Prawesh Lama covers crime, policing, and issues of security in Delhi. Raised in Darjeeling, educated in Mumbai, he also looks at special features on social welfare in the National Capital.
Articles by Prawesh Lama
In pics | 4 mins, a roadblock: All it takes for Karol Bagh jewel thieves
A group of quick-footed thieves striking unsuspecting passersby in Karol Bagh’s jewellery market to rob them of their valuables within a matter of just four minutes, while the Delhi Police is yet to bust the gang.
Updated on Jan 18, 2016 11:56 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Odd-even: South Delhi records most violations; 2,685 fines till Jan 12
Posh south Delhi recorded the most violations of the AAP government’s odd-even rule to limit vehicular pollution during the first twelve days of a trial period, official data show.
Updated on Jan 14, 2016 12:48 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama and Soumya Pillai, New Delhi
Delhi odd-even violation fines may cross Rs 1 cr by Jan 15
The Delhi Traffic Police have collected over Rs 38 lakh as fines for violations under the odd-even restrictions in the first five days of the 15-day campaign in the city.
Updated on Jan 07, 2016 10:30 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Pockets picked, cellphones stolen as Left leader lay in state
Pockets were picked and cellphones stolen as hundreds of admirers, politicians and party members queued up to pay homage to veteran CPI leader AB Bardhan on Monday.
Updated on Jan 06, 2016 01:58 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Odd-even: Emergency to Happy New Year, things drivers said to get away
‘Emergency’ was one of the most used — rather misused — word on the city streets that Delhi Traffic Police personnel heard from drivers on Friday.
Updated on Jan 02, 2016 01:57 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
BSF jet crash: 38-yr-old pilot died before naming his month-old son
Deputy commandant Bhagwati Prasad Bhatt, the pilot of the BSF plane that crashed near the Delhi airport on Tuesday killing all 10 people on board, was to name his month-old son in a few days.
Updated on Dec 23, 2015 10:25 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama and Karn Pratap Singh, New Delhi
ISI spy racket: Handler says Pakistan forced him to supply info
“I was not a spy. I was arrested in Pakistan and released only after I agreed to work for them,” Kafaitullah Khan reportedly told Delhi Police, a day after he was arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan.
Updated on Dec 01, 2015 09:36 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ananya Bhardwaj and Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Spy handler Khan shared sensitive BSF info on Viber and Whatsapp
The spy Kafaitullah Khan, arrested with a BSF constable, took Rs 2 lakh for sharing highly sensitive information, or Rs 25,000 normally from Pakistani agencies.
Updated on Nov 30, 2015 12:46 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama and Ananya Bhardwaj, New Delhi
‘I’ve faced more intolerance than you’: An open letter to Aamir
As India reacts to Aamir Khan’s remark in the ‘intolerance debate’, Prawesh Lama writes to him an open letter mentioning his fears and episodes of ‘intolerance’ he experiences in the country.
Updated on Nov 25, 2015 01:29 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama
Delhi: Engineer dies in auto crash, driver robs belongings and flees
Like the thousands of other passengers on the Seemanchal Express returning to the city after celebrating Chhat puja in their native Bihar, 42-year-old Subodh Srivastav, his wife Sushma and son Priyan arrived at Anand Vihar railway station on the night of November 20 (Friday). Like hundreds of others, they hailed an auto-rickshaw for the last leg of their journey to their west Delhi residence.
Updated on Nov 23, 2015 02:38 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
In Tihar, a new Bhai feeds curiosity, fears over security
He is Tihar’s latest Bhai but he remained off-limits — resting through the day in his spartan solitary cell and occasionally escorted out for meals and visits to the jail dispensary after all his fellow prisoners were locked away in their barracks.
Published on Nov 21, 2015 02:03 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Delhi: 14 years after being ‘kidnapped’, girl found married to abductor
Inside a city court room on Tuesday afternoon, they stood in two different witness stands — opposite each another. He was the accused, she was the victim.
Updated on Nov 17, 2015 11:45 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama and Ananya Bhardwaj, New Delhi
Tihar jail inmates will get to chat with kin via virtual ‘mulakat’
The country’s largest prison, Tihar, is all set to start a virtual ‘mulakat’ (meeting) system where prisoners will be able to talk with their friends and relatives from the jail premises via video conferencing.
Updated on Nov 06, 2015 12:52 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Dec 16 juvenile convict’s mother hopes for his return, but should he?
The most violent of the six rapists, he escaped the gallows because of his age and is set to walk free in a month.
Updated on Dec 14, 2015 02:04 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, Budaun
Ballabgarh: Charred toys, burnt mattresses in room of horror
The remains of a room where the bed mattress still smells of smoke in Haryana’s Sunperh village is witness to, along with a couple of burnt toys, to the simmering caste tensions in the state.
