New Delhi, June 24
Massive power cuts and water shortage in the sweltering summer on Wednesday compelled Delhiites to come out on the roads and protest across the national Capital.

Restless people blocked traffic at many places and shouted slogans against the government for failing to provide water and power.

“We are not left with any option but to protest and on Thursday we have decided to organise sit-in outside the houses of MLAs,” said Arun Kumar, a resident of Khanpur in South Delhi.

Angry over the power and water shortage, a group of people approached Paharganj police station in Central Delhi demanding to register a “missing” complaint of water.

“We are not getting water and power for the last several days but there is nobody to listen to our woes. We tried to meet our area councillor and MLA but they are missing. So, we thought to register a ‘missing’ complaint of the three — water, MLA and councillor,” said Nirmal Kaur, a resident of Paharganj.

The rotational loadshedding across the Capital on Tuesday was between 20 MW to 300 MW. The power cuts across the Capital lasted for two to nine hours in various parts of Delhi. — IANS

New Delhi, June 24
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led opposition boycotted the proceedings of the Assembly today when Speaker Yoganand Shastri did not allow a discussion over power and water shortage before the question hour.

Shastri refused to accept the opposition’s demand saying it had not been the House’s tradition to discuss an issue before the question hour. This angered the BJP MLAs. They created a ruckus and walked out of the House saying that people in many areas of the national Capital had been protesting against loadshedding and inadequate supply of water. However, after a few minutes they returned to attend the further proceedings of the House.

Senior BJP leader Sahib Singh Chauhan asked Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit about the amount that the centre had given to the state government for the preparation of Commonwealth Games 2010. He also questioned about the sum that had already been spent on the Games.

To this, Dikshit said the centre had given Rs 770 crore for the Commonwealth Games preparations. But she could not tell the figure that the Delhi government had spent so far on the Games projects.

When BJP MLA Karan Singh Tanwar questioned about what was being done in the Delhi Cantt area for Games 2010, the Chief Minister said the government had sanctioned Rs 2 crore for the development of the area. She added that a medical college would also be constructed there.

Responding to another BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht, Dikshit said the Signature Bridge was likely to be completed by 2011 with an estimated cost of Rs 1,400 crore.

New Delhi, June 24
Two persons died and several suffered injuries when a chartered, privately-operated bus in which they were traveling slipped off a road into a 20-25 feet deep trench near the Akshardham Temple in east Delhi this evening.

The bus, going from Okhla to Dilshad Garden, met with the accident when driver Raj Bahadur, 35, lost control over the vehicle while trying to save a child crossing the road in the Pandav Nagar area near Noida Mor around 7.15 p.m.

Over 47 people were travelling in the bus. The police said seven persons, including five women, were seriously injured.

Rescue team with fire fighting engines and cranes were pressed into service to save the injured trapped inside the bus. The bus belonged to Chaudhary Travels.

“The bus slipped off the road and went down 20-25 feet down near the Akshardham Temple. Two men, including the driver, have been killed. The other man is yet to be to be identified,” said deputy commissioner of police (East Delhi) Anand Mohan.

He said the injured have been admitted to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital. “The rescue operations are over and we are probing as to what led to this mishap,” he said.

An eyewitness alleged the police arrived late.

“Since the police did not come in time, we took the victims to the hospital,” said Ram Kumar, a witnesses.

The accident led to huge traffic jams at NH-24 and its surrounding areas. — IANS

New Delhi, June 24
Protests erupted today at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) headquarters when Mayor Kanwar Sain announced the sacking of 799 “illegally” recruited library employees. Police force had to be deployed to control the enraged employees who went about pelting stones and ransacking offices.

The Mayor announced the decision to sack 799 staff of Hardayal Municipal Public Library at the Chandni Chowk headquarters, claiming that their appointment by the previous Congress authority was “illegal and void.”

Soon after, around 400 protesters barged on the premises, damaged the Mayor’s car and smashed window panes of the heritage structure .

An angry protester said, “If there was any irregularity, why did they keep us on the job for three years?”

According to the MCD, now ruled by the BJP, the appointments were made between 2006 and 2007 by the Congress which headed the corporation then. “The irregularities were found in an inquiry conducted by former additional district and sessions judge G.P. Thareja following a Delhi High Court order.

The inquiry found that the appointments were made despite unavailability of funds and Rs 3 million had been sanctioned “illegally,” Sain said. — IANS

New Delhi, June 24
A day after an FIR was lodged against five policemen for allegedly raping a woman at Inderpuri police station, the officials from the forensic science laboratory (FSL), Rohini, today visited the lock-up of the said police station. According to sources, the FSL team visited the lock-up today afternoon and carried out scientific investigations, including picking samples, which would be verified later at the lab.

However, if the Delhi police officials are to be believed, even after 24 hours of handing over the case to the crime branch, the investigators are yet to come across a single evidence of rape on the premises of the police station.

According to a senior police official at police headquarters (PHQ), the case against the five policemen, including the Inderpuri police station incharge Pradeep Kumar, was registered late last night and the victim’s statement has been recorded.

“Based on the victim’s statement given to the police, her claims are being verified now. The forensic report is yet to come and its release would throw further light on the case,” said the police.

Meanwhile, ACP Rajan Bhagat, PRO, Delhi police, said that impartial investigation in the case are on and the establishment has taken the allegations very seriously. “As of now we have not come across a single evidence of rape. The allegations made by the woman would be thoroughly examined and if found true, the culprits would not be protected,” said Bhagat.

