Gurgaon, September 24
In accordance with the wish of former union minister and veteran Congress leader Vasant Sathe (86), who died of cardiac failure here late last evening, his family donated his body to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) today.

The late leader's son Subhash, an industrialist based in Gurgaon, said his father had desired that his body be used by medical students pursuing studies in human anatomy. His eyes were also donated as per his wish, he added.

Apart from Subhash, Sathe is survived by daughters Suniti and Suhash.

The body was kept at his residence in Sushant Lok here from 10 am to 2 pm today, during which a number of people paid tributes to the departed soul.

Veteran BJP leader LK Advani, senior Congress leaders ML Fotedar, Ahmed Patel, Moti Lal Vora, union minister Mukul Wasnik, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithvi Raj Chavan, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Rao Desmukh, Orissa Governor MC Bhandare, Maharastra Youth Congress president Mohan Prakash and former Rajasthan minister DN Pataudi were among those who visited Sathe's place and consoled his family.

Wreaths were placed before Sathe's body on behalf of the President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Vice-President Mohammed Hamid Ansari. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi also sent a wreath and a condolence message through Congress leader Ahmed Patel.

On behalf of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Gurgaon deputy commissioner PC Meena laid a wreath and paid tributes to the late Congressman. Additional deputy commissioner VS Hooda laid a wreath on behalf of the Gurgaon district administration, while Haryana ADGP-cum-Gurgaon police commissioner SS Deswal paid tributes on behalf of the police administration.

New Delhi, September 24
Striving to retain its power in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) is preparing the agenda for the next year's municipal elections which ranging issues from price rise and corruption to development in the city.

The elections will be held in February 2012.

In the run up for the elections, The Leader of the House, Subhash Arya, today said there would be no hike in the property tax in the budget for the 2011-12 that will be proposed in December.

Arya said the BJP would focus on the developmental works done by it in the past tenure. "We did not raise any tax in the past four years neither we are going to raise it this time. Still, we have managed to increase our income to Rs 4,000 crore," said Arya.

The party leader said they had hired a private firm to conduct a survey to assess election statistics and its mood. "People are up in arms against price rise and corruption. They want to get rid of it and they will choose the party which can get them a breather for it," he added.

With only five months to go for the elections, the party has also started the process of zeroing in on the potential candidates who could ensure seats in the elections.

Also, with the Delhi government's proposal on the trifurcation of the MCD on the anvil, the party leaders are identifying prospective woman candidates from each ward. The proposal has reserved 50 per cent seats for women in the civic agency. "We have always been against the idea of dividing the MCD as it would disturb the unified structure of Delhi," said Arya.

Out of the total 272 ward representatives, the BJP has 172 councillors, which is India's largest and world's second largest civic body after Tokyo. The Congress has 73 while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has 16. The remaining 10 are either independent or represent small parties.

The effect of the anti-corruption movement that just got over in the national Capital would be seen in the elections as it would be the first important election after Anna's campaign, he added.

"The way the government is trying to divide the MCD, or take over maintenance of industrial areas or blame the MCD for poor maintenance of rural roads, making out a case for taking them over, reflects it is all a political ploy to take control of the MCD," said Mayor Rajni Abbi.

Ahead of the World Heart Day on September 29, most of the private hospitals in Delhi seem to be keen on making the city residents heart-friendly. They are offering subsidised health check-ups and consultations free of cost.

While many hospitals are distributing pamphlets with newspapers, others have announced attractive packages and will be holding camps in the run up to the day.

New Delhi, September 24
"I am a cold blooded historian and the question that upsets me about the partition is that when one moves away from such tragedies, one comes face to face with a dichotomy where Punjab is concerned," says Dr Mushirul Hassan, renowned historian and academician.

Dr Hassan was airing his views on the partition of Punjab at the launch of a book, 'The Punjab: Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed' by Ishtiaq Ahmed.

Dr Hassan said, "The dichotomy in Punjab is that it was one of the primary arenas of the partition, yet in those days it was a model for inter-communal harmony. Punjab was a very good example of the unity in diversity".

The question arises as to how did the edifice collapse and how did the situation in Punjab deteriorate so much that the partition took place. For this, one has to look into the developments that preceded partition and which were the precursors for this region to become a playground for communal politics."

Punjab becomes important because it was the arena where regional and communal politics was played and Ishtiaq's book deals with it.

