New Delhi, June 10
The Delhi police has suspended three cops, including a woman head constable, of Mayapuri police post after a 30-year-old woman alleged that cops there forced her to strip and asked her son to have sex with her.

Head constable Amrita Singh and constables Pramod Kumar and Santosh have been suspended while an assistant police inspector has been transferred, pending an enquiry into the matter, officials said.

The alleged incident occurred on May 22 when she went to the local police post as the police had detained her sons, both minors, on theft charges. “My husband was there, but the police forced him and one of my sons to leave the police station. Then they asked me to strip in front of my son, threatening to beat me if I refused,” she, whose identity is being withheld, told media persons.

She alleged that she sat weeping after stripping herself and then policemen dragged her son close to her, asking him to have sex with her.

The police has registered a case of theft against the family members. It claimed that her sons were involved in stealing money and valuables from cars.

The law bars the police to take juveniles to a police station even for questioning, irrespective of the charges levelled against them.

The matter had been hushed up, but an NGO took up the matter and made a complaint to the commissioner of police.

DCP (West Delhi) Sharad Aggarwal said they have taken the matter “most seriously” and the guilty would not be spared.

Meanwhile, National Commission for Women has also ordered a probe and its chairperson Girija Vyas said they have constituted a three-member committee. “We will be visiting the victim and also go the police station. It’s a most serious allegation and the guilty cops must be brought to book,” she said.

The victim also accused cops of trying to bribe her to buy her silence after she made the allegations. She was taken to the police station to identify the guilty cops and they later approached her with an offer of bribe if she backed out, she said.

New Delhi, June 10
Delhiites could soon lay hands on their favourite bottle of booze at posh shops run by private operators in nine malls across the Capital.

So far running liquor shops have been the preserve of government-run Delhi State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation.

Officials said the shops would come up in the malls at Janakpuri, Rohini, Netaji Subhash Place, Wazirpur, Raja Garden and Laxmi Nagar. Imported foreign liquor and almost all the brands of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) will be available. These shops would open by June 20.

This has been done to provide better environment to citizens as well as foreign visitors during the Commonwealth Games, excise and planning minister A.K. Walia said.

Delhi got its first liquor outlet at a shopping mall in April when the Delhi government’s premier infrastructure development agency, DSIIDC, opened an outlet at the luxurious DLF Place mall in Saket. DSIIDC is going to open similar outlets in premier malls also. From next week, people can buy liquor along with other goods in the malls.

Walia today said that some selected malls in Delhi would sell liquor from next week. Fourteen people applied for licence for 14 separate malls, but only nine were issued the licence. The rejected applicants could not meet the conditions of the department concerned.

Walia said that the criterion was that the shop should have an area of 1,000 sq ft. The selected nine applicants would deposit Rs 6 lakh per licence on annual basis, an official of the department said.

Although the excise department is yet to inspect the malls, it hopes to complete the process in the next few days.

Most probably, the shops will start operating from June 20, the official added.

However, the minister has warned the people against drinking in public places. “We want to prevent unruliness in view of the Commonwealth Games 2010,” Walia said.

New Delhi, June 10
In an emergency meeting of Executive Council of DU today, a search committee has been formulated to look for a new vice-chancellor for the university.

Following the procedure stated in the university statutes, the vice-chancellor called the meeting of the key body to set up the committee. The two names that have been suggested for the search committee by the council are of Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India Rajagopala Chidambram and economist Yogendra Alagh.

The four-member committee that includes two members suggested by the Executive

Council has guidelines that the members should be from science and humanities background each. The chairperson of the committee is appointed by the visitor of the university who is the President of India. One more member is nominated by the chairperson.

“It was an emergency meeting called without any prior information regarding its agenda as the vice-chancellor knew well that his term was going to expire and that the search committee had to be constituted,” said sources in the EC.

There are reports that the DU vice-chancellor did not even consider the option of going ahead with the MHRD’s proposal on seeking a second term as he knew that he would be isolated in the EC.

Pental was appointed vice-chancellor five years ago in September. His term ends on the last day of August this year. The search committee needs to find an appropriate candidate for the post before that time.

New Delhi, June 10
With just one day to go for the closing of Delhi University’s pre-admission process, students are doing the last-minute checking.

Most students were seen running around filling in forms for the individual colleges today as many wanted to be sure that their applications were not rejected. Some students even filled in the centralised forms for the second time.

As many as 19,253 forms were submitted today while 8,806 forms bought. The students’ counsellors believed that only those students not very serious about the admissions were reaching the university campus at the eleventh hour.

“We recommend that students should not fill in the centralized forms more than once. It is a complete waste as their certificate numbers have already been fed into the computers,” said Gurmeet Kaur, student counsellor.

The admission information centres are going to close at 1 pm tomorrow. The first cut-off would be out on June 22.

Greater Noida, June 10
People will have to pay more for buying a house in Noida and Greater Noida from July 1 when the new circle rates are likely to take effect in Gautam Budh Nagar district. The rates are expected to be hiked by 10 to 25 per cent.

