New Delhi, May 13
One person was killed and more than 30 persons were injured when a speeding truck lost control and rammed into a Himachal Pradesh Roadways bus coming from the opposite direction after hitting a divider near Lajpat Nagar flyover in South Delhi today morning.

Cleaner of the truck Kanti Singh (25) was driving the vehicle. While the deceased identified as Buddhi Ram, 52, the actual driver of the truck was sitting behind Kanti Singh.

“Buddhi Ram died on his way to the hospital. While, Kanti Singh has suffered multiple fractures and head injuries. He has been admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. His condition is said to be critical,” said a police official.

He informed bus driver Joginder Singh had also sustained severe injuries and was recuperating in the hospital.

The police official added that a case of rash and negligent driving had been registered against Kanti Singh.

The truck bears the registration number of Rajasthan was on going towards Gurgaon.

According to the police, there were nearly 30 persons in the bus when the accident took place. Almost all have been injured.

Ranjeet Ram, a morning walker and eyewitness to the accident said he saw almost everybody in the bus was bleeding.

“There was hardly any one who was not hurt in the accident. It was the fault of the truck driver. While the bus and the truck drivers were severely injured, most passengers in the bus were bleeding profusely,” said Ram.

He said the traffic police informed the local police about the accident. The police took the injured to the hospital. CAT ambulances were also used to carry the injured to the hospital.

A police official said that five or six passengers were severely injured while the rest were allowed to go after preliminary treatment.

As a result of the collision, traffic remained disrupted for quite some time.

New Delhi, May 13
The struggle of the parents of schoolchildren against the rise in fees by private school in the Capital received a major blow today when the police lathicharged parents protesting over the issue at Jantar Mantar. In the lathicharge, BJP’s Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha candidate and chairman of the Delhi Parents Federation Vijender Gupta, under whose leadership the protest was being held, suffered stomach injuries.

The demonstration was planned to give a final blow to private school administrations and the government before the schools closed for summer vacations on May 15.

The clash between the demonstrators and the police happened when the crowd started walking towards parliament crossing the police barricades.

Though the protestors said they were holding a peaceful demonstration, the police used water cannon and baton on them. Some parents also sustained injuries in the scuffle.

Gupta was rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where tests like CT scan and X ray were conducted on the former chairman of the MCD’s standing committee.

According to Gupta’s office, swelling inside his stomach was detected after which he has been kept under observation.

BJP Delhi president Om Prakash Kohli condemned the use of force and water canon by the police.

“The parents are complaining against the increase in fees and recovery of arrears for the last few months, but the Delhi government is not accepting their demands,” he said.

He added, “The BJP is of the opinion that the government should bear the burden of increased fees and arrears in this time of price rise, unemployment and retrenchment. The parents and the schools should not be made to bear additional economic burden.”

Vijender Gupta expressed fear that the prices of stationary and books may increase by upto 30 per cent, as the government was planning to increase import duty on paper.

“The burden of school fee hike was already there and now the government is planning to hike the prices of books. The hike in import duty would automatically result into around 30 per cent increase in price of stationary,” said Gupta.

He added, “The hike in prices would make it difficult for the poor to send their children to schools. And the irresponsible Congress-led UPA government would be responsible for the increase in dropout.”

Earlier, before gathering at Jantar Mantar, parents held demonstrations outside individual schools early morning today. There were speculations that some schools would declare summer holidays before time fearing more protest.

New Delhi, May 13
The Delhi High Court today constituted a team of medical experts to examine a report against doctors in a hospital in the capital for alleged medical negligence that led to an 11-month-old boy losing his leg.

The report was given by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) against the doctors of Safdarjung Hospital in the January 2007 case.

The division bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Sanjiv Khanna constituted a team consisting of the head of the department of orthopaedic, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) or his nominee, and J.S. Arora, surgeon, and directed them to examine the papers and the patient and submit their opinion within five weeks and posted the matter for July 15.

