New Delhi, October 8
One person died while another was injured when some unidentified robbers opened fire in the Kamla Market area of Central Delhi this morning.

The deceased, who has been identified as Sultan Ahmad (42) and the injured, Nawab Ali (63), were trying to stop the assailants when they were returning after robbing the factory workers. In the scuffle, they opened fire on them leaving one Sultan injured, said a police official.

The victims were taken to LNJP Hospital where Sultan succumbed to his injuries while Nawab, a butcher, is recuperating.

"The incident occurred around 11.25 am at Shakur ki Dandi in Kamla Market when some robbers allegedly barged into a handicraft factory and robbed Rs 6,000 from Shakil, the owner of a handicraft unit, at gunpoint. They also robbed four cell phones of other workers in the factory and thrashed them," said a senior police official.

The assailants locked their doors and tried to run away. Suddenly, one of the workers Shahid opened the door and all the workers came outside and screamed for help.

"After hearing their voice, many people in the area chased robbers, who were fleeing the area. One of the residents Nawab Ali, who was standing in an alley along with his grandson, saw the robbers running and tried to stop one of them, but the robber fired at him. One bullet pierced his ear and another hit his foot," the official added.

As the robbers were escaping, another resident Sultan tried to catch one of the robbers, but he was also shot in his head. "Locals failed to catch the robbers as they fired another shot in the air to scare them away. At 11.45 am, the residents called the police," the official said.

"A case of robbery, murder and attempt to murder has been registered at the Kamla Market police station of Central Delhi. The police found three empty cartridges and one live cartridge from the spot. Investigators are scanning the footage of CCTV cameras installed in a nearby area and trying to get some lead from it," the official added.

New Delhi, October 8
An international prostitution racket involving Uzbek women has been busted in southeast Delhi, today.

The racket was being run from a rented accommodation in Greater Kailash Part-II by a person named Ajay. The police has arrested three Uzbek girls along with one pimp and three customers .

The girls are in the age group of 21 to 25. They came to India on tourist visa for a period ranging between three and six months. The police has intimated the Uzbek embassy regarding the arrest.

All the seven accused (three women, one pimp and three customers) were arrested under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, and the Foreigner's Act.

The pimp has been identified as Raju Paswan.Ajay is the kingpin. The three customers have been identified as Mohamed Imran, Sem Ahmed and Sahjad Khan. They are residents of the walled city.

Ajay had been operating the flesh trade in Delhi and NCR for the past three years. "He had taken a house on rent in Greater Kailash Part-II. Some of the girls who work for him lived in this house while others lived in other parts of south Delhi. He had been procuring girls from Uzbekistan on a regular basis and provided for their transport and accommodation in the city," said Ajay Chaudhary, Additional Commissioner of Police (South-East).

According to the police, Ajay arranged for the clients to meet the girls and fixed the price according to the paying capacity of the client. He charged anywhere between Rs 4,000 and Rs 8,000 per girl per night, said the official.

The charges increased to even Rs 1 lakh for other services, including belly dancing, weekend parties and travel to various destinations like Shimla, Jaipur and Goa. The customers were entertained only after they provided a reference from a 'trusted' client, the official added.

Ajay is a permanent resident of Haryana and had been staying in Delhi for the past four years. "He facilitated the visit and stay of these girls in Delhi on tourist visa. He said that there is a great demand for women from the erstwhile Soviet Union in the NCR," the official said.

New Delhi, October 8
The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (DERC) public hearing over the hike in power tariff today was suspended after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers led by Vijay Goel created a ruckus inside the office.

Yet, the consensus that seemed to have been evolved during the stalled hearing was that the power charge for 200-400 units slab is likely to be restored.

The hearing organised to discuss the restructuring of power tariff and consumer grievance redressal forum started around 11:15 when Goel along with his party workers entered the DERC office. DERC officials said they barged into the court room where the representatives of resident welfare associations and private discoms were holding a discussion on the issues concerned.

“The main agenda was the proposal of bringing back the charge of 200-400 units. We had received several representations both from the RWAs as well as individual consumers and we decided to take up the matter today. But the whole thing ended in a mess and we had to suspend the hearing. The commission will take a collective decision on the matter in the next few days,” said DERC chairperson PD Sudhakar.

With regard to the complaints about the escalation in billings and thefts, he said, “During the summer, the consumption goes up, still DERC has been enquiring about the issue of inflated charges. The losses have come down to 20 per cent against over 50 per cent in 2002 and we have experts who are checking into the accounts.”

Further, on the Team Kejriwal’s demand for a CAG audit into the accounts of the private power discoms, he said that the matter is to be decided by the Delhi High Court.

New Delhi, October 8
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi-UK) are of the view that election for the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) may be delayed further as today the Delhi cabinet approved a draft of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara (Amendment) Bill, 2012, to enhance the period of committee from two to four years.

Delhi unit chief of the SAD (Badal) Manjit Singh (GK) said that the government also wanted to implement the presidential form of government in the DSGMC in which president is directly elected by the people.

He said if the cabinet decision is implemented, it would be direct interference of the government in the religious affairs of the Sikh community. When the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers are elected by the house members why the new form of the government is being implemented in the DSGMC elections, he questioned. The cabinet has approved the draft of the Gurdwara (Amendment) Bill 2012 at that time when the court had directed the government for the DSGMC election before December 31.

It is clear from the cabinet decision that the government is intentionally delaying the election as it is sure that SAD (Delhi-UK) led by Paramjit Singh Sarna will lose the election. President of SAD (Delhi-UK) Jasjit Singh said if the notification for the DSGMC election was not announced on November 25, the due date, he would go to the court. Today's cabinet decision is a new tactic to get the election delayed.