New Delhi, April 3
The police today hinted at the possibility of a financial crisis as the reason behind defence ministry official Kumar Yashkar allegedly murdering his wife Archana Sharma and then killing self.

The police has got the postmortem reports of the bodies of Yashkar (41), a deputy director at the Directorate General of Medical Services in the defence ministry and wife Archana (35).

Delhi police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said, "Yashkar died due to burns. Asphyxiation also contributed to his death. Archana was strangulated. She has sustained other injuries also. It is a clear case of murder and suicide and there is no indication of a foul play. Yashkar murdered Archana between 6 and 8 am on Friday and killed himself."

The entry doors to Yashkar's house were locked from inside. The bodies were discovered on March 30, indicating that an outsider may not have been involved.

Rajan Bhagat hinted that a financial crisis could be the reason Yashkar murdered his wife before committing suicide. Thestatement refutes earlier claims that Yashkar possibly committed the crime due to work pressure.

Rajan Bhagat said, "There is no evidence of work pressure and nor did we recover a suicide note."

Earlier, there were claims that a suicide note was recovered from Yashkar's residence at Transit Flats in Hudco Place. In the note, he had allegedly blamed two senior Army officers for pressuring him at work.

At present, there is no indication of the involvement of Army officers, including a senior of Yashkar, according to Rajan Bhagat. However, some Army officers have been questioned.

Yashkar's elder brother, Pushkar Sinha, however refuted the police statement.

"The theory of financial crisis is untrue because Yashkar had known that his family would help him with money whenever needed. He was wealthy. In 2005, his family had paid more than Rs 10 lakh for a course that he pursued from the London School of Economics. About two years ago, Yashkar bought an apartment at Greater Noida and a Honda City car. Two days before their bodies were discovered, my mother had given Archana a cheque for Rs 10,000 for the payment of the installment of the apartment," said Pushkar.

Pushkar added that the Delhi government had given Archana an institute near Siri Fort Auditorium for running dance classes. Two months ago, she and Yashkar had invested some money in the institute," he claimed. 

New Delhi, April 3
A city court today refused anticipatory bail to the doctor couple who allegedly tortured their 13-year-old maid from Jharkhand and left her locked up at their house in Dwarka for about a week.

Additional sessions judge IS Mehta rejected the bail petition of Dr Sanjay Verma and his wife Dr Sunita Verma. While passing the order he said, "Confining a minor maid servant in the flat without food and locking the flat from outside is an inhuman conduct."

The couple had approached the court after the police registered an FIR against it and issued lookout notices for them.

The case has been registered under the Juvenile Justice Act, Child Labour Act, Bonded Labour Abolition Act and IPC.

Shakti Vahini, an anti-human trafficking organization had rescued the girl with the help of the police. The counsel for the organization claimed that the couple had returned to India, after a week-long vacation in Bangkok. The couple's lawyer, Shailender Bhardwaj, however denied the claim.

New Delhi, April 3
National president of the BJP, Nitin Gadkari today began the municipal election campaigning by launching attack on the Delhi government and releasing a booklet.

Releasing the booklet that has listed 43 cases of scams and many cases of corruption involving the Delhi government, Gadkari assured the voters of a clean and strong administration if the BJP was voted to power.

He slammed the government for ignoring the findings of Prime Minister-appointed Shunglu Committee and the Comptroller and Auditor General who examined the alleged irregularities in hosting the CWG.

Addressing the gathering at the state BJP office, Gadkari said that irregularities in CWG were mentioned in the Shunglu Committee and CAG reports.

He pointed fingers at Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for the alleged irregularities in hosting the event. Congress leaders should have resigned after the Shunglu Committee report was submitted, he said.

He said that not only the Congress government in Delhi but also UPA government at the Centre is involved in scams.

Gadkari criticised Sheila Dikshit for not taking action against Delhi PWD Minister Rajkumar Chauhan whose removal was recommended to President Pratibha Patil last year by Delhi Lokayukta Justice Manmohan Sarin.

"Congress had demanded removal of the previous Karnataka Chief Minister following a Lokayukta report last year. BJP removed him (B S Yeddyurappa) from the post. But did Congress take action against the Delhi minister whose removal was recommended by Delhi Lokayukta," he asked.

The booklet has a cartoon carrying sketches of Sheila Dikshit and Suresh Kalmadi.

In the cartoon, Sheila says, "Don't blame me alone, it was team work." It has listed the names of following 'tainted' Congress leaders: A. Raja, Kanimozi, Suresh Kalmadi, Ashok Chauhan, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Susheel Kumar Shinde and Dayanand Maran.