This book can be seen as a final statement on all the horrendous things that happened during partition of Punjab. It deals with people's stories and their experiences which have been varied and the author has gone into this exhaustively. At the same time, there should also be a focus on the string of developments that took place during 1944-45 and that led to partition, said Dr Hassan.

Ishtiaq Ahmed has gone into gory details giving numerous and varied eyewitness accounts of the partition. He has interviewed some 200 people and told their stories in his book to help draw an exact picture of the partition of Punjab.

Ahmed said, "This book brings to a completion of a story that began in my childhood when I was living in Lahore in 1947. The partition left a tremendous impact on my young impressionable mind and I have felt compelled to tell the story. I have collected numerous witness accounts and stories relevant to the partition of Punjab. My attempt has been to bring the partition alive through the eyes of the people who lived it."

New Delhi, September 24
An exhibition on the Quran and the messages of Islam being held here was today called off midway through its schedule after facing protests from other Muslim groups.

The three-day exhibition was organised in Constitution Club by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, a group of representatives of the Ahmadiyya sect of the Muslims.

The exhibition was supposed to end on Sunday. However, following strong protests from majority of Muslim groups, led by the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the event was called off today itself.

The exhibition was wrapped up after apprehensions of tension as Bukhari announced a protest. This also resulted in a brief detention of Bukhari, spurting up tension in the area of old Delhi.

"We had to wrap up our exhibition after protests from the hardliners," a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat said.

"We were spreading the message of love to tell the world that the Quran is for everyone. But the hardliners don't want this," he said.

Bukhari was briefly detained and taken to the Daryaganj police station of Old Delhi. The Shahi Imam said they were protesting against the exhibition as it was not spreading "correct messages" of Islam.

"They don't consider Prophet Mohammad the last Prophet, hence they are not Muslims," Bukhari said.

"We had urged the government to stop the exhibition as what they are promoting is not authentic. We gave the government time till Friday, but our requests were not heard, so we decided to protest," said Bukhari.

"However, when we were to start the protest, I was detained along with my supporters and taken to the Daryaganj police station," he said.

Bukhari said he then refused to leave the police station premise till the exhibition was called off.

"After protestors started gathering, the police said the exhibition was being wound-up," he said.

Bukhari was at the police station from 12 noon to around 4 pm.

According to the police, the situation in the area is now normal.

"Bukhari was detained for some time in the morning. The situation in the area is normal now," central Delhi DCP Vivek Kishore said. 

New Delhi, September 24
The chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), who is also the MLA of the RK Puram constituency, Barkha Singh, has urged Delhi Chief Minister and municipal commissioner KS Mehra to name a park and road after late former cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

In a letter written to the chairperson of the State Road Naming Authority, Dikshit and Mehra, Singh has requested them to name the road in front of Pataudi's house in Vasant Vihar as 'Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi Marg' and a park in Block-B as 'Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Park'.

"This would be an honour to the nawab who was not only a legendry figure for the millions of Indian cricket lovers, but also a source of inspiration for sports protagonists world over," said Singh.

Singh said that by naming the road and park after Pataudi, the government could offer condolence and pay respect to the departed soul.

New Delhi, September 24
Given the skewed sex ratio of the Capital, the International Girl Child Day tomorrow may not have much to cheer about. But for 28-year-old Poonam, a single mother earning her living by working as a maid in Wazirpur, and her three young daughters (aged eight, seven and four years), the day has surely spelt a new dawn.

Post midnight yesterday, the three girls were rescued from the clutches of a physically-challenged man, Ravi Tyagi, who is allegedly running a child adoption racket through his NGO, Lalita Devi Viklang Jagrukta Sansthan in Budh Vihar. "The NGO that was registered in 2006 it is not authorised to provide child adoption services," child rights activist Rakesh Senger told The Tribune.

A look at the NGO's brochures brings out some interesting facts about the accused's sinister designs. Tyagi, along with his aide Sarika (who has a baby fathered by him), has been running several programmes like 'Slum Sundari' for grooming poor girls for modelling. He also runs a call centre manned by young girls from his office at P-148 Krishna Vihar.

While the activities of the NGO have been under the scanner of the locals, the Delhi police is yet to seal the place or arrest Tyagi and Sarika.

Yesterday's raid came two weeks after Poonam approached the local police station. Poonam had approached child rights NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) on September 20. The NGO forwarded the complaint to the DCP (crime branch) on Sep 22.

"My employer told me about Tyagi and his NGO. I was facing troubles after separation from my husband and so I sent my children to him for a month. But I wasn't permitted to meet them," Poonam said after medical investigations were carried out on her girls at Ambedkar Hospital today.

According to Poonam, Tyagi had kept her daughters confined to the place for over a year. Tyagi allegedly also sought sexual favours from Poonam for letting her meet the girls.

Tyagi not just confined Poonam's daughters, but also gave her six-year-old son to Suneeta, a resident of Thrinagar, for adoption. And when Suneeta was contacted by BBA activists, she refused to show the papers of the adoption.

"On Monday, the children will be produced before the Child Welfare Committee at Avantika," said BBA activist Rizwan.

The deputy commissioner of police (crime branch) Ashok Chand said, "The complaint has been received and we have registered a case. “

New Delhi, September 24
The south Delhi police has solved nearly 20 cases of cheating with the arrest of a group of five cheats.

The gang operated by air from Mumbai and targeted innocent people, especially women and the old people, on roads and looted them of their jewelery and belongings here in the capital.

Cheated jewellery recovered from their possession.

The latest in the series of cheating cases was an incident in Malviya Nagar on September 19, wherein the cheats pretended to be the police officials and convinced an old woman to keep her jewellery with them in a polythene bag. They told her that this area is a highly crime prone and one woman was murdered recently to rob off her jewellery.

Hence, they advised her to put off her jewellery and keep the same in a polythene bag. She put her gold bangles in a polythene bag, given by them. However, the cheats cleverly changed the polythene bag with another empty bag.

Leader of the gang Sanjay Jaffery, Shazman (45), Iqbal Ali (25), Mukhtiyar Hussain and Kalender Hussain are the main accused who have been arrested in the case.

Earlier, similar incidents had been reported in Delhi and NCR wherein old women were targeted and accused had cheated their jewellery by fooling them on the pretext of being policemen.

A surprising fact also came to notice that the all members of the gang are residents of Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh. They used to come to Delhi twice in a month. They would generally stay in hotels at Nizzamuddin, Paharganj, Gurgoan and Faridabad. Upon return to Mumbai, Sanjay would distribute the looted jewellery among the gang members.

Sanjay is a native of Iran and now settled in Mumbai. He, along with his associates, used to roam all over India and commit cheating/snatching by duping people.

New Delhi, September 24
The west district police yesterday arrested three persons for the murder of Sonu Sachdeva, the businessman who was found murdered in his house in Moti Nagar on September 21. The accused include Sachdeva's wife and her lover.

The police said Sachdeva's wife Aarti had promised to pay Rs 10 lakh to her lover Sant Saran Nehra and his friend Mirdul Dixit for the murder.

The accused attempted to show that the crime was committed for robbery, said V Renganathan, additional commissioner of police, west district.

"Dixit, who was unemployed and needed money, was roped in for the murder by Nehra. On the day of the murder, Mirdul and Dixit arrived at Aarti's house in the morning and attacked Sachdeva. Nehra hit Sachdeva with a hammer and Mridul an ice poker. The attack was so brutal that 35 stab injuries were found on Sachdeva's body. After the murder, Aarti ransacked the house and pretended that an unknown person had committed the murder for robbery," said the DCP.

While Nehra was arrested near the Rama Krishan Metro station, Dixit was nabbed near the New Delhi railway station. Aarti was arrested from her house. The DCP said the accused had confessed to their involvements in the crime.

Aarti had promised Nehra that after Sachdeva's death, she would give a portion of his wealth to him.

Nehra lives in Paharganj and owns a restaurant there. He got married in March, this year.

Nehra and Aarti had met when their families had gone to Ponta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh. After retuning from there, Aarti regularly visited Nehra. The DCP said Aarti had a strained relationship with Sachdeva, who was suspicious that Arti had an extra-marital affair. According to the police, Sachdeva used to beat her up for this. Arti had attended Nehra's marriage against Sachdeva's consent.

Sachdeva and Aarti had a love marriage in 1997. They had met on train while going to Patna.

The robbed booty consisting of Rs 1,50, 000 cash and jewellery and the weapons used in the crime have been seized.