The court’s order came after the ACMM submitted a report with no firm finding over the issue of medical negligence by the doctors.

Taking a suo motu cognisance over the reported story of the boy after he was admitted to Safdarjung hospital due to a fall and pain, the High Court had directed ACMM to conduct an inquiry and examine the reports relating to the treatment of the boy.

The ACMM said during investigation the doctor had alleged that the boy’s parents had delayed in bringing the child to the hospital and had not giving consent to operate the infectious area. As a result the boy’s leg was amputated after it developed gangrene. — IANS

New Delhi, May 13
The Chief Minister proposal of bringing the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) under the state government saw a mixed response. She had proposed it recently to end multiplicity of authorities in the city.

The issue was discussed at a seminar organised by an NGO, Delhi Manch, today.

Terming the proposal as unethical, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi assembly V.K. Malhotra said the Congress had raised the issue during elections to get political mileage. If the Congress government in Delhi was serious to end multiplicity of authorities, it could have done it earlier when it was in power in the MCD, Delhi government and centre. He added it was not the right time to raise the issue, as the MCD was under the BJP and it was not clear which party would form the government at the centre.

While chairman of Trans Yamuna Development Board and senior Congress MLA Narendra Nath said local bodies like — the MCD and the DDA be merged with the Delhi government to speed up development work in the city.

Presently, some roads in the city are owned by the MCD, some by the Delhi government, a few by the DDA and others by the union government. It is difficult for the public to find out which road is owned by whom.

Similarly, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) maintains sewers and the MCD takes care of the drains. When it rains, sewer and drains are choked because the agencies shift responsibilities on each other.

Leader of the House in the MCD Subhash Arya said instead of wasting time on trivial matters like merging the MCD in the state government, the Chief Minister should concentrate on development works.

He said the MCD and other local bodies would automatically come under the Delhi government once Delhi was granted full statehood. Merging the civic body with the state government needs certain amendments in the Constitution.

Arya suggested the government to constitute a separate civic body for the Trans Yamuna area.

Congress councillor Krishan Murari Jatav said the issue was raised because “We are unable to perform our duties.

New Delhi, May 13
A minor fire broke out at the official residence of union steel, chemical and fertiliser minister Ram Vilas Paswan today afternoon.

The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief was watching television with his wife at his 12 Janpath residence when the fire broke out in the drawing room.

“I was watching television with my wife in the adjacent room, when we were informed about the incident. We rushed out of the house. If such is the maintenance of a minister’s house, you can imagine what will be the common man’s plight,” Paswan said.

According to Delhi Fire Service officials, fire broke out in the air conditioner fixed in the drawing room of the house. The fire spread in the room. Two cupboards were gutted. A sofa set, chairs and many statues kept in the room were also damaged.

However, no injury has been reported. Two fire engines controlled the situation in half an hour.

“The fire may have been caused due to short circuit in the air conditioner,” said a fire service official.

Paswan’s house is next to UPA president Sonia Gandhi’s residence.

New Delhi, May 13
The repoll ordered by the Election Commission at Kasturba Nagar’s polling station numbers 12 and 13 of the New Delhi parliamentary constituency went off peacefully today.

The repoll was ordered after an inquiry was conducted that indicated that 91 voters of polling station number 12 and 141 voters of polling station number 13 cast their votes even after their names were deleted from the electoral roll as “shifted” category.

The voting percentage recorded was 54.83. The total number of voters in these two polling stations is 715. Only one of the voters chose to exercise the option of not to vote under rule 49-O.

According to the Election Commission officers, the repoll was ordered after the report of the Returning Officer of the constituency pointed out irregularities in the register of voters. The inquiry in the matter is under way.

Taking a tough stand on the issue, chief electoral officer of Satbir Silas Bedi said any officials found guilty of dereliction of duty would be recommended for immediate suspension.

