New Delhi, February 4
The police today detained a man for questioning in a double murder case in which a physically challenged man, Nitin Maini, killed his wife Shweta and four-year-old son Garv. The man is said to be Shweta's lover.

Sources said that the police had questioned a taxi driver who knew Nitin's family for the past three years. He had allegedly given employment to Nitin's brother Rohit.

Nitin told the police that his wife told him that she wanted to marry the driver, whose identity has not been disclosed.

According to the police, Nitin said that he suspected Shweta to be involved in an illicit affair and hence he killed her.

"She had recently started working and Nitin suspected her of seeing someone. He was also depressed that his wife was being pressurised by her parents to marry his younger brother," said a source.

Nitin (30), who was arrested yesterday for allegedly strangling his wife with a cloth (dupatta) and smothering his son with a pillow, was sent to 14 days of judicial custody by a city court today.

The incident occurred yesterday on the sixth wedding anniversary of Nitin and Shweta.

Nitin's parents and his two younger brothers had also celebrated the occasion with them.

A police official said, "Nitin first called his brother-in-law and told him that he had murdered his sister. He then disclosed the incident to us. We reached his residence around 2 am and had to break open the door of his room. He is a powerful man, although he is paralysed from his waist below. He exercises every day. It took us a lot of efforts to snatch the scissors from his hands. He had used it to stab himself."

The postmortem reports of the bodies have not been declared so far. The official denied that the victims were poisoned. The police is investigating whether Nitin's family is involved in the murders.

Noida, February 4
A meeting of the heads of branches of various banks was organised in Noida today in which it was decided to ensure that customers will not face any difficulty in view of the judgement of the Supreme Court on the shifting of branches.

"The branches will ensure smooth functioning of accounts and lockers on or after March 5. However, inconvenience caused to customers is deeply regretted," said Arun Kumar, lead bank manager of Syndicate Bank, on behalf of all banks.

Two days ago, a social and RTI activist, Commodore (retd) LK Batra, wrote to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) executive director urging RBI's intervention to ensure safety of assets of customers holding accounts and lockers in banks in Noida.

About 104 branches of various banks have been operating in Noida from the residential areas for decades now which will be shifting to other locations. The Supreme Court has directed the Noida Authority to get these branches vacated from the present location.

However, time given is too less for these banks to find alternative sites.

The Noida Authority has started sealing these banks on February 1. This had triggered panic among customers as they are not sure about the safety and security of their bank assets and belongings kept in lockers.

On February 4, the Authority desealed the banks on the direction of the Supreme Court in which six weeks' relief was granted to banks for shifting.

The RBI taking cognisance of the complaints had directed the banks to ensure safety of assets of account holders and locker holders.

New Delhi, February 4
Two persons, including a popularly known as "Chacha", were arrested for being allegedly involved in 49 cases of vehicle theft. The accused sold their cars by informing their customers that the vehicles were bought in an auction or from military officers.

On January 21, the police arrested a vehicle thief, Jagdish Chander (57), when he was trying to open a window of a Maruti car by using a steel scale at Mansarover Garden. His associate Binder Singh, who is the receiver of the stolen property, was also arrested, according to the police.

Chander, a resident of Chauhan Nagar in Mandi Dabwali, Haryana, is an expert in stealing vehicles.

"He was earlier involved in 24 cases of vehicle theft in Delhi which are pending trial at different courts. With his arrest we have recovered 25 vehicles thereby he is involved in 49 cases. At Chauhan Nagar, Chander poses as a car dealer and Singh works as a television mechanic," said Additional Commissioner of Police (west district), V Renganathan.

Most of the vehicles were sold to villagers on forged documents. Singh acted as a conduit and a receiver of the stolen vehicles, according to the ACP.

Chander said that he had sold the stolen cars for Rs 45,000 to Rs 85,000, depending upon the condition of the vehicle.

The recovered 25 cars are 13 Maruti 800, 10 Santro, one Maruti Esteem and one Honda City. With his arrest 25 motor-vehicle theft cases of various police stations like 12 of the Patel Nagar police station, nine of the Kirti Nagar police station, one of the Rohini (north) police station, one of the Vasant Kunj (north) police station and one of the Ranjit Nagar police station were solved, said Renganathan.

