New Delhi, April 10
During a routine patrolling at Paschim Vihar, a Delhi police constable was killed and another injured when a speeding Mercedes Benz rammed into the police motorcycle they were travelling on early this morning.

A restaurateur, Gurdeep Singh (34), who was driving the car, has been arrested and later released on bail.

Deepak Chauhan (39), who was posted at the Paschim Vihar police station, was killed in the accident. His colleague Amit Kumar (23), who was riding pillion, was injured in his limbs.

A police official said that Chauhan and Kumar were patrolling at Paschim Vihar. At 12.45 am, they were taking a U-turn to reach another lane at road number 30. A speeding Mercedes Benz rammed into their motorcycle, while they were taking the turn.

Eyewitnesses, however, said that two separate accidents had occurred. "I saw constable Chauhan was driving the motorcycle and was coming out of Block B1 residential complex. There was no pillion rider. I saw the car had rammed into the motorcycle. Another accident of a police constable had taken place at a petrol pump situated nearby," said Ajay (name changed), an employee of a restaurant located near the spot. Ajay was the first person to inform the police about the incident at 1.05 am.

Additional CP (West) V Renganathan said, "There was only one accident."

A local resident took both of them to the Balaji hospital in his car. Doctors declared Chauhan brought dead, while Kumar was discharged after the treatment.

The police official said that immediately after the accident, Singh fled away in his Mercedes Benz. "We were able to track him when we found his car's white-coloured side view mirror which had fallen off during the accident. We then knew that his car was white in colour. A passerby had noted its number plate. A resident informed us that he would regularly visit a girl who stayed at Ekta Apartments, Paschim Vihar. We learnt that Singh had left the girl, Divya, who is his family friend, at her residence before the accident occurred," added the official.

The police was also sent to Singh's residence at Greater Kailash Part-I. But, he was not present there. The police questioned Divya and asked her to telephone Singh and tell him to reach her residence.

After a while, one of his friends left him at her home, where we arrested him. When we questioned Singh about the accident, he said that he didn't know how it occurred and why he had committed the mistake, said the official.

Singh is booked under Sections 304A (causing death by negligence), 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), IPC.

The Adll CP said that Singh runs a pub named "Ice Lounge" at the MGF Mall in Saket and Gurgaon. He also has more restaurants in Delhi, he said.

New Delhi, April 10
Sudden rain accompanied by thunderstorm and squall surprised Delhiites today. The change in weather was caused by western disturbances and upper air cyclone. The development provided much-needed relief to the people.

It was around 4.45 pm when the sky was plunged into darkness followed by rain with thunderstorm and lightening.

The Tribune's journalist, Girja Shankar Kaura who was on his way to the office, had a close encounter with a fireball of sorts on the road which divides Moolchand and Defence Colony. It happened just one meter ahead of his vehicle.

It was total dark. Most of the vehicles had switched on headlights.

The thundershower has brought the temperature down. It had reached up to 37.8 degree Celsius during the day, but it was reduced to 23 degree Celsius just after the rain. About 42 mm rain was recorded by the Met department.

Thunderstorm lasted for over an hour leading to traffic snarls in some parts of the Capital.

A squall at a speed of 80 km per hour hit the Capital. Trees fell on Pyarelal Road, Khybar Pass Marg, Pankha Road, Vikaspuri and Parampuri though no untoward incident was reported.

Ankita, a software professional, was caught in the rain for almost 30 minutes delaying her departure from office by almost an hour. "When I stepped out of my office in central Delhi, I was caught unawares. I tried to find a shelter, but got soaked. The road was full of water," she said.

New Delhi, 10 April
Fighting on just 18 seats out of 272 wards, the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party today released its manifesto for the elections, which are scheduled to go for polling on Sunday.

The lesser-known party has announced some different policies in order to mobilize support for its candidates. The party leaders have promised free education for all in the elite schools, scrapping of mid-day meal scheme and discriminatory taxes.

The 21-point manifesto, released by party chairman Bhim Singh, promised that there will be free and uniform education from nursery to matriculation. The manifesto named three elite schools and promised that these institutes will be available to every child free of charge.

It also said that the 'mid-day meal shall be compensated by providing a scholarship to children'.

On the proposal of free education, Singh said that there were schools that ask for Rs 25 lakh donation while on the other side there are students who cannot afford a pair of shoes to go to school.

New Delhi, April 10
Two persons have been arrested for selling the IPL tickets on the black market, the police said today.

The Crime Branch of the Delhi police arrested Vinay Kumar Jha (31) and Mohammed Khalid (25). Jha is a resident of Sangam Vihar while Khalid stays at Som Bazar, Usmanpur. The police recovered 50 IPL tickets from them.

The tickets were for the match between Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Superkings, which was held today at the Ferozshah Kotla Stadium.

"On April 9, Jha and Khalid were arrested from the Ferozshah Kotla Stadium. They were selling an IPL ticket for double the actual price," said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime and Railways), Ashok Chand.