations. We appeal to those who had travelled on the same road on that night to help us with information,” he added.

The police is also studying the volume of traffic on the road between 3 am to 4 am to get an idea about the number of vehicles that generally pass at the time.

Earlier, an employee of a nearby eatery, Punjabi By Nature, who was returning home on his bicycle, saw the car rammed against the divider. He told the police he saw Vishwanathan’s head inclined on the right side and the car’s ignition, air-conditioner and headlights were on.

The police said the employee of the eatery did not see the incident taking place. “He arrived only after it had taken place.”

A senior official investigating the case dismissed reports that blue paint marks on Vishwanathan’s car were due to it brushing against another car.

“The blue paints marks most likely came from the signboard at the accident side. We are now examining the footage obtained from the close circuit television camera (CCTV) installed in the parking area of her office, but nothing concrete has emerged yet,” said a senior official.

“The CCTV footage shows her getting down from the office stairs; reach the parking bay and paying some balance money to a coffee vendor. She then approaches her car and sits inside. She comes out of the car and wipes her windscreen. She again sits in the car and leaves,” the official added.

On Friday, the police again questioned her family and relatives to gather any clues to the case.

The police was also questioning one of her male colleagues with whom she had apparently broken up a few months ago. — IANS

Ghaziabad, October 3
Raj Kumar, one of the main suspects in the Arushi-Hem Raj murder case, is in Nepal for the last one week. But the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) maintains that it is unaware of his whereabouts.

Raj Kumar and two others are accused of molesting and killing Arushi Talwar, the 14-year-old daughter of dental surgeon Dr Rajesh Talwar and the family’s domestic help, Hem Raj, on May 15 at Sector-25 in Noida.

Raj Kumar’s lawyer Naresh Yadav said, “Raj Kumar has left for Nepal, we are in touch with him and his family members on phone.” Yadav said that the court had not put any restriction on his leaving the country.

But he is bound to appear before the investigating officer or court whenever required.

Raj Kumar’s departure will not hamper the investigations, Yadav stressed. The investigation officer (IO) had not called Raj Kumar even once after he was granted bail.

CBI press information officer R.K. Gaur said that it was yet to be verified if Raj Kumar had actually left for Nepal. If it was against the terms of the bail, it would be shared with the accused, he added.