"The accused said that he was committing thefts for leading a lavish lifestyle. He also wanted to provide a good education to his children," said the official.

New Delhi, February 4
Property owners in unauthorised colonies should not take it for granted that their colonies would be approved on the basis of the provisional regularisation certificates (PRC) issued by the city government in 2008.

According to a statement issued by the government, PRCs were issued in October 2008 to around 1,200 unauthorized colonies which had furnished the documents out of a total of 1,639 applicants.

"The PRCs are no guarantee that an unauthorized colony will be regularized in due course unless it meets with the prescribed eligibility conditions," the statement said.

It said that as per the procedure, maps of the layout plans submitted by the resident welfare authorities of the unauthorized colonies were forwarded to MCD, DDA, forest department of the Delhi government and the Archaeological Survey of India for their No Objection Certificates (NOCs).

It further said that based on these NOCs, as many as 1,018 colonies have been found to meet the basic criterion for regularization. The boundary maps of these colonies are being scrutinized and finalized using the aerial photographs and satellite imaginaries. Boundaries of 51 unauthorized colonies have already been notified to the public.

Irregularities in issuing PRCs were highlighted by a former MLA who filed a complaint with the Lokayukta. The Lokayukta took suo motu notice of the case when it appeared in the media. He has now sought the inquiry report.

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR: A labourer removes bulbs after the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on Saturday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

It was a complete show of strength in view of the coming gurdwara committee election where Marwah is an important factor. People from across the party lines, government bodies, ministers and MLAs were present in large numbers. The Chief Minister's family members had been at the function for more than 30 minutes.

Lodging FIR, a real headache

Getting an FIR registered by a common man is a big hassle. Most crime reporters claim that it is easy for a journalist to get a complaint or an FIR lodged at a police station. And if they are known, it becomes easier. For others, it is a real headache to make a complaint. People are simply not aware of the police station they need to visit if they are a victim of a crime. Most of the police officials do not inform the complainant about the station they need to visit. This results in loss of time, especially in a crisis.

Eve-teasers learn a lesson

In a city like Delhi, eve-teasing is often overlooked and unreported, but not in a case of a young Sikh couple travelling in a Metro train that was headed towards the Tilak Nagar station. The girl was teased by two boys and when her fiancé objected, he was beaten up which caused his turban to come off. Soon others standing nearby came to the boy's rescue. The miscreants were thrashed and had to be saved by the CISF personnel at the station. Within a few minutes, more than 100 members of the Sikh community surrounded the outer premises of the station in a bid to get inside. However, they were stopped by the security forces.

Politicos helpful in this case

People have started approaching politicians and other influential people for getting admission of their wards in the school of their choice.

A senior government official said that she had applied in more than a dozen schools located near her residence. But her grandson's name did not figure in any of them. She then requested a politician to help her get admission for her grandson. The child would lose a year if he did not get admission, she pleaded.

In another case, an official of the HRD ministry has agreed to buy a seat of the management quota in a public school.

DUTA no more holds sway, or so it seems

Even as the DUTA is set to launch a protest against the university administration, some groups within the teaching community are distancing themselves from it. These teachers believe that the DUTA has moved away from the basic concerns of the student community and are more focused on its own demands.

"The DUTA manifesto for the upcoming protests doesn't even feature the problems related to the semester system. Even at the General Body Meeting last week, only a few hundred teachers were present while the DUTA represents around 5,000 teachers. This is the proof as to how many teachers really support it this time," said a senior faculty member from the School of Open Learning, DU.

(Contributed by Syed Ali Ahmed, Shaurya Karanbir Gurung, Himani Chandel, Jyoti Rai)

Noida, February 4
Only Noida residents can get anti-rabies injections at the city district hospital, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Multi-Specialty Hospital, in Sector 30.

On Monday, several residents of Jewar and Dankore were given the first dose at the hospital, but asked to go to their nearest health centres for further doses.

"The direction has been issued as it was seen that people from as far as Jewar were coming here for rabies vaccination when they can get the injection at community health centres (CHC) near their houses. Also, several Delhi residents were coming here for the injection," Meena Mishra, chief medical superintendent of the district hospital, told The Tribune today.

"On an average, we get over 125 dog and monkey bite cases every day. In most of the cases, there is no need for injection, but the victims insist for it out of fright," said Mishra.

