New Delhi, October 13
In the second attack on policemen over the past two days, a 42-year-old Delhi Police constable was shot dead and his colleague left grievously injured by three to four unidentified men in outer Delhi's Vijay Vihar locality during the early hours of today.

The attack took place near the Vijay Vihar police station at about 1.30 am when the two constables were patrolling the area on a motorcycle. The service revolver of the victim Jagbir Singh was snatched during the attack.

Jagbir had joined the Delhi Police as a constable in 2008. He was cremated with full honours at his native village in Dagroli district, Haryana. He was shot on his chest and declared dead at a hospital.

His colleague, Narendra Kumar (42), was shot at in his back and has been admitted to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. The bullet which was lodged in his body has been removed by the doctors. He spoke to his wife, Sunita, after he regained consciousness.

When the two constables were on patrol duty, they had noticed an autorickshaw arriving at lane number 7 of L-Block, Vijay Vihar. There were four persons at the back seat.

According to Narendra's statement to the police, he and Jagbir signalled the vehicle to stop, but the driver did not stop and the constables then chased the vehicle on their motorcycle and intercepted it.

"The constables held onto the autorickshaw. One person inside it shot at Jagbir in his chest. Jagbir then instructed Narendra to rush to the police station and get a back-up. He also told Narendra that he would stop the criminals until then," said a senior police officer.

Narendra let go of the autorickshaw and while rushing to the police station, he was shot in his back. "But Narendra's injury was not as serious as that of Jagbir and he managed to reach the police station and inform a policeman about what had happened before falling unconscious," said the officer.

Jagbir was still onto the autorickshaw. He was dragged for almost 50 metres on a road. "He died of excessive bleeding. There is a long trail of blood in that lane," said the officer. By the time a police team reached the spot, Jagbir had died.

There was not much progress in the investigation of the case until late on Monday. The CCTV camera footage of the incident and the nearby areas revealed "nothing fruitful," said the police.

In an earlier case, two Delhi Police constables were allegdly shot at by a man in new Delhi's Connaught Place area on Saturday night. The man, Mohammed Rizwan, who has been apprehended by the police had arrived at Connaught Place with his two associates to attack a rival gang member.

New Delhi, October 13
Cracking whip on the private security agencies running on fake licences, the Delhi government has initiated an exercise to create a data base of all the security agencies operating in the city with the details like the number of guards employed, training and gender-specific information.

It has asked the agencies to furnish their details online on the government's website failing which their licences may be suspended or cancelled.

"It has been observed that the private security agencies were not strictly adhering to the provisions of the Private Security Agencies Regulation Act, 2005. A number of agencies were also operating without obtaining the requisite licence. So, we decided to create a data bank of such agencies in order to take appropriate action when required," said a senior official of the Home department.

"We have created an application through which the agencies can upload their information," he said.

The official said that individuals have been employed as supervisors and security guards without having their antecedents verified. It was also observed that individuals who are engaged as security personnel are not being trained in an institute recognized by the state government as prescribed in the guidelines of the Act.

"This initiative will tighten the noose on the agencies which do not comply with the norms. Before filling the details, they will have to ensure that they adhere to the rules of the Act," he said.

The government has already sent individual notices to 261 security agencies which have not responded to the announcement. According to the department, there are over 450 agencies working in the Capital.

The government has a controlling authority that issues licences to the agencies for five years on renewable basis.

The Act makes it mandatory for the private security agencies to obtain a licence for running the business, to get the character and antecedents of the security personnel verified before hiring them and provide training to every supervisor or security guard as per the prescribed syllabus.

The government has also uploaded the list of all the security agencies on its website.

New Delhi, October 13
A Canadian woman was arrested for allegedly carrying a pistol, 11 live cartridges and two magazines inside her hand baggage at Indira Gandhi International Airport here on Friday night, the Delhi Police said today.

The woman has been identified as Seema Boparai. She is a Non-Resident Indian staying in Canada. She was to board a Jet Airways flight from Delhi to Toronto. She was with her four children when caught for allegedly carrying arms and ammunition. She has been arrested and sent to jail. Her children were handed over to her mother in Delhi.

"She told us that the weapon and the ammunition did not belong to her. And that someone must have placed it there," said a police officer.

A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer had caught the woman. In his complaint to the police, the officer wrote that he was performing his duty at an X-ray machine at Terminal-3 of IGI Airport. At about 11.50 pm on Friday, Boparai arrived at the machine for a pre-embarkation security check. "During the scanning of her hand baggage, a pistol (made in US), 11 live ammunition with two magazines were found inside it," wrote the officer in his complaint.

According to the complaint, the woman did not have a valid arms licence. The CISF handed her to the police.

The police examined the gun and said that on one side of its barrel, "Automatic Pistol Made in the USA No-2777" is engraved and on the top side of the barrel, "Only for Army Supply" is engraved.

A case under the Arms Act is registered at the IGI Airport police station.

New Delhi, October 13
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) today honoured the Premier of British Columbia in Canada, Christy Clark, who along with a delegation visited Gurdwara Bangla Sahib.

She was welcomed by the general secretary of the DSGMC, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, caretaker president Ravinder Singh Khurana and DSGMC advisor Kulmohan Singh. She was honoured with a "Saropa".

Christy, who came to India on a two-day tour, also went to Diwan Hall. She saw Baba Baghel Singh multi-media museum and tried to read some books. She said that Sikh religion gives the message of justice and brotherhood.

Inviting the youth for higher studies in Canada, Christy said that Indian nationals settled in Canada have a significant role in the development of her country.

New Delhi, October 13
'Swachch Bharat, Swasth Bharat', a special cleanliness drive with focus on hygiene and prevention of diseases, is the theme of the 21st edition of the Perfect Health Mela organised by the Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) in partnership with the MCD, MTNL, SAIL and NDMC from October 15-19 at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium.

The Sameer Malik Heart Care Foundation Fund, an initiative of HCFI, will also provide heart surgeries at subsidised rates for the poor, said organisers of the awareness event, covering health check-up camps, entertainment programmes and lifestyle exhibitions.

The highlight of this year's event will a live telemedicine facility offered at the venue by Medanta- the Medicity (MM). A heart pavilion will also be set up in association with SAIL.

"It has been our endeavour to develop consumer-driven modules to educate the masses on the importance of preventive healthcare and the Perfect Health Mela has been one of the most successful examples," said HCFI president Dr. KK Aggarwal.