New Delhi, August 16
Heavy rains that lashed the national Capital this morning caused traffic jams at many arterial points due to waterlogging which also caused difficulties for office-goers to reach their workplaces on time.

Massive jams were witnessed in several parts of the city, including major intersections such as ITO, Kashmere Gate, South Extension, Laxmi Nagar, Ashram Chowk, Moolchand Underpass, Dhaula Kuan, Azad Marg, Gurdwara Nanakpura, Badarpur, Apsara Border, Yamuna Vihar, Okhla Mandi, Uttam Nagar, Kajori Chowk and Nehru Place.

According to the Met department, the city recorded 15.6 mm of rain since 8.30 am today. "The showers will continue tomorrow (Saturday) and the skies will be cloudy," the department predicted.

The maximum temperature on Friday was 30.5 degree Celsius, three notches below normal while the minimum was 24.5 degree Celsius, two notches below normal.

The maximum and minimum temperatures on Saturday will hover around 29 and 25 degree Celsius, respectively.

The traffic wing of the Delhi Police received numerous complaints of snarls due to choked drains but parts of south Delhi were the worst hit, a traffic police officer said.

Traffic moved at a snail's place on Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, Adchini and Sri Aurobindo Marg in south Delhi. There were major bottlenecks on the roads leading from Delhi to Gurgaon and Noida.

Non-functioning traffic signals only added to the woes of office-goers.

GTB Road in north Delhi, the area near Akshardham Temple in east Delhi and Minto Road in central Delhi along with August Kranti Marg, Bhishma Pitamah Marg, Hauz Khas, Shahpur Jat, Julena Sarai and Saket in south Delhi were waterlogged.

Since the monsoon's arrival in June, Delhi has received 539.2 mm of rain, 29 per cent more than the average.

New Delhi, August 16
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today instructed the departments concerned to keep an eye on the prices and availability of essential commodities like onions, pulses, sugar, tomatoes and potatoes.

She also told them to take strict and swift action against the hoarders. The government would not leave the citizens at the mercy of hoarders and blackmarketers, she said.

The instructions were issued following a meeting of the Chief Minister with Food and Supplies Minister Haroon Yusuf, Development Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, Chief Secretary DM Spolia, Commissioner (Food and Supply) SS. Yadav and Secretary (Agriculture) Ramesh Tiwari.

The Chief Minister said that Delhi being a state which does not produce onions has to depend on other onion-producing states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Due to heavy rains and floods, the arrival of vegetables was affected in Delhi. It being a national holiday yesterday, there had been no arrival of onions. It was expected to improve today, she said.

The city government is facilitating the sale of onions at reasonable prices across Delhi. They are being sold at no-profit no-loss basis.

The city government is taking all possible measures to ensure adequate supply of onions. The wholesale rates in Delhi today ranged between Rs 30 and Rs 50 per kg depending upon the quality.

The wholesale price of onion in Delhi is less than that of cities like Karnal, Simla, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, etc, she said.

New Delhi, August 16
A 23-year-old youth was stabbed to death by four men due to personal enmity in south Delhi's Mehrauli area on Thursday night, police said today.

The deceased, Ashish, was a resident of Mehrauli Ward Number two. He was declared dead at the AIIMS Trauma Centre. He worked with Apollo Tyre's showroom in Lado Sarai.

According to the police, he was returning home from office when he was allegedly stopped by Rajiv, Vikrant, Nitin and an unidentified youth.

"The attackers were identified by Ashish's friend Vipin Max who was near the site of the incident when it occurred at about 8.10 pm on Thursday," a police officer said.

The accused fled from the spot after the attack, while Vipin made a call to the police. He also rushed Ashish to hospital in an autorickshaw. Ashish later succumbed to his injuries.

A case of murder has been filed at the Mehrauli police station.

New Delhi, August 16
Two men died and two were injured when the Scorpio car they were travelling in rammed into the rear of a parked container truck on the Okhla-Mehrauli-Badarpur road close to midnight.

According to the police, Pankaj and Kuldeep died in the accident. Jitender and another man were injured. They are in their thirties.

The incident took place near a container depot, said a police officer.

The truck had no occupants and was parked on the road. The police rushed the four men to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Doctors there declared Pankaj and Kuldeep dead.

The police have registered a case under Sections 279 (rash driving) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code at the Pul Prahladpur police station in southeast Delhi.

"We are trying to find the owner of the truck," he said.

New Delhi, August 16
A 58-year-old jeweller suffered a gunshot injury when he resisted a robbery bid by three motorcycle-borne assailants at his shop in outer Delhi's Rohini area this afternoon.

The injured man has been identified as Vinod Malhotra. He runs a jewellery shop at Rohini sector-16. He was rushed to Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital in Rohini, where he is recuperating.

The three assailants, two of them wearing helmets, arrived on a black Pulsar motorcycle. They whipped out their pistols and fired two shots in the air to scare Malhotra and his employees. Malhotra showed resistance when they attempted to rob the shop. He shouted for help.

"Hearing the commotion, some local shopkeepers came to his rescue. After seeing them, the assailants fired a round in Malhotra's leg before fleeing," said a police officer, adding that the jewellery shop was not robbed.

The police said that a case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code at the KN Katju Marg police station against the unknown assailants. The police have launched a search for them.

Investigators are analysing the CCTV footage of the shop. The police said that they are questioning locals, including the shop owners to gain some leads in the case.