"I have told the staff to check the address proof of the patients and administer the injection only if the victim is from Noida. In other cases, if a victim has come soon after a bite, he/she is given the first dose and then asked to go to their nearest CHC for the next doses," said Mishra.

"I have appealed to the residents of other places to visit their nearest CHCs for anti-rabies injection. If injections are not available there, they can report it to the district chief medical officer. This will reduce their inconvenience of long travel. Their whole day is wasted in getting the injection from the district hospital as it takes more than three hours from Jewar to reach here," said Mishra.

"There are four CHCs at Dadri, Dankore, Bisrakh and Jewar, besides the primary health centres (PHC). But doctors at PHC and CHC refer the victims to the Noida district hospital," said Raj Kumar of Sabota village in Jewar.

"While stray dogs move only in selected areas and do not go beyond that, monkeys roam around in groups and move to different places every day. It is impossible to keep a watch over the monkeys. So, we recommend five doses for monkey bites and three for dog bites," said Dr SP Singh, chief veterinary officer.

Meanwhile, chief medical officer of Gautam Budhh Nagar RK Garg has directed the CHC and PHC staff to see that anti-rabies injections are available there so that the victims do not have to go to the district hospital at Noida.

New Delhi, February 4
A man has been declared "presumed dead" by a Delhi court on his son's plea as he has been missing for the past 11 years.

Additional senior civil judge Gautam Manan declared central Delhi resident Vinod Kumar's father Sohal Lal dead as per the Indian Evidence Act provisions, stipulating that a man not seen or heard of for the past seven years may be presumed to be dead.

ASCJ Manan presumed Lal dead, noting that he had neither been seen nor heard of since 2000, while the police had submitted to the court a report declaring him untraceable.

The court order came on Kumar's plea, saying that his father went missing on May 29, 2000 and a report was lodged with the police about his disappearance in the first week of June 2000, but he could not be traced despite the best of efforts, with the police finally declaring him untraceable.

"As per Section 108 of the Indian Evidence Act, a person is presumed to be dead if he is not heard (of being) alive for more than seven years.

"It is in evidence that Sohan Lal has not been heard (of being) alive since year 2000 and despite efforts of the police he could not be traced. Accordingly, the plaintiff is entitled for the relief seeking declaration that his father is presumed dead," the court said.

"A decree of declaration is hereby passed, thereby declaring Sohal Lal as presumed dead," it added. --PTI

Ghaziabad, February 4
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here today adjourned the hearing in teenager Aarushi Talwar's murder case till February 29.

Satish Tamta, counsel for Aarushi's parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, both doctors, submitted before the court that the trial proceedings here be stopped till the plea of the father in the Supreme Court to shift the case to Delhi was disposed of.

RK Saini, the public prosecutor from the CBI, requested the court to continue the trial since the prosecution had not received any communication from the apex court.

After hearing arguments from both the sides, Special Judicial Magistrate Preeti Singh adjourned the hearing.

Fourteen-year-old Aarushi, a student of Delhi Public School, was found murdered in her Noida apartment on May 16, 2008. The family's domestic help, Hemraj, who was initially suspected to be the prime suspect, was also found killed on the terrace a day later.

The case was heard today after a gap of about a year.

Rajesh Talwar earlier sought an exemption from physical presence in court after he sustained critical injuries in an attack on him on the court premises.

Nupur Talwar, in her separate application, submitted that she was also unable to appear before the court since she had to appear before the Allahabad High Court to submit an affidavit in the appeal filed by her against an earlier order of the trial court.

Aarushi's father was attacked on the Ghaziabad court premises by a man in February 2011. After this attack, he filed a petition in the Supreme Court to shift the trial from Ghaziabad to Delhi. - IANS

New Delhi, February 4
Delhi's Airport Express Metro today launched 45-trip passes and announced withdrawal of the inaugural discount on the 60-trip passes.

The revised 60-trip pass and new 45-trip pass will come into effect tomorrow.

The 45-trip pass was launched based on the feedback received from daily commuters. The internal survey 'Voice of Customer' revealed that the local commuters did not utilise approximately 15 trips in the existing 60-trip pass, a Reliance Infra spokesman said.

Reliance Metro Airport Express's new 45 trip pass fares will range from Rs 400 to Rs 2000, depending upon the boarding and de-boarding stations of the passengers. --PTI