Earlier, a Delhi government official Bhupesh Chaudhary posted in the Sadar Bazar was suspended for supporting a political party while on election duty.

Lok Sabha elections in Delhi held on May 7 and counting of votes would start on May 16 at eight places in the capital from 8 am.

Greater Noida, May 13
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Gautam Buddh Nagar Lok Sabha seat Dr Mahesh Sharma has said that he does not have any faith in the district administration and the Noida police.

He has sought the district election officer’s permission to deploy an agent to keep an eye on EVMs kept in a strong room at Phool Mandi in Noida Phase –II.

In a meeting on Tuesday with all Lok Sabha candidates, Deepak Agarwal, district magistrate and district election officer, had said that other candidates could also seek permission to post their agents in the strong room.

He said that apart from the police force deployed to guard the EVMs, four CCTV cameras had been fixed in the strong room.

But according to sources, Dr Sharma has decided to post a party agent in the strong room. He had, reportedly, said that the district election officer and other candidates could also post their agents.

New Delhi, May 13
A city court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his minor niece, terming his act as “diabolic and barbaric”.

“The word ‘mama’ for maternal uncle has two ‘ma’ in it. The accused by his diabolic and barbaric acts betrayed the trust and respect reposed upon him by his real sister and his family,” additional sessions judge Dharmesh Sharma said.

The court awarded the prison term along with a fine of Rs 15,000 on accused Mohammed Zakir, 36, holding him guilty under Section 376 (rape) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

It also said the relationship of a maternal uncle and his niece was sullied by Zakir’s acts.

“In our traditional Hindu and Muslim society, be it conservative or modern, a maternal uncle commands and enjoys a great deal of respect in the family particularly from his nephews and nieces. The accused exploited his niece for his sadistic and perverted sexual needs,” the court said.

Zakir was arrested on Oct19, 2005, after a complaint was lodged with the Sarai Rohilla police station in north Delhi, alleging he had raped his niece for eight months. — IANS

Noida, May 13
A youth killed a 15-month-old baby by slitting his throat. The killer, known to the mother of the child, fled after the incident.

The police said the cause of the murder appeared to be an illicit love affair between the man and the mother of the murdered child.

According to information, father of the child, Sanjay Kumar, lived with his family in a rented accommodation in Chhijarsi village. He was a driver with a travel agency. Two days ago, he and his father had gone to Muradabad to attend a marriage, leaving his wife Rajni and their baby Antu with Mithun, brother-in-law of Rajni’s sister.

On Tuesday, Rajni left Antu with Mithun and went to meet her sister. But when she returned around 2 pm, she found the child dead. When she asked Mithun about the death, he told her that the child had drowned in water. Rajni then informed Sanjay about the child’s death. Sanjay, on returning from Muradabad, informed the police.

The Sector 58 police has sent the body of the child for autopsy. Signs of slitting with some sharp-edged weapon or an iron wire had been found on the child’s throat, the police said.

The police has raided Gojha village, the native place of Mithun, to trace him. Station head officer of Sector-58 police station said Mithun had illicit relations with Rajni and he killed the child to clear his prospects of marrying her.

New Delhi, May 13
Two men have been arrested here for allegedly duping hundreds of mobile phone users to the tune of Rs 2 million by selling fake and nonexistent tariff plans to the prospective customers and taking advance payments.

Delhi police’s crime branch on Tuesday arrested Naresh, a 25-year-old school dropout and yogesh, 27, a Delhi University graduate.

The police said Yogesh worked as a collection agent for a company while Naresh hired people on Rs 3,000 per month. They asked their employees to go to houses of prospective customers to collect money and fill forms.

The accused followed a simple modus operandi. “Someone would call persons with connections of a particular mobile phone (service provider). They would offer a lucrative tariff reduction, SMS and recharge plans.

After that, they would go on to offer people to have their forms filled and collected at doorstep,” additional commissioner of police (crime branch) Satyendra Garg said.

