New Delhi, November 26
Three persons, including a woman, were killed and a 10-year-old girl was injured after a goods train derailed and rammed into a concrete wall where they were sleeping at the Old Delhi railway station last night.

Locals identified one of the deceased as Pappu, while the other two could not be identified.

Railway officials said that the accused identified as the train driver, H.N. Shah and senior pointmen Nafe Singh, Ashok and Pani Ram, have been suspended by the railway department.

The Railways have initiated an inquiry against them. The police have also registered a case against railway officials.

About 11.50 pm, the empty goods train having 10 carriages was being taken back to the railway yard, near platform number 20.

The last carriage derailed and rammed into the wall. Four persons, including a woman and a child, who were sleeping next to the wall, were trapped under the debris. Several people rushed to save them.

A team of the police, Delhi Fire Service, National Disaster Response Force and Railways reached the site of the incident and rescued the victims out of the debris.

They were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where three of them were declared dead.

The injured girl is recuperating and said to be out of danger.

New Delhi, November 26
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today announced the withdrawal of its support to its official candidate, Pritpal Singh Saluja, from the Rajouri Garden constituency in the Delhi Assembly elections.

"It has been brought to our notice that an FIR was registered against him and three of his family members in October 2012 at Lucknow. It appears that the chargesheet for dowry harassment, etc., was filed against him and some family members by the Lucknow Police in August 2013," said AAD leader.

A notice was issued by the trial court to him on November 11, which does not appear to have reached him before November 14. Therefore, he declared in the nomination form that no criminal case was pending against him, explained the leader.

It also appears that some other complaints of domestic violence had been made against him and his family members by his daughter-in-law. None of the charges against Saluja have been proven in the court. He said that he is innocent and will fight this chargesheet in the court.

However, Saluja did not bring these facts to the attention of the party while applying for the candidature. The Political Affairs Committee of the party has taken a serious view of the lapse and in furtherance of its resolve to retire a candidate against whom any serious facts come to the notice of the party which show that he does not conform to the moral standards expected from candidates of the party, it has decided to withdraw the party's support to Saluja for the forthcoming Delhi elections.

"We are aware that the last date for filing of nominations and withdrawal has passed and therefore the withdrawal of support at this stage would mean that though technically Saluja would continue on the ballot as a candidate of the party but it would effectively mean that the party would leave the seat vacant," he said.

New Delhi, November 26
While the ruling Congress and the other political parties contesting the Delhi Assembly elections assert that they will solve the problem of water shortage in the national Capital, what remains to be seen is if it can be done in different areas of the Jangpura constituency of Delhi that reportedly receives water for only two hours a day.

The residents of these localities also complain that the water is contaminated. Besides, there are issues of bad sewerage, damaged roads, poor parking and high electricity and water bills.

Regardless of these problems, people are still willing to support the Congress. "I am a very strong supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but I will vote for the Congress. Why? Because no one can defeat Tarvinder Singh Marwah (the incumbent Member of the Legislative Assembly of Jangpura). The BJP will field a candidate even though they know that they can't win here. I am more interested in the person who will come to power. And Marwah is the one who works. He listens to us and every Thursday morning holds a meeting with the residents of our colony and pays attention to our problems," said Baldeep Singh, who works as a driver and lives in one of the DDA flats in Nangli.

Another staunch supporter of the Congress, Raj Kumar, said that the only problem in the Nangli colony is the water shortage. "Earlier, we would receive water for 24 hours a day. But the situation has changed. Now, we receive it for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. A new water pipeline was laid in our colony this month," said Raj Kumar, who also works as a driver.

However, some women of the colony say that the water pipeline is not operational. "We are still receiving the same stinking water. It seems to be coming from a latrine. Last year, several of us, including many children, had fallen ill after drinking the water," said Gita Devi, who says that she still supports the Congress.

They also complain that the vegetables prices and high electricity tariff hurt the common man most. "With the rising prices, it is difficult for people with private jobs and even those having government jobs to live properly. Four months ago, the electricity bill would cost about Rs 700 a month, now it has increased to Rs 6,000 a month. How can a poor man pay so much," said Paramjeet Kaur, a housewife.

The incumbent Jangpura MLA, Marwah, agrees that rising prices have affected the common man. "We have raised this issue several times in the Delhi Assembly and they have also assured us of a solution to this problem," he said.

On being asked about the shortage of water, he said, "In Delhi you can never receive water for 24 hours. I agree that the water in my constituency is contaminated as it gets mixed with the sewage system at times. This happens every six months and we fix the problem whenever it arises," admitted Marwah.

