New Delhi, September 30
From auto drivers, taxi unions, housewives to the office-goers, the common man today expressed anger over the Rs 2-per kg CNG price hike in the Capital.

Life has turned from bad to worst, said Rupam Tuli, general secretary for the All Delhi Auto Taxi Federation.

"It looks like the government is indifferent to the problems of the common man. With an already high inflation, the rise in CNG price appears as if the government has made all the arrangements to make our life difficult to worst."

He said though the increase would not affect the auto-drivers much, it will surely make a major difference to the pockets of bus and truck drivers.

"The auto drivers hardly use five kg of CNG a day, so for them this would make a small difference. But for truck and bus drivers, who use around 100 kg, the hike is painful," he added.

The price hike was Rs 2 in Delhi and Rs 2.30 in the NCR.

Ashok Kumar Tiwari, vice-president of the Bhartiya Tipahiya Chalak Sangh, said, "The only difference it will make to the common man will be that from four chapatis, we will come down to three."

S.K. Bhatia, president of the All-Delhi Auto Taxi Federation, said the government should also hike taxi fares while increasing the fuel prices.

"This is a fair way which was followed during the governance of (former Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi," he added.

Car owners too were a disappointed lot. "The Congress has become famous with its price hiking policies now. We have no hope from it," said Ajay Arora, 43, who bought his car on loan a month ago.

"Congress, which talks about the aam admi (common man), has failed. Somebody should tell them that they were elected by us and this is not what they promised," said Ankit Sagar, 29, a software engineer.

Besides, housewives too were upset, fearing a vegetable price hike.

"Every time there is a fuel or CNG price hike, the prices of vegetables also rise," said Ritu Thakur, 32.

Meanwhile, people with CNG-run cars and auto-drivers queued up at CNG stations as the hike comes into effect from midnight. After the hike, CNG will cost Rs 32 per kg. — IANS

New Delhi, September 30
Delhi Metro Phase III, the much-awaited project of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, will have better features having advanced technology. Delhi Metro is going to reduce human dependence and increase the frequency of service on the network.

Most operations will be automatic on trains in Phase III and will not need supervision of the train drivers. With the already-tested Automatic Train Operation system, DMRC intends to reduce human dependence in the project. Unlike the trains now which have operators monitoring all their functions, upcoming corridors will have automatic systems that will help minimize errors and streamline operations.

Under the ATO, a Communication-Based Train Control system helps locate the position of any train on a corridor which will be helpful in case of breakdown.

"In the new system, drivers would be required only to monitor the opening and closing of doors when trains arrive at platforms. All the other operations such as monitoring the speed, applying brakes, following the timetable and maintaining the gap between two trains will be done automatically," said a DMRC spokesperson.

A Delhi Metro official added, "The new signalling system will enable trains to run at a frequency of 90 seconds. Currently, the maximum frequency on Metro tracks is of 2.30 minutes."

With the surveys almost completed along with other preliminary work on the line, DMRC has now invited applications for the design of Overhead Equipment system.

Explaining its importance, Metro spokesperson said, "The OHE is used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point."

The Phase III work is likely to begin the next month starting with the construction of a small stretch between Central Secretariat and Mandi House. 

Ghaziabad, September 30
The police today rescued the four-year-old kidnapped son of a businessman and arrested four persons in this connection following an encounter in the Sahibabad area here.

Sunil Kumar, SHO of the Indirapuram police station, was injured in the exchange of fire, the police officials said.

Kumar has been admitted to a hospital where he is stated to be out of danger.

The police raided a house owned by Prama Pal, where the boy was kept. Pal happens to be a friend of the boy's father Tejinder Bajaj.

The woman, who was involved in the crime, was absconding.

Four persons - Sandeep, Piyush Tiwari, Zaheer and Pramod - have been arrested in connection with the incident.

The kidnappers have confessed that they had made a ransom call of Rs 70 lakh for the release of the boy, SP (city) JK Sahi said.

The family had offered to pay Rs 25 lakh, but the four refused to release the boy, he said.

Karan was kidnapped by two bikers yesterday when he was returning home from a play-school with his grandmother. The family had received another shock when Tejinder's sister Nisha, who had gone out to search for the boy, was found dead on the railway track near Hindon river in the evening. - PTI

New Delhi, September 30
Burglars broke into the residence of renowned classical singer Padam Shri Prof Rita Ganguly and decamped with several mementoes.

