New Delhi, June 20
A 70-year-old retired government teacher and his wife were tied up, beaten and robbed at their residence by four men in north Delhi's Timarpur area this afternoon.

None of the suspects has been identified so far, the police said.

Shiv Baksh Pandey lives with his wife and sons' families in their house at Wazirabad, Timarpur. At the time of the alleged incident, the Pandeys were taking a rest on the ground floor while their older son's family was on the first floor.

At about 3.30 pm, Shiv heard a knock on their door. Two youths in their late twenties requested entry on the pretext of painting the house. As soon as he opened the door, they allegedly dragged him into a room where his wife was seated.

Meanwhile, two other men barged inside the house and locked it from inside. "They tied my wife's hands and mouth and ordered me to hand over the valuables lying in the house," Shiv told the police in a statement.

Shiv began looking for the keys to the locker even as one of them allegedly beat his wife. One of them also hit him on his head with a blunt object. The terrified victim gave them the keys to the locker from which the robbers allegedly took out Rs 10,000. They then pulled out his wife's gold chain and earrings before ransacking the house.

Before they fled, they allegedly tied Shiv's hands and legs and pushed him to the floor. While Shiv was unable to stand on his own, his wife was able to go out on the street. Neighbours noticed her and untied the couple.

In the meantime, his daughter-in-law and children, who were unharmed as they were on the first floor of the house, rushed down on hearing the commotion. The police were informed. A PCR van then rushed to the spot and found blood on bed.

The injured couple were taken to the Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital from where they were later discharged.

The police have registered a case of robbery and assault and are investigating the matter.

New Delhi, June 20
The West district police arrested four youths, including a gurdwara sewadar, on charges of a burglary committed in the Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Guru Harkishan Nagar in Paschim Vihar.

The accused were identified as Trilok Singh (sewadar of gurdwara Mansarovar Garden in Kirti Nagar), Kartar Singh (granthi in P Block Gurdwara in Sultanpuri), Manjeet Singh and Sunny Kumar. One of their accomplices Harnam Singh is absconding. A gold-plated 'chhattar' stolen from the gurdwara was recovered from the possession of Trilok Singh, the police said.

The police received a call on June 13 about the burglary that took place in the gurdwara, Guru Harikishan Nagar. As the incident happened in a religious place, a team of Crime Branch was also called. The police questioned the gurdwara staff. The CCTV footage in and around the gurdwara was also analyzed, the police said.

Having identified the accused, the police conducted raids at Hastinapur in Meerut and Chandpur in Bijnor. However, the accused were arrested from Mayapuri and the stolen 'chhattar' of approximately two kg was recovered from the possession of Trilok Singh.

During investigation, the police came to know that Kartar Singh who often visited the gurdwara allegedly hatched a conspiracy with one Harnam Singh to steal the 'chhattar'. Harnam and his accomplices-- Manjeet Singh and Sunny Kumar--did a recce of the gurdwara.

The police said that Kartar Singh had kept a window of the gurdwara unlatched and in the night of June 12-13, the accused entered the place and stole the 'chhattar'. They handed it over to Trilok Singh.

New Delhi, June 20
A 12-year-old boy was allegedly killed by his brother-in-law after the minor raised the volume of the television set in their house in west Delhi last night.

The accused, who has been identified by the police as Hari Chand (30), has been absconding since Thursday. He belongs to Bihar. The police have launched a hunt for him.

The incident took place at Chandar Vihar about 10.30 pm yesterday. The parents of the deceased informed the police.

According to the police, the parents with their daughter had gone out of the house for work and returned last night. The minor was left alone with Hari Chand.

According to the family's statement, when they returned from the market, they saw the house locked from outside. They dialled Chand's mobile phone number, which was switched off. Some neighbours arrived outside the house and told the victim's father, Krishna Nandan, that they had heard loud voices from the house in the afternoon. The neighbours had reportedly said that Chand was sounding agitated and was telling the minor to lower the volume of the television set.

"The family with the neighbours' broke the lock of the house at about 10.15 pm and found the minor lying on the floor in a pool of blood. The minor was repeatedly hit in the head with some stone," said a police officer.

According to the police, some shopkeepers had seen Chand leaving the house at about 1 pm.

Chand had been staying at his in-laws' place for the past three months.

New Delhi, June 20
Three incidents of minor fire were reported in different parts of the national Capital today, a Delhi Fire Service spokesperson said.

The first incident was reported at a restaurant in the Hauz Khas area, South Delhi. The fire department got a call at 2.17 pm following which two fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the spokesperson said.

"Some chairs and other things kept at the terrace of the restaurant had caught fire which was doused within minutes. No injury was caused to anyone," he said.

The second blaze was reported from NCERT building at Aurobindo Marg in Central Delhi at 4.57 pm.

"The electrical panel on the ground floor of the building had caught fire which was immediately doused. We had sent eight fire tenders to the spot," he added.

In another case, a chemical drum kept in a vehicle had caught fire near Moti Bagh Gurdwara at 2.30 pm after which two fire tenders were rushed to the spot. No one was injured in this incident as well, he said.

New Delhi, June 20
In a meeting of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal today called for fast tracking installation of CCTV cameras in the NDMC areas and implementation of 100 per cent job quota on compassionate ground to family members of the deceased employees.

The concern related to the CCTV project in the NDMC area is understood to have been agreed upon by NDMC chairperson Jalaj Srivastava.

"Security issue in the NDMC is a big problem and Kejriwal raised the matter in the council meeting. He underlined the need of the CCTV surveillance in the area," said AAP spokesperson Deepak Bajpai.

The former Chief Minister, who is a member of the council by virtue of being an MLA from the New Delhi area, also raised the issue of water-logging in Sarojini Nagar and Pilanji village and stressed the need to ensure that the drainage system in the areas concerned should be overhauled before the monsoon arrives in the national Capital.

Taking up the matter of jobs for the family members of the NDMC employees on compassionate ground, he said that the policy needs to be implemented with immediate effect.

"During its 49-day stint the AAP had decided that the family members of the deceased NDMC employees would be given cent per cent reservation in the NDMC instead of the current 5 per cent, but the policy is yet to be put into action," said Deepak.

In addition, Kejriwal highlighted the inadequate arrangement of water and toilet facilities for people residing in slums in the VIP area and the harassment faced by street vendors on the hands of the authorities.

"The NDMC employees harass street vendors. This practice must be stopped immediately," said Kejriwal who later attended public meetings in Babarpur and Gokalpur.

New Delhi, June 20
All the stations of Delhi Metro's upcoming Phase III along with other Metro stations across the country will be rated to judge their compatibility with the green building norms. This will help the Metro systems to design their stations as eco-friendly structures and utilize natural resources such as sunlight.

The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), a body involved in promoting the green building concept in India, will be conducting this rating process. They will also issue guidelines for designing the station structures as green buildings.

"The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has decided to be involved with this initiative. Rating will help in encouraging the concept of green buildings not only in Metro systems but in all the infrastructure projects in the country," said a DMRC spokesperson.

The first expert committee meeting of IGBC with this objective was organized today at the Delhi Metro headquarters. The meeting was attended by DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh, IGBC Chairman PC Jain, IGBC Delhi Chapter chief Arun Bhatia and other senior officials.

This rating process will especially help the upcoming Metro projects to design their stations according to green building norms and later apply for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which is a globally accepted green building certification programme that recognizes the best-in class building strategies and practices.