District magistrate Deepak Agarwal is likely to announce new circle rates shortly with rates for newer sectors to be hiked steeply.

A committee under Addl. DM (Finance) is already seized of the matter.

The district magistrate will shortly finalize the circle rates in a meeting with the officers of the revenue department.

ADM (Finance) Shiv Kant Divedi said that the rates of all the four circles of the G.B. Nagar district, viz Noida, Greater Noida, Dadri and Javer are being revised upwards. Circle rates in the district will be hiked between 10 and 25 per cent, Divedi said. Rates of those places will register more hike where a large number of plots and houses are being bought and sold at present, for example in sectors like 18, Sector-20, Sports City of Noida, Knowledge Park-5, Noida Extension, U–2, Zeeta, etc.

With the new rates coming in force, the middle class will find buying plots or houses in Noida and Greater Noida out of their reach.

However, according to sources, circle rates are not likely to be hiked in posh sectors of Noida and Greater Noida.

The rates are likely to be increased by only 10 per cent in Alfa, Beeta and Gama sectors. This is because these sectors already command a high price which in turn gives the government handsome revenue.

Rates in Dadri are likely to be hiked between 15 and 20 per cent as of late more buyers are converging towards Dadri.

Ghaziabad, June 10
A case of a woman killing her husband has come to light here. The woman had severed the head of her husband with an axe and thrown the body on the railway tracks near Syana Garh railway station here. She was allegedly helped in the crime by a 65-year-old godman.

The body, discovered on June 6, was identified as that of Ganesh Giri of Bohari Bheemnagar in Bareilly.

At first, the woman, Jagwati, tried to kill Ganesh by giving him drinking water that was boiled along with a lizard. But when she failed in her attempt, she allegedly severed his neck with an axe.

S.P. (rural) M.M. Baig said the woman and the godman had been arrested.

Baig said after the recovery of the body, the police had inspected both the sides of the railway tracks up to half a km. A mobile phone was found lying on the tracks.

It was learnt that the phone belonged to a godman, Dularey, of Quila Hanuman Mandir in Bareilly.

When interrogated, Dularey told the police that the victim was Ganesh Giri, a resident of Bheemnagar, and that he had been killed by his wife.

Jagwati also confessed to her crime. She told the police that she along with her husband used to visit Dularey and gradually got into a relationship with him. But when Giri opposed to it, she along with Dularey planned to eliminate him.

On June 5, Jagwati took Giri to Aurangabad on the pretext of fixing their daughter’s marriage.

In train, she gave Giri water boiled with a lizard in it to drink, but it did not affect him.

When they got down at Garh Syana station, Dularey joined them. She then severed Giri’s head with an axe brought by Dularey. After throwing the body on the railway tracks, the two disfigured his face by sprinkling acid on it.

New Delhi, June 10
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today said that it has taken suo motu cognizance of the media report, alleging that out of 53 samples of drinking water taken from various areas in Delhi by a non-government organization (NGO), only two were found potable.

The commission has issued notices to the chief secretary, Delhi government, and the DJB chairman, asking for their report within four weeks.

The NGO had claimed that the drinking water supplied by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) contained harmful substances. The levels of faecal contamination, fluoride and arsenic were present above the permissible limit in many areas.

"The media report carried in May was based on the samples collected by an NGO called Hazard Centre. Finding the contents of the media report as distressing, the commission has observed that if the report is true, it is a serious issue of violation of human rights of the people of Delhi," said a public relations officer of the commission.

However, the DJB in its response called the report 'baseless'. It is creating unnecessary scare in the minds of people. The water supplied by DJB is potable, claims its officials.

The board has also rejected the demand for joint water testing with Hazards Centre.

New Delhi, June 10
Hot and sunny days are back in the Capital as the city recorded a maximum temperature of 39.8 degree Celsius today with the sun scorching the citizens once again.

The metrological department has further predicted hot conditions as no rains are expected in the next few days.

"No rains are forecast for the next few days," said an official of the Indian metrological department.

The minimum temperature recorded today was 25.4 degree Celsius which is four degrees below the average for this time of the year.

"The weather is blowing hot and cold, as it were. It rains one day, and then the next day it's again intolerably hot. Let's hope the rains will fall soon again," said Charu, a city model.

For tomorrow, the weatherman has predicted a hot day with clear skies.

While the maximum temperature is expected to settle at 41 degree Celsius, the minimum is expected to settle at 27 degree Celsius.

New Delhi, June 10
The Delhi police today sought more time from the court to complete the investigation in the sensational murder case of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan.

Public prosecutor Rajeev Mohan filed an application before the court of additional sessions judge S K Sarvaria, saying, “In the interest of justice, 30 days more time may kindly be granted to finalise the probe.”

The mandatory period to conclude the probe and file the chargesheet against the four accused is 90 days, but the prosecutor filed the plea as the probe was still incomplete.

The court, however, took the application into records and has fixed it for hearing.

