New Delhi, April 29
A 38-year-old music teacher of a school in northwest Delhi has been arrested for allegedly molesting five students of the school, while parents of the victims along with the locals protested violently against the incident.

Delhi Police personnel deployed outside Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Jahangirpuri in northwest Delhi on Tuesday. Tribune photo

The teacher has been arrested. He has been identified by the police as Vijay Kumar, who belongs to Sonipat, Haryana. He teaches at the school, which is located in the jurisdiction of the Mahindra Park police station in northwest Delhi. A case has been registered against him under the Indian Penal Code Section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

"The five female students, aged 13 to 15 years, of the school alleged that the music teacher had molested them. They complained to their principal on Monday," said a police officer, privy to the details of the case.

The students' parents arrived at the school and met the principal today to complain about the incident.

"They were forced out of the school. With the locals of the area, they protested outside. The protesters indulged in throwing stones and damaged two government vehicles," said the officer.

Twenty-three people, including five women, have been arrested for rioting in another case. The case has been registered against them at the Mahindra Park police station under the Indian Penal Code Sections of 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 147 (Rioting), 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

New Delhi, April 29
BJP councillor Khushi Ram was elected as South Delhi Mayor today defeating his Congress rival Dharamveer Singh by one vote as MP Sandeep Dikshit failed to exercise his franchise, leaving his party red-faced.

The contest to the coveted post of Mayor saw Ram garnering a total of 52 votes out of 104 votes polled, against Congress' 51. Dikshit, Congress MP from East Delhi, could not vote as he reached when the polling was over.

Out of the total 104 votes polled, one vote was rendered invalid. Among the five MPs, Ajay Maken, Ramesh Kumar and Mahabal Mishra voted, said a senior civic official.

Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Parvez Hashmi did not turn up either to vote. Sources in the DPCC said both Dikshit and Hashmi are likely to be issued show-cause notices for failing to cast their votes in favour of the Congress candidate Singh.

Leader of the House in the SDMC Subhash Arya took a dig at the Congress and asked, "Those (Congress MPs) who could not come for their own party, will they be able to run a government?"

But the Congress later claimed victory by winning the Deputy Mayor seat. Praveen Rana of the Congress defeated rival Bir Singh of the BSP by a margin of 13 votes.

The voters for the mayoral polls are the elected members to the municipal Houses, nominated members from the MLAs in the Delhi Assembly and the area MPs.

"We would have won the mayoral contest if Dikshit and Hashmi had voted. The party is likely to serve them show-cause notices," said a senior Congress leader.

The Congress after an initial tied score of 51 each, ended up losing as one "misplaced" extra BJP vote was later found.

"It could have ended up as a tie if not for the extra BJP mayoral vote that some councillor by mistake had cast in the Deputy Mayor's ballot-box, which proved to be the decider for the BJP," SDMC public relations officer Mukesh Yadav said after the elections.

"If Dikshit had not come late for the election proceedings, both would have polled 52 votes each," Yadav said.

"Of course, if we had gotten those two crucial votes, we would have won, but this keenly fought contest also sends a clear message in the BJP camp that all is not well there," said Congress councillor and Leader of the Opposition in the House Farhad Suri.

Since there is no operational Delhi government, the MLAs have not been nominated. Only the MPs could vote in the mayoral elections.

New Delhi, April 29
All the senior officials of the Delhi Jal Board were today directed to hold regular interactions with citizens and Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) to address their grievances related to water supply, sewage and billing.

The directive has been issued as part of the summer action plan of the DJB, which aims at ensuring uninterrupted water supply during the peak summer months.

All the executive engineers in charge of water supply and sewer maintenance, along with zonal revenue officers, have been directed to chalk out schedules for holding regular interactions with citizens.

"This kind of interface will enable DJB officials to be more accessible for quick resolution of issues being faced by the consumers," said a senior DJB official.

He said public interactions would allow the DJB an access to information pertaining to leakages in different areas and help it ensure efficiency in its system.

"Besides, this platform will allow the DJB the opportunity to share information about the best practices to avoid wastage of water," he said.

For the convenience of the consumers, the executive engineers have been directed to upload the information of the schedules of the meetings with RWAs and citizens on the DJB website at the earliest.

New Delhi, April 29
A 36-year-old property dealer was arrested for allegedly manhandling and assaulting Central Industrial Security Force personnel at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport in the early hours of Tuesday.

According to the police, the man identified as Kush Mehra, who is a property dealer based in south Delhi, had arrived at Terminal-3 of IGI Airport to see off his wife. His wife was going to board a flight to Canada. She went into the departure hall at Terminal-3 to board the flight.

"Mehra was standing at one of the entry gates of the departure hall. He requested two CISF personnel there to either allow him to go inside the hall or bring his wife outside. He was not allowed to go inside, but his wife came outside. They hugged and spoke to each other for a few minutes and then she went back into the hall," said a police officer, privy to the details of the case.

Mehra wanted to meet her again. "He was drunk. He again requested the CISF personnel to allow him to meet his wife. This time, they didn't allow it. He became abusive and started manhandling the CISF personnel. There was a scuffle and he grabbed the collar of one of the uniformed men. They pushed him away," explained the officer. The incident took place at about 1 am.

Mehra was arrested. His wife didn't board the flight to Canada and rescheduled it, according to the police. Mehra was taken to the local police station. His wife and another person reached the station.

"This person created a ruckus. He claimed to be from the media and kept threatening the police officers that he would get them suspended," said another police officer.

New Delhi, April 29
A seven-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 27-year-old shopkeeper in northeast Delhi's Harsh Vihar area on Monday afternoon.

The accused, identified by the police as Rajesh, was beaten by the victim's family and neighbours when they came to know of the incident on Monday evening. He is being treated at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Shahdara for the severe injuries he sustained during the beating.

The victim, a class one student, was playing outside her residence in Harsh Vihar at about 1.30 pm on Monday.

Her parents do odd jobs at a factory in northeast Delhi.

"Rajesh lured her into his cigarette shop in the same locality and raped her there," said a police officer, privy to the details of the case.

When the victim started crying, he allegedly gave her Rs 10 and promised to give her more money if she did not reveal the incident to anyone.

The victim returned home and did not tell anyone about it initially, but broke down late in the evening. She told her mother as to what had happened to her. The victim's family and neighbours gathered and started looking for Rajesh. He assumed that the girl would not reveal the incident to anyone. He was caught unawares in his house.

"Rajesh was pulled out of his house and beaten badly. A person informed the police and a team rushed to the spot and took Rajesh to the hospital where he is undergoing treatment," said the officer.

The police registered a case of rape with sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act after the victim's statement and her medical reports.