The incident was reported on Monday morning. A case has been registered at the Barakhamba police station.

"The theft took place sometime on the night of September 25-26 in Prof Ganguly's house at Safdar Hasmi Marg. The burglars had broken the window frame and entered the house through the two bars," said a police official. They could be minor who could easily get inside.

Ganguly has expressed disappointment on loosing a Saraswati idol that was gifted to her by former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi. "I am extremely upset that the Saraswati idol which was a gift form late Indira Gandhi ?has been stolen?," she said.

The burglars must have escaped through the gate of her neighbour HGS Dhaliwal's house with which she share's the boundary wall, it is beleived.

She is surprised that how the burglar could had escaped so easily despite Dhaliwal's residence having a police security guard posted 24X7.

Ganguly has reported the theft of a large silver lamp, a Saraswati idol weighing around 10kg and some antique articles like a pot and a vessel.

Ganguly is a recipient of the President's Award, Padma Shri in 2003, for her outstanding contribution to classical music, besides several other honours.

New Delhi, September 30
The south district police today arrested five persons for allegedly stealing gold jewellery on the pretext of cleaning them.

The accused have been identified as Mahesh Shah (36), Kailash (27), Deepak Kumar Saha (32), Neeraj Saha (21) and Mustakeem (42).

While Mahesh, Kailash and Mustakeem were arrested from Harsh Vihar around 3 pm, Deepak and Neeraj were arrested from Bhopura, Ghaziabad, around 5 pm.

On July 7, Sadhana Mittal reported to the police that while she was at home, two men came in to sell a powder for cleaning gold ornaments.

"Sadhana gave the men her gold bangles to clean for a demonstration. The men coated the bangles with the powder and put them in water mixed with turmeric. They then asked her to wait for 10 minutes and left. However, later, when Sadhana checked the water, she did not find her bangles in it," said Chhaya Sharma, deputy commissioner of police, south district.

The DCP said similar cases had been reported in the past from Delhi and the national capital region (NCR).

"He said his gang had committed similar crimes in Vivek Vihar, Jhilmil Colony, Jagatpuri, Janakpuri, Hari Nagar, Moti Nagar, Sant Nagar, Burari, Lodhi Colony and Saket in Delhi and various villages of Ghaziabad, Sonepat and Panipat," said the DCP.

The DCP said the gang used to target housewives in government colonies.

"The gang members would introduce themselves to their victims as old jewellers who lost their businesses in villages. They used to sell the ill-gotten gold in their native villages through their accomplices there," said the DCP.

Mahesh, who leads the gang, came to Delhi from a village in Bihar around two years ago. He later called his accomplices from Bihar. They had committed similar crimes in and around Mahesh's native village. 

New Delhi, September 30
In a gruesome murder in Karawal Nagar, one man, Sarvesh Shukla was arrested for strangulating his 13-month-old daughter Durga and then burying her body. He had strained relations with his wife, Savita. Sarvesh also held his wife captive inside their house.

An official of the Delhi police women's cell said that on September 14, the Karkardooma court directed the police to register a case regarding the incident and arrest Sarvesh.

The police has also arrested Sarvesh's brother for his involvement in the crime. They are searching for Sarvesh's family members, according to the police.

Sarvesh disclosed to the police that he had buried his daughter at Wazirabad Ghat. The police said that they had recovered her body yesterday.

Sarvesh and Savita married in Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh in 2002. They had three children, including two sons, Kaushal and Ankit, and a daughter. They are residents of B-49, Karawal Nagar.

Sources said that Sarvesh killed his daughter in July. "On July 6, he locked his daughter inside a room in the house. He killed her on July 14 and then buried her. Ants had eaten the flesh on her legs before she was buried. Sarvesh had also locked his wife in a room. From a bathroom in the house, she managed to give a letter containing the gory details to a passer-by outside. The passer-by gave the letter to Savita's family," said a source.

On July 23, Savita's paternal uncle, Om Prakash complained to the police about the matter. The police then registered a case.

Savita was rescued by the police and admitted to the Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital.

Savita's cousin, Jitender said that she and Sarvesh had strained relations.

"Sarvesh had told Savita that he didn't want a daughter as he would have to give dowry at her wedding," Jitender added.