New Delhi, November 19
A 13-year-old boy was kidnapped from Gandhi Nagar, east Delhi, yesterday while he was returning from his school and was found dead in a drain in Geeta Colony, east Delhi, today, said a police officer.

The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore from his family, according to the police.

The victim has been identified as Utkarsh Verma, who lived with his family at Rajgarh Colony in Gandhi Nagar. He was a Class VIII student of Vivekanand Public School in Anand Vihar, east Delhi. His father, Mukesh Verma, is a jeweller and runs a shop at Rajgarh Colony.

"Utkarsh was kidnapped while he was returning to his house from his school in a cab. He was seen in the footage of a CCTV camera near his house," said a police officer.

He was found in a drain at Rani Garden in Geeta Colony about 7 am today. The police took the body to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital and informed Utkarsh's father, who identified the body.

Utkarsh usually returns to his house from his school by 2.30 pm every day. But on yesterday, he did not return to the house even until 3 pm. His parents then started searching him. They made phone calls to his school and friends, but did not get any clues on his whereabouts. They then approached the police at 4 pm.

A family member said yesterday at 7.40 pm and at midnight Utkarsh's mother Mamta received two phone calls demanding a ransom. The caller claimed that Utkarsh had been kidnapped and Rs 1 crore should be given for his safe release.

The police analysed the CCTV camera footage which showed Utkarsh being dropped by his school cab about 2.15 pm at Satsang Marg in Gandhi Nagar. "As usual, Utkarsh and I were on the front seat of the cab. We were chatting about our school and the cab moved to my stop after dropping him. I did not know that it would be the last time that I would be seeing my best friend," said Sushank. The police said they have found injury marks on Utkarsh's body.

New Delhi, November 19
A 21-year-old girl was strangled to death allegedly by her parents. Her parents were arrested yesterday after her husband, an assistant programmer at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, approached the police suspecting that she was murdered for marrying outside her caste.

The victim has been identified as Bhawna Yadav. Her parents had allegedly strangled her at their home in Bharat Vihar, a rural colony in Dwarka, south-west Delhi. The incident took place during the early hours of Sunday.

They had then alleged that her death was caused by a snake bite and later cremated her at their native village in Alwar, Rajasthan.

Bhawna and Abhishek Seth (24) married at a temple on November 12. They then informed girl's parents about their marriage. Her family had opposed their relationship.

"Her parents requested that she be sent back home so that they can organise a grand wedding. They said their reputation was at stake and they wanted to convey to the society that it was an arranged marriage," said a police officer investigating the case.

Bhawna returned to her parents' house on the day of the wedding. She returned to her husband on Friday. Her parents and some relatives visited Seth's house.

"They again took her away on the pretext that they would send her back on Sunday after performing a ceremony," said Seth.

Seth allowed Bhawna to leave. Her maternal uncle then allegedly called Seth over the phone and threatened to shoot the couple, if they did not separate. Her uncle is absconding.

Seth later received a call from Bhawna's cousin, who supported the couple, and said Bhawna was killed. Seth then approached the police. The police sent a team to Alwar to arrest the parents. The police said they have allegedly confessed to the murder.

"They strangled the girl at 2 am on Sunday. They then called their relatives at Alwar to inform that she had been bitten by a snake and they would be bringing her by a car for treatment by a quack there," said the officer.

They later called their relatives again, claiming that Bhawna had died on the way and they should quickly prepare for her cremation, the officer added.

New Delhi, November 19
The New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in its annual budget today proposed 50 per cent hike in base unit area value (BUAV) for property tax assessment, increase in lump sum one-time street charge on vehicles and Rs 6 crore for "Swachh Bharat" campaign.

Presenting the revised budget estimate 2014-15 and budget estimate 2015-16 during a special meeting of the Standing Committee of the NDMC, Municipal Commissioner Praveen Gupta said the total estimated revenue for the fiscal year 2015-16 is Rs 4,404.11 crore while the revised estimate for the fiscal year 2014-15 is Rs 3,612.04 crore.

"A hike of 50 per cent in BUAV for property tax assessment is proposed under Section 116 (J) of the DMC Act. The proposed increase is for colonies belonging to category 'A' through 'H'.... And, with this move, a revenue of Rs 150 crore is expected from property tax earnings," Gupta said in his budget speech.

Like the SDMC budget presented yesterday, the NDMC too has a laid special emphasis on "Swachh Bharat Mission".

"Under the the mission, 100 e-toilets are to be developed at various schools and market places. And, for this Rs 6 crore has been earmarked," Gupta said.

In the health sector, an 11-storeyed multi-speciality facility has been proposed at Kasturba Hospital (earlier Victoria Hospital) in old Delhi, at an estimated cost of Rs 147 crore. An intra-uterine insemination lab is also being established for curing infertility.

However, the hike in BUAV was rejected by the Opposition. "We oppose any move by the corporation to increase the burden of taxes on the common man," said Congress councillor and Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Goel.

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the BJP-led NDMC Mohan Bhardwaj said, "We will first discuss and analyse the proposal before making any statement on the proposed hike. And, our reaction has nothing to do with the impending Delhi Assembly elections."

New Delhi, November 19
Giving Delhi more importance than other states, MPs of the BJP will start meeting with electorates during the winter sessionof the Delhi Assembly from December 1 to 20 to give them the message of the party's mission of development of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on whose name the assembly election will be contested.

This was decided at a meeting held today that was attended by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, party national secretary Anil Jain, Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay, in charge of Delhi affairs Prabhat Jha, MPs Meenakshi Lekhi, Dr Udit Raj, Mahesh Girri, Pravesh Verma, Ramesh Bidhuri and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel.

Naqvi said, "We have decided that all 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs of the BJP will address 2,700 meetings in all 70 assembly constituencies. During the winter session all the MPs will be in Delhi.

After Parliament session, they will be taken to the Delhi Assembly constituencies to address the meetings."

He said there has been no state government in Delhi for the past one year.

The BJP would try to give a powerful government to the people so that all development works could be carried out smoothly.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqviexpressed hope that the BJP would get thumping majority in the Delhi assembly.

Party sources said the party would not leave any stone unturned to get in power in Delhi considering it politically more important where it has been out of power for the past 16 years.

If it organises 2,700 meetings in 20 days, it would be about 135 meetings per day.

This strategy can make the BJP in dominating position.

Delhi is the only state in the country where the BJP has decided to deploy all its MPs to win the Delhi elections.

New Delhi, November 19
A passenger from Dubai was arrested by the Customs department at Indira Gandhi International Airport for allegedly carrying 36 gold bars in his hand baggage.

According to the Customs, the gold weighs 4,199.04 g and is valued at Rs 98.24 lakh.

While keeping a close watch on passengers coming from the Gulf, a passenger arrived at the airport from Dubai on Tuesday. He was stopped by Customs officials after he crossed the green channel.

Passengers with goods to declare (carrying items above the permitted customs limits and/or carrying prohibited items) go through the red channel. Passengers with nothing to declare (carrying goods within the customs limits only and not carrying prohibited items) go through the green channel.

"On detailed examination of his baggage, 36 gold bars which he had concealed in his hand baggage were recovered," said S.R. Baruah, Commissioner of Customs (IGI Airport), Delhi. The passenger was arrested and the gold was seized.