“In some cases they received advance money up to Rs 1,000. We believe that they made over Rs 2 million in the last few months alone,” Garg added. — IANS

Ghaziabad, May 13
Autopsy of the teenage girl murdered in her house here earlier this week has revealed that she was first gangraped before being hanged, the police said today.

Father of the girl Surendra Jatav, a tailor, had lodged a complaint that on Wednesday about half a dozen men had barged into his house, locked his elder daughter in a room and hanged the younger one by her own dupatta (stole).

“According to Jatav’s elder daughter Babli, about half a dozen men barged into their house Monday night while their parents were out. The men locked her in a room before dragging her younger sister to a corner where they hanged her,” Ghaziabad police chief Akhil Kumar said.

The criminals fled after killing the teenager. Neighbours freed Babli on hearing her screaming and informed the police, he added. — IANS

New Delhi, May 13
It’s doctors who heal patients. But a year after their teenaged daughter Aarushi Talwar’s sensational murder in Noida near here, dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar have found that patients too can give a healing touch.

For over a decade, the Talwars have operated from their clinic at a basement in south Delhi’s upscale Hauz Khas area. Neighbours and clients are well aware that Rajesh Talwar was in jail for 50 days in connection with the crime, which still remains unresolved. But they don’t believe the couple could have had anything to do with it.

One of his patients, Sarabjeet Jha, said: “Rajesh is a thorough gentleman. I know them for the last 20 years - since the time they started practice.”

Anukrit Bhargava, who is in his early 20s and lives just opposite their clinic, said: “I am his (Rajesh Talwar’s) patient and have talked to him quite a number of times. I don’t think they can ever do something like this.”

While the clinic is in Hauz Khas, the Talwars used to live in Sector-25 Noida where Aarushi, 14, was found with her throat slit on May 16, 2008. The family help Hemraj was found murdered on the terrace a day later. Now they have shifted their residence to south Delhi.

A neighbour who did not want to be named said: “Initially, when media reports accused Rajesh of killing Aarushi, I was terrified. But later I realised the reports were false. Most in the locality know them for a long time and they are good human beings.”

After Rajesh Talwar was let off, the central bureau of investigation (CBI) arrested his medical assistant Krishna and accused him of committing the murders with the help of Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal, both domestic helps in the neighbourhood.

The three are out on bail at present and the agency is yet to file a chargesheet.

The murders captured the imagination of the entire nation for their brutality.

Jha, who was waiting for her turn at the clinic as there were five others waiting ahead of her, said: “The Talwars can never ever do anything like this. They are both very nice.”

Acknowledging the support of patients, Rajesh Talwar said, “My patients have been very, very supportive. I have hundreds of their greeting cards which they have given to us, wishing us peace.”

“I have been in touch with my old friends and they have also been very supportive.”

Nupur Talwar said, “His patients have been very supportive. Some of his patients hug him, give him greeting cards and some of his elderly patients even touch his feet.” — IANS

Noida, May 13
A team of the special operation group (SOG) of the Noida police has arrested a drug peddler and recovered heroin worth Rs 7.50 lakh from his possession. The peddler has been identified as Ram Pratap Pande, a resident of Basti district.

The police said the arrested peddler was active in the national capital region (NCR) for the last at least two years. He used to bring narcotics to NCR through Nepal.

According to SOG in-charge inspector Sanjay Bhardwaj, the peddler was nabbed from Chhijarsi village mode on Monday evening on the basis of input provided by an informer. When frisked, one kg heroin was recovered from him. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against Ram Pratap Pande in the Sector 58 police station.

Pande told the police that he used to procure narcotics from Nepal. He revealed that he used to repack them in small packets and then conceal them inside his clothes kept in suitcases. He also revealed that he traveled by bus, as there would hardly be any checking in buses. He preferred to take evening bus and would arrive in Delhi by morning.