New Delhi - Others   

Around the City

Bid to rein in tent mafia

NEW DELHI: To rein in tent mafia in the city, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Monday decided to book its community halls and parks for marriages only if the booking party submits the names of the bride and groom and proofs of their residential address at the time of applying for these facilities.

After repeated allegations that the civic body's parks and community centre were in the clutches of the tent mafia that does not allow genuine people to book these facilities for holding marriages, the MCD decided to make the booking process more fool-proof so that only needy people book these venues.

"While the names of brides and grooms will help us to verify that those booking the community halls and parks are genuine people, through address verification we will be able to ensure that people are able to book venues falling in their wards only and not in other areas," said a senior MCD official.

While earlier there was no time limit for booking these facilities, a few months ago the MCD had decided to book community halls and parks only three months in advance.

Lady doctor foils robbery bid

NEW DELHI: Thanks to the alertness of a lady doctor, a young man who robbed her of cash and jewellery after threatening her with a fake gun and bomb has been arrested by the Delhi police. It all happened at Bhajanpura in North-East Delhi on Sunday.

According to the police, the man came to the clinic of Dr. Sunanda at Maujpur around 12-45 p.m. He posed as a patient and asked for the doctor at the reception. He then entered the doctor's cabin and forced her to part with Rs. 2,000 in cash and gold jewellery at gunpoint.

The robber then took out a "bomb" that looked like a matchbox with two wires and threatened Dr. Sunanda with dire consequences if she raised an alarm. However, Dr. Sunanda realised that the "bomb" was fake and raised an alarm following which the man beat a hasty retreat.

The area residents and some policemen then gave chase and caught the accused, identified as Akram, and recovered cash and jewellery from his possession. The gun too turned out to be a fake.

Alleged criminals arrested

NEW DELHI: Four young men were arrested following an encounter with the South Delhi police at Sadiq Nagar on Monday. The police claim to have recovered a country-made firearm from their possession.

Around 8-45 p.m., a police team posted at a picket in Sadiq Nagar waved at a Toyota Corolla car to stop but it sped away. When the police tried to intercept the car, the occupants fired two rounds. The police returned the fire and intercepted the vehicle near a traffic signal. While four of the occupants were overpowered, the fifth managed to escape.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Delhi) Anil Shukla said the four were suspected to be robbers and were being questioned.

Yoga camp organised

NEW DELHI: A large number of people attended a two-day "Yoga Sadhana Shivir" and seminar on "Spirituality as a cult" organised by Ananda Marga Pracharak Samgha at Katwaria Sarai here over the weekend.

The participants were initiated into yoga and meditation by veteran yoga teacher Mantreshananda Avadhuta. Acharya Dhyaneshananda Avadhuta explained that "human existence is not merely physical, psychic or spiritual; it comprises all three".

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Around the City

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu