New Delhi, Oct 27: Taking a serious note of an acid-attack on a 20-year-old woman in northwest Delhi, Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena on Monday directed Police Commissioner Satish Golcha to take strict action against the culprits.

“He has instructed the Commissioner of Police to ensure that the guilty are arrested and brought to the book at the earliest and the most stringent punishment under law is sought against them,” said a Raj Niwas official.

The official, in a post on X, said, “The LG has taken an extremely serious view of the recent unfortunate incident of acid attack in the Capital.”

The Sunday incident that caught the attention of the LG involved a 20-year-old woman who sustained burn injuries on her hands after being allegedly attacked with acid by her stalker and his two associates.

The incident took place near Laxmi Bai College in northwest Delhi’s Ashok Vihar area, according to police officials, who maintained that they have launched a manhunt for the accused after collecting clues from CCTV footage.

The victim, a second-year student at a private institution, was on her way to attend an extra class when the accused intercepted her near the college.

“She was stopped by the main accused, Jitender, and his two associates, Ishan and Arman, who were on a motorcycle,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Bhisham Singh said in a statement.

According to the woman’s statement, Ishan handed a bottle to Arman, who threw the acid at her.

She instinctively raised her hands to shield her face, suffering burns on both hands while the attackers fled the scene immediately after the assault.

The injured woman was rushed to Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, where doctors provided initial treatment and informed the police.

A team of forensic and crime experts later visited the site to collect samples and evidence. Preliminary investigation suggests that the main accused, Jitender — a resident of Mukundpur, the same locality where the victim lives — had been stalking her for several months.

According to reports, the two had a heated argument about a month ago, following which the harassment reportedly escalated.

A case has been registered under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including those about acid attack and criminal conspiracy.

The incident has once again raised concerns over women’s safety and the easy availability of corrosive substances in the national capital.

The Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) held protests outside the college, demanding the strictest punishment for the accused and concrete reforms to curb acid sales

Thane: Police have arrested a school bus driver here for allegedly threatening to kidnap a 15-year-old student, who used to travel in his vehicle, and demanding Rs 4 lakh from the boy’s parents, officials said on Monday.

The bus driver, who also operated a mobile phone and SIM card shop at Kashimira in Maharashtra’s Thane district, had planned the extortion in an attempt to make quick money, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone I, Rahul Chavan told reporters.

The boy’s mother, a resident of Kashimira, received a text message from an unknown mobile number on Saturday, threatening to kidnap the teenager if she failed to pay Rs 4 lakh. She immediately approached the local police.

The investigators traced the message to a number linked with a local mobile phone shop.

The school bus driver also owned a mobile and SIM card shop. He took the SIM card of one of his less-educated customers and replaced it with an inactive one, the official said.

The driver then used the active SIM card to send threats to the boy’s family via WhatsApp. He also used a photo of the boy in his possession to send ransom messages to his mother, the official said.

The police questioned the bus driver, Hariram Soma (37), who confessed to the crime, he said. The accused, also a resident of the Kashimira area, was arrested on Sunday, he added.

“Police ensured the child was not harmed. Within hours of receiving the complaint, our technical team traced the digital trail, identified the suspect and took him into custody,” Chavan said.

The accused has been booked on charges of criminal intimidation and extortion under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.

The police have information that the accused targeted four parents of the children whom he ferried to school in his bus, and are investigating it, the official said.

New Delhi, Oct 27: In a relief for Vodafone Idea, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Centre to reconsider the issue of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues worth Rs 9,450 crore to ease the burden of the loss-making telecom company. The court reasoned that this matter falls in the Union’s policy domain.

The Supreme Court noted that the decision was made keeping in mind the interest of 20 crore consumers of the telecom company.

In a landmark 2019 verdict, the Supreme Court endorsed the Centre’s definition of AGR and allowed the Centre to collect dues worth Rs 92,000 crore which came as a huge setback for telecom majors such as Vodafone and Bharti Airtel.

Vodafone’s latest petition flagged a fresh AGR demand of Rs 9,450 crore raised by the Department of Telecommunications. The petition contended that a substantial portion of the demand pertained to the pre-2017 period, which had already been settled by the Supreme Court.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta told the court that “there is a huge change in circumstances” of the case because the government has infused equity in Vodafone.

“The government’s interest is public interest. There are 20 crore consumers. If this company is to suffer, it would lead to issues for consumers,” he said.

The Supreme Court noted in its order that the Centre is willing to examine the issue. “The government is also willing to reconsider and take an appropriate decision if the court permits. In the peculiar facts, we see no impediment in government reconsidering the issue. We clarify that this is a matter of policy, there is no reason as to why the Union should be prevented from doing so,” the apex court said.

AGR refers to a fee-sharing mechanism under which telecom operators must share a part of their revenue with the Centre as licensing fees and spectrum usage charges. There was a longstanding dispute between telecom companies and the Centre over the definition of AGR. While the telecom giants stressed that AGR should be based just on core services, the Centre argued it should also factor in non-telecom services provided by the telecom giants.