New Delhi (PTI): The Aam Aadmi Party has approached the Supreme Court challenging the election held for a member of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's standing committee.

The move came after Delhi Chief Minister Atishi accused the BJP of "murdering" democracy and claimed that the election held on September 27 was "illegal and unconstitutional".

The BJP won the last vacant seat of the MCD's 18-member standing committee unopposed as the councillors of the ruling AAP abstained from voting.

The saffron party recently moved the apex court seeking an urgent hearing on its plea to initiate contempt proceedings against Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi over the election to fill the vacancy in the MCD's standing committee.

At a press conference on Saturday, Atishi said the AAP would approach the Supreme Court against the election.

"The country runs by the Constitution and laws, not by hooliganism. So the BJP should stop murdering democracy," she had said, adding the standing committee member's election was held in violation of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957.

According to rules, only the mayor can decide the date and place for the election of the MCD standing committee members and only the mayor can preside over a meeting of the MCD councillors for the election, the chief minister had said.

Reacting to Atishi's allegations, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva had said the chief minister's remarks were "completely driven by political self-interest" and aimed at spreading "confusion".

"Atishi should know that under section 45 of the DMC Act, the formation of the standing committee is mandatory. Under section 487, the LG and the municipal commissioner have the authority to convene a meeting of the corporation under special circumstances and they can appoint a presiding officer for the meeting," Sachdeva had said.

On August 5, the apex court ruled that the law "expressly enables" the lieutenant governor to nominate aldermen to the MCD and he was not bound by the advice of the council of ministers in the matter.

The top court had rejected the Delhi government's plea challenging the L-G's power to nominate 10 aldermen in the MCD without the aid and advice of the council of ministers.

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Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.

The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.

Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.

"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.

Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.

“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.

Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.

"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.

The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.

Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.

"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.

The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.

Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.