The Congress's main rival, the BJP, asserts that if it comes to power it will build better roads, solve the problems of water shortage and rising prices, besides building more schools. The BJP is contesting the elections from the Jangpura Assembly constituency for the first time after 20 years. Earlier, the Shiromani Akali Dal-Badal was contesting on its behalf. The BJP is fielding its senior leader, Pankaj Jain, to contest the elections from this constituency.

New Delhi, November 26
The Delhi government's seniormost leader, Dr AK Walia, who has been representing East Delhi since 1993, will have to pitch in extra efforts to retain power in the upcoming assembly elections as the wave seems to be favouring the opposition in the area.

The 65-year-old politician is currently serving as Health Minister in Delhi cabinet.

The fight for Dr Walia's Laxmi Nagar constituency, which is a fine example of unplanned urban growth, is a straight one between the Congress and BJP. The constituency is considered a strong Congress citadel as the party has never lost the seat in the last two decades. However, the BJP won all the four seats in 2012 municipal elections which might be an indication that the Congress is due for a surprise.

The area is troubled by the issues of lack of water supply, unplanned development, rampant unauthorised constructions, inflated electricity bills, parking problems, etc.

However, in his tenure as Health Minister, Delhi became the first state in the country where hepatitis vaccines were introduced as part of the regular immunization schedule. Dr Walia has taken a major initiative in procuring ultramodern equipment for hospitals in the area besides launching campaigns to fight polio.

Notwithstanding the problems in the area, voters seem satisfied with the work done by the area MLA.

"He is an honest man and very approachable. Anyone can visit his house to meet him and he gives everyone a patient hearing," said RP Sharma, a Shakarpur resident.

Besides the two main parties, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) has fielded two-time independent councillor from the area, Vinod Binny. While the BJP and the Congress have different set of agendas, the AAP is promising to introduce 'mohalla sabhas' in the area where local residents will have a say in making important decisions on the development in the constituency.

New Delhi, November 26
Vinod Sharma who had contested the assembly elections in 2008 as an independent candidate from Rajouri Garden today joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) in the presence of Delhi unit chief of the SAD, Manjit Singh (GK).

GK said that with his joining, the SAD candidate in Rajouri Garden, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, would become stronger. He would be able to make a dent in the Congress stronghold. 

New Delhi, November 26
The Delhi Police have arrested the 37-year-old mastermind of the 'Speak Asia' scam in which 24 lakh investors across the country were cheated of more than Rs 2,200 crore on the promise of high returns.

The accused, Ram Sumiran Pal, belonged to Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district. He was a part of several companies that were registered in Singapore, Italy and Brazil. One of the companies, Speak Asia, an online survey company, was registered in Singapore and introduced in India in 2010.

"It sold web subscriptions for Rs 11,000 each and in return the investor had to fill in survey forms for certain multinational firms for promised annual payment of Rs 52,000," said Additional Commissioner of Delhi Police (Crime and Railways) Ravindra Yadav.

After paying few initial investors, Speak Asia wrapped up its operation in India around mid-2011 and senior office bearers went into hiding. During this period, the company duped over 24 lakh investors and the scam went up to Rs 2,276 crore. At least eight cases were registered in Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

Delhi Police Crime Branch started collecting information on the case. A team of the Crime Branch apprehended Sumiran from Connaught Place.

According to the police, Sumiran claimed to have created companies with his brother, Ram Niwas Pal and was hiding in Dehradun. Sumiran had completed his Masters in Marketing Management from Mumbai, while his brother Niwas has also worked with multinational banks in Mumbai. After 2008, Sumiran started working with Niwas and formed companies in association with other partners.

With online survey marketing company Speak Asia, they kept the membership fee restricted to Rs 11,000 so that even middle-class investors could associate themselves with it. An investor had to initially pay Rs 11,000 to get a password of account maintained with the company, and annual payment of Rs 52,000 was promised for filling surveys.

Probe revealed that all the surveys conducted by the company were fake and used only to lure people.

It is alleged that Speak Asia remitted over Rs 900 crore to Singapore.

"The money was then sent to Dubai, Italy and the UK. Interestingly, the money came back from the UK again to Dubai and then India," Yadav added. The Mumbai Police have been investigating maximum cases of fraud for the past 28 months. "Over 210 bank accounts containing Rs 142 crore have been frozen so far. Another 150 bank accounts are under investigation over suspicion of funds being transferred in the scam," Yadav said.