Sanitation worker shot at, accused suspected witchcraft

A 45-year-old sanitation worker with the North Delhi Municipal Corporation was shot at, allegedly by his relative, in outer Delhi’s Mangolpuri on Saturday morning.

The crime took place around 8 am when the man, Jagdish, was busy cleaning the streets near Pushpanjali Road.

The attacker, identified as Sagar, was arrested later in the day by a special team of the Rohini district following information from their informer about his movement.

A countrymade pistol and two cartridges were recovered from his possession, police said. Sagar is the brother-in-law of the son of Jagdish.

During the interrogation, a senior police officer said, Sagar said he had developed animosity against Jagdish as he suspected him of being an occultist.

“Sagar has told us that his mother expired six months ago and he suspected that she died because of some witchcraft by Jagdish on her. He wanted to kill Jagdish to avenge his mother’s death,” said the officer.

Police said Jagdish was busy with sanitation work when Sagar arrived on a motorcycle and fired a bullet at him. The bullet hit Jagdish on his back near the right shoulder. When he screamed for help, Sagar left the motorcycle and fled.

Jagdish was rushed to a nearby hospital from where he was referred to Safdarjung hospital for treatment. His condition was stated to be serious, said the officer. HTC

“Saturday and Sunday and even Monday are the peak days for us. We will go all out to stop it. We can’t allow them to kill our livelihoods,” he added.

Traffic at Connaught Place is a nightmare on most days. The situation worsens on weekends and public holidays.

The car-free plan, given a go-ahead by the Union urban development ministry after extensive talks with NDMC and traffic police in early January, aims to decongest the heritage shopping arcade which gets around 5 lakh visitors a day.

Nearly 2,000 parking spaces — 1,500 in inner circle and 400-500 in middle circle — are to be removed.

Authorities had proposed two ways to implement the project. In the first, cars will be allowed to enter from Janpath, people will alight at Palika Bazar or Palika Parking and exit through Baba Kharak Singh Marg. The second plan had proposed that cars will be allowed in the middle circle but only to drop visitors, making it a no-parking zone.

Officials say free “park and ride” services from major parking areas at Shivaji Stadium, Baba Kharak Singh Marg and Palika parking will be made available. The council has plans to make battery-operated vehicles and cycles-for-hire available to get to and come back from Connaught Place.

“We encourage India and China to engage in direct dialogue aimed at reducing tensions. We are not going to speculate on such matters,” the defence department spokesman said when asked if the Pentagon fears escalation of tension between India and China.

Early this week, a top Pentagon commander told lawmakers that China is exploiting its economic leverage as a way to its regional political objectives.

“The Chinese have shown their willingness to exploit their economic leverage as a way to advance their regional political objectives. As China’s military modernisation continues, the United States and its allies and partners will continue to be challenged to balance China’s influence,” General Paul Selva, USAF, said in written response to questions to the Senate Armed Services Committee for his nominee for reconfirmation as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Selva said deterring war is an exercise in influencing China’s decision calculus, making diplomacy preferable to conflict and managing crises in such a manner that they do not unintentionally escalate.

“To do this, the Joint Force will engage with the Chinese military within Congressionally mandated limits, build alliance capacity through close cooperation, and uphold international law through appropriate operations,” he said in written response to the questions.