When asked if the CCTV footage at the entrance of the police station has established whether the woman was even brought to the station, Bhagat said, “Nothing against the accused has cropped up yet.”

The initial medical reports of the woman have not confirmed rape. Her clothes have been sent to the forensic science laboratory, Rohini, for further examination.

The woman, a resident of Inderpuri slum cluster, had alleged that five policemen had raped her inside the police station on Monday evening.

According to her, she was brought to the station when the police failed to nab her husband who has three cases of boot-legging registered against him at the police station.

Noida, June 24
A project to build multi-storey buildings on about 20 acres of land lying vacant between Shani Mandir and DND Expressway has almost been finalised by the Noida Authority. The mixed land use plan for this piece of land was approved in the Noida Authority’s board meeting recently.

A scheme to sell this land will soon be brought out by the Noida Authority, it is learnt. According to sources, institutional and residential-cum- commercial use of this land could also be made as per the Noida Authority norms.

According to sources, the state government is keen to take possession of the land located between Delhi and UP as well as the lands of the UP irrigation department lying in fragments near the main Noida Entry Gate.

The 20-acre land on which this project is being planned is part of the land which has been transferred by the UP irrigation department to the Noida Authority. The lay-out for this land has been approved by the Authority.

Experts recall that during the Mulayam Singh Yadav government, the DND toll bridge company had demanded this particular piece of land, but then the authorities concerned had maintained a discreet silence on the issue. But now the authorities appear keen to sell the land at high rates.

A public notice has also been issued by the Noida Authority to deal with this issue in a legal way.

The public has been asked to put its objections, if any, over the use of the land located between Naya Bans village, DND toll bridge and Purana Pushta Road within 30 days. This time limit ends on June 26.

Meanwhile, the UP government has transferred UP irrigation department’s land to the Noida Authority. The total area of this land is about 900 acres.

This includes land from steel bridge on Yamuna to Chilla regulator in Yamuna Khadar.

Besides, some UP irrigation department lands from Mathura Road to Okhla are also being acquired by the Noida Authority. But sources add that there is some dispute over 400 acres of land.

According to experts, it is not clear whether environment clearance has been obtained by the Noida Authority for the construction.

The construction is expected to damage the green belt, which is already facing threat because of a lot of construction taking place in Sectors 15-A and 16-A situated across the green belt. Also, there are apprehensions that construction in the area would affect the Okhla Bird Sanctuary.

Ghaziabad, June 24
A family of three — husband, wife and their 7-year-old son — allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a running train at the Natepuram crossing near Meerut.

While the couple died on the spot, their son survived but was seriously injured.

The police has recovered a suicide note from the spot in which the brother, sister and mother of the man have been held reponsible for the suicide.

According to police, the New Mohanpuri resident, Anil Rai, 35, was running a shop by name of Laxmi Materials. Anil’s brother also used to sit at the shop.

But Anil, who was not on good terms with his brother, and his wife Sanjana used to be so upset and perturbed at this that ultimately they decided to commit suicide.

The couple took their son and went to Natepuram railway level crossing near Meerut.

As the Amritsar Express approached, Anil, Sanjana and son Pretyanshu jumped in front of the train. Anil and Sanjana were blown to bits, while Pretyanshu was critically injured and has been admitted to a nearby hospital.

A suicide note has been recovered from the spot in Anil’s handwriting in which his brother, sister and mother have been held responsible for their decision to take end their lives.

Noida, June 24
The Noida Phase-II police has busted a gang of interstate vehicle thieves by arresting seven of its members. Two bikes have also been recovered.

According to police, the gang, led by a Class XII pass student, would get duplicate documents of stolen vehicles made and sell them in Bihar.

The gang was nabbed at Sector-110 late on Monday night on an informer’s information. They gang members had gone to meet another person on a stolen Pulsar and another bike.

The police has recovered 2 revolvers, live cartridges, five knives, five stolen mobile phones and two bikes from them.

SP City Ashok Tripathi said the modus operandi of the gang was that it would keep an eye on people parking their bikes, start it with duplicate keys and park it in a different nearby parking lot. The members have confessed to having stolen 10 bikes.

They would take the bikes to Ghaziabad, Barielly, Lucknow and Varanasi by road. At Varanasi Islam, s/o a police cop would change the number plates and get duplicate papers ready for the bikes.

Then bikes would be driven to Bihar and handed over to a person in Chandoli who used to sell them in Smastipur and Chhapra to needy persons.

The ring leader of the gang, Vinay Srivastav was of Jalalpur village hailed from Chhapra district only. Srivastav is living with his brother-in-law in Kulesra. The gang has two more Calss X11 pass students— Naushad from Bulandshahr, and Pawan Sharma of Salarpur in Noida.

Hero Honda bikes were the first choice of the gang members.

They used to spend Rs 2,300 on petrol on driving one bike from Noida to Bihar. Bikes used to fetch a sale price ranging from Rs 7,000 to Rs 11,000 per vehicle.

New Delhi, June 24
With the arrest of a couple outside the city, the Delhi police this afternoon claimed to have solved the kidnapping of two-year-old Gungun.

Gungun was kidnapped from the India Gate lawns last Thursday.

The police believes when the news of girl going missing hit the headlines, the couple – Jugal Kishore and his wife Rekha — got scared and abandoned the girl at a temple in Central Delhi.

Though the officials refrained from divulging from where Jugal Kishore and Rekha were caught, they said the couple was being brought to Delhi.

Gungun was found at a temple in the Jhandewalan area 40 hours after she went missing. She had come to the India Gate with her parents.

While her parents went to get some food, Gungun who was playing with a balloon went missing.