New Delhi, July 9
Taking stringent action against a number of bogus dealers and tax evaders in Delhi, Delhi Trade and Tax Department has cancelled the registration certificate of 43 dealers.

Commissioner (Trade and Taxes) Amit Yadav said that the Enforcement Branch of the department has conducted a number of raids in the city by constituting various inspection teams.

Yadav also said that the practice of evading VAT by creation of bogus dealers has picked up for the last many years.

"Under VAT system, the bogus dealers (dealers who take registration on wrong credentials and then disappear) issue fake tax invoices on the strength of which genuine dealers claim Input Tax Credit and thereby reduce their liability to pay VAT. Now, the VAT department has tightened the noose on bogus dealers," he said.

"During the week ending July 4, action against bogus dealers was intensified and the Value Added Tax inspectors visited such dealers. Forty-three high risk dealers with bogus declared turnover of Rs 778.90 crore in 2013-14 were identified and the registration certificates of these dealers cancelled," said Yadav, adding that the department not only expects to recover due tax with penalty but also follow it up to ensure that the fraudulent dealer is arrested.

Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 30.75 crore was also disallowed during this week. The Commissioner has directed the officials to detect the chain of sale of such dealers and issued instruction to take strict action as per the provision of DVAT Act 2004.

Yadav clarified that the raids will continue and the action against such bogus dealings would be intensified by the department.

New Delhi, July 9
Three unclaimed bags were found outside the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in New Delhi's Ashok Road locality this morning, which caused a bomb scare. The party chose its new president today.

The bomb squad and sniffer dogs of the Delhi Police arrived at the BJP headquarters at about 8 am, following a suspicion of a possible terror attack. Later, a couple arrived at the spot and claimed the bags, which they had allegedly kept outside the headquarters. They told the police that they had gone to the Andhra Bhavan's canteen for breakfast. The bags were declared harmless by the security agencies.

"The owners of the bags reclaimed them when they returned from the Andhra Bhavan's canteen," said a police officer. The police have detained 35-year-old Sujeet Narayan Goswami and his wife, who were taken to the Parliament Street police station for interrogation.

Sources said that the couple were also questioned by the Intelligence Bureau and Delhi Police's Special Cell. Sujeet hails from Uttarakhand and his wife is from Andhra Pradesh. They told the police that they used to stay at a rented house in south Delhi's Chhatarpur, but were forced to vacate the house by their landlord today.

"They had failed to pay the rent for the past two months and were previously warned by their landlord. When they could not arrange the money, they were forced to vacate the house today," the officer added.

The couple decided to seek shelter at an ashram in central Delhi's Sardar Patel Marg, but were not completely aware about the address. Sujeet told the police that he and his wife took an autorickshaw to Sardar Patel Marg and saw the BJP?headquarters on the way at about 7.30 am. "They thought about meeting the BJP leaders to seek daily-wage jobs, but the office was shut at that time," the officer said.

The couple found out from locals that they could have breakfast at the nearby Andhra Bhavan's canteen, so they left the bags outside the BJP?headquarters and went to the canteen.

"As nothing suspicious was recovered from the bags, the couple were allowed to leave after interrogation. They do not have any criminal history and our probe revealed that it was a genuine mistake. No case has been filed over the matter," the officer added.

New Delhi, July 9
Newly appointed Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay, who is municipal councillor and working as Chairman of the Standing Committee in South Delhi Municipal Corporation, pledged to strengthen the party at grass-roots level.

Talking to the media today, Upadhyay said that he would work to make the party stronger keeping in view the assembly election that is to be held in a few months. He would meet block and district level workers to know their views for improving the functioning of the party.

Upadhaya was appointed president of the Delhi BJP yesterday evening by the former national president of the party, Rajnath Singh.

Upadhay, who has been active in Delhi politics since his college days, said that he would contact the young workers of the party to convince them about the good days that have come. This should be conveyed to all the people in Delhi saying that if the BJP is voted to power in Delhi, the government functioning will be improved further.

He said that there are challenges before the party as both the Congress and the AAP are working against the BJP. But these challenges will be faced tactically.

When asked about the assembly election in Delhi, Upadhyay said that it would be decided by the party high command.

Hailing the appointment of Satish Upadhyay as the BJP's Delhi president, Leader of the House in South Delhi Municipal Corporation, Subhash Arya said that Upadhyay would infuse a "new thinking" into the party state unit.

New Delhi, July 9
A 25-year-old man allegedly molested a five-year-old girl right outside her house in Uttam Nagar, west Delhi last evening.

The accused identified as Anand Sharma was beaten by the locals and handed over to the police.

Sharma allegedly molested the victim when she was playing in the parking compound outside her house. "The accused is a daily wage labourer and was passing by the area when he saw the girl playing," said a police officer.

When Sharma allegedly molested the girl, she began to scream. Her mother was in the kitchen of her house. Alarmed by the screams, she checked her daughter from the kitchen window to see that Sharma was grabbing her.

"She came running towards her daughter who was continuously screaming for help. Many neighbours came to the spot," added the officer.

The residents of the locality informed the police that they had caught a man. A Police Control Room vehicle which was patrolling near the area reached the site and took Sharma in custody.

"We counselled the minor girl who was scared. She told the police that the accused molested her," the officer said.

A case was registered against him at the Uttam Nagar police station. The accused has been booked under Section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC and other sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, said the officer.

New Delhi, July 9
A 32-year-old Nigerian man who allegedly supplied drugs at markets and malls in Delhi was apprehended on Tuesday, police said.

The man has been identified as Okafor Ejike, who belongs to Lagos, Nigeria. He was presently staying at Dwarka, south Delhi.

Okafor was caught by the Delhi Police Crime Branch. "He is involved in trafficking of drugs. Seventy grams of cocaine has been recovered from him. It is internationally worth Rs 70 lakh," said Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).

The police were tipped off on Tuesday that Okafor would be coming near the Karol Bagh Metro station to deliver a consignment of cocaine to his contact between 2.30 pm and 3 pm. The police nabbed Okafor around 2.45 pm. They allegedly found the 70 grams of cocaine from him.

During his interrogation, Okafor said he studied up to secondary school in Nigeria. His father is a farmer. Okafor has five sisters and two brothers. Okafor started a garment business in his native place.

He came to Mumbai on a business visa in March 2013. About five months ago, he came to Delhi and started living in Dwarka. He started a business in export of readymade garments to Nigeria where his sister sold them at a local market. As the garment business was not doing well, he landed in a financial crisis.

In Delhi, Chikoje, a fellow Nigerian in a church in Navada, lured him into the drug business.