On March 10, the four accused — Ajay Sethi, Baljeet Singh Malik, Amit Shukla and Ajay Kumar — were booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA).

The police booked key accused Ravi Kapoor under MCOCA last year. It also filed the chargesheet against him.

Ravi Kapoor, along with Baljeet Singh Malik, Amit Shukla and Ajay Kumar, had allegedly tailed the journalist of Headlines Today channel and allegedly shot at her on the night of September 30, 2008, when she was returning home by her car from office around 3:30 am.

Initially, four accused, except Ajay Sethi, were booked under the provisions of the IPC, dealing with murder, robbery, cheating and possessing stolen properties.

Sethi has been charged under the milder penal provision dealing with keeping stolen property.

Subsequently, they were booked under MCOCA after it came to light that they were involved in several such cases, including the murder of IT executive Jigisha Ghosh.

The police claimed robbery was the motive which ultimately led to the killing of Soumya.

New Delhi, June 10
With the arrest of 18-year-old Sanjay yesterday, a resident of J.P. Nagar of Uttar Pradesh, the Delhi police has claimed to have solved a kidnapping case reported from the Welcome area in the Capital.

On June 8, Azizul, the father of a boy named Dil Mohammad, alias Dilwa, reported that his son had been kidnapped.

The only clue with the police was that the kidnappers belonged to Sayed Nangli village. During investigation, the police learnt that three persons of the village-- Narottam, Sanjay and Chetan Swaroop (a UP police constable.)-- had brought a boy from Delhi and were missing since then.

A trap was laid near Narottam's house. At night, when Sanjay suspiciously tried to enter his house, the police team apprehended him after a chase.

On interrogation, he disclosed that he along with Narottam (his uncle) and Swaroop had kidnapped the boy from Delhi and kept him in a rented room taken by Chetan at Gaurav Enclave. The boy was rescued at his instance.

New Delhi, June 10
The Delhi police has nabbed six vehicle thieves and recovered six vehicles from Sunder Nagri.

A scrap market in Sunder Nagri is famous for dismantling different types of vehicles, which are bought in auction sales or through vendors from all over the Capital. 

On receiving information that some thieves also dispose of stolen vehicles in the market, a trap was laid to prevent such activities in the future by apprehending such criminals.

On May 29, two vehicle thieves— Sanjay and Dharmender, alias Dattu, and a receiver of stolen vehicles — Mannu Malik, alias Sonu, were arrested by the police and one vehicle stolen from Nand Nagri and two motor cycles was recovered from them

It was learnt that they were planning to sell the stolen vehicles in Sunder Nagri scrap market.  A strict watch was kept over the market in the coming days and on June 3, another scrap dealer namely Aas Mohd alias Aasu was apprehended while he was planning to sell the engine of a stolen motorcycle. 

Further checkings led to two more arrests on June 6. Zakir and Irfan, alias Kala, were apprehended with one motor cycle stolen from Bhajanpura and the engine of a motor cycle stolen from Keshav Puram.

New Delhi, June 10
A Delhi court has awarded around Rs 1.55 lakh as compensation to the family of a minor girl who died in a road accident in 2007.

Motor accident claim tribunal judge Gurvinder Pal Singh awarded Rs 1,54,500 as compensation to the parents of the three-year-old minor who died in the accident while crossing the road.

It added that the compensation be paid along with interest at the rate of 7.5 per cent per annum, from the date of filing the petition till its realization.

On February 9, around 1 pm, the victim was going on foot towards Service Road from Raghubir Nagar. Suddenly, a tempo driven in a rash and negligent manner hit her.

She fell on the road and sustained serious injuries. The minor was taken to a nearby hospital, but succumbed to her injuries. 

The investigating  agency  too submitted its report that  the driver of the offending vehicle was responsible  for  the  accident and  had  caused  the death  of   Kumari  Komal.

The judge while pronouncing the order said, “As per the copy of the postmortem report, the death has been due to ‘severe head injury’. The driver is hence responsible for the death of the girl child.”

New Delhi, June 10
South district police has arrested a notorious criminal Ravinder, alias Kallu, a resident of Ghitorni village here, who brutally murdered a young person over a minor dispute and had been absconding since the day of incident.

He was previously involved in an attempt to murder case and other robbery cases, the police said.

On May 7, a body of an unknown man aged about 25 years was found near Gadaipur Road inside a dry nala (drain). The head and face of the body were crushed brutally with the help of stone to hide his identity.

A case was registered at Mehrauli police station and investigation taken up.

During the course of investigation, the body was identified as of Mahesh, alias Hans, from Ghitorni. The police found out that Mahesh was murdered reportedly by Ajay, alias Kalu, and Ravinder, alias Kallu, both residents of Ghitorni.

As both the deceased and accused belong to the same village, this led to a lot of tension in the village that further put pressure on the police to arrest the accused.

The police team collected details of friends and relatives of the accused, and on June 6, Kallu hiding in his uncle’s house at Mojabad village was arrested following a raid.