Updated on Oct 23, 2015 12:15 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, Sunperh (ballabgarh)
Faridabad killing: Dalit youth talk of revenge as anger grows
It is grief that has united the different Dalit families and separated them from the predominant upper caste Thakurs in Haryana’s Sunperh village, situated less than an hour’s drive from the Capital.
Updated on Oct 22, 2015 07:42 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, Sunperh, Ballabgarh
Railways’ Delhi unit scores almost a crore on Swachh Bharat fines
Smokers and litterbugs are being swept clean off the stations in the Capital, with the Swachh Bharat campaign also earning the railways some big money — Rs 1 crore in nine months.
Updated on Oct 14, 2015 12:47 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
‘1 second cost me 20 years’: Tandoor murder convict Sushil Sharma
Convicted for the murder of his wife in the infamous Delhi tandoor case, Sushil Sharma is out on parole after 20 years. He has served the longest sentence for life imprisonment in Tihar without a parole.
Updated on Sep 23, 2015 10:01 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama and Soumya Pillai, New Delhi
'1 second cost me 20 years': Tandoor murder convict Sushil Sharma
Twenty-years, onemonth and two days — that is the time convict number 31 spent behind bars in Tihar’s jail number 2. Convicted for the murder of his wife in the infamous Delhi tandoor case, Sushil Sharma is out on parole after 20 years. He has served the longest sentence for life imprisonment in Tihar without a parole.
Updated on Sep 23, 2015 08:45 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama and Soumya Pillai, New Delhi
Kerjiwal-Jung feud means Bihar police ACB transfers have no work
With no end in sight to the turf war between the chief minister and lieutenant-governor, the seven Bihar Police officers transferred to the Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) are forced to sit idle in office every day as they have not been assigned any work for nearly three months.
Updated on Aug 24, 2015 11:45 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Tihar battles to manage jail with half staff strength
The country’s most-populated and largest prison, which has witnessed many incidents of violence and murders in the recent past, has been managing with just a little over 50% of the total sanctioned strength of guards.
Updated on Aug 22, 2015 12:01 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ananya Bhardwaj, Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Tihar has just two psychologists to hear out 14,800 inmates
Insia's largest jail Tihar, where 25-35 deaths are reported every year, has just two overburdened psychologists to hear the 14,800 prisoners out. There have been at least nine established cases of suicide over the last three years.
Updated on Aug 21, 2015 01:01 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, Ananya Bhardwaj, New Delhi
Delhi Police's I-Day alert: ACs can be a cool place for bombs
The police have asked security officers of all high-rise buildings in central Delhi to provide a certificate that their air-conditioners have been checked for explosives as the Capital turns into a fortress ahead of the Independence Day.
Updated on Aug 14, 2015 01:13 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
600 families face eviction over security threat to VIPs
Nearly 600 families living for years in slums along Bhairon Marg in central Delhi face eviction because the authorities feel their presence poses a threat to VIPs.
Updated on Aug 04, 2015 01:03 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Rapes on rise: Devil is in detail for Delhi's Ambedkar Nagar
Misleading crime data: While statistics show most registered rape cases led to acquittals, several cases of harassment and molestation go unreported.
Updated on Dec 16, 2016 12:58 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Rapes on rise: Devil is in detail for Delhi's Ambedkar Nagar
Misleading crime data: While statistics show most registered rape cases led to acquittals, several cases of harassment and molestation go unreported.
Updated on Aug 01, 2015 02:20 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
For Delhi women, danger lurks even at home
Is it poor policing, lawlessness or socio economic factors? What drives these alleged rapists to a crime as heinous as rape? For two weeks, our correspondents sifted through police records, read case papers, met victims, accused and their families and spoke to investigating officers. The findings were shocking.
Updated on Aug 01, 2015 08:34 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ananya Bhardwaj and Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Tales of promises, betrayal abound in Delhi's Aman Vihar
Mohammed Azaz, 48, is a worried father. An e-rickshaw driver, Azaz is concerned about the safety of his three teenage daughters. The ban on e-rickshaws does not bother him as much as the compulsion of being holed up inside his one-room house all day with three growing daughters.
Updated on Dec 16, 2016 01:01 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
Over 3,000 ‘missing’ kids found at Delhi railway stations in 3yrs
For lakhs of travellers, the New Delhi and Old Delhi railway stations may be just dots on the city’s map, but for thousands of children, they are ‘home.’ It is here where the police find most of the children who go missing.
Updated on Jul 08, 2015 02:10 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi
'Damascus friends' will help me get out of jail: Bhatkal
Central intelligence agencies have found that jailed Indian Mujahideen top operative Yasin Bhatkal was using a cellphone from inside a high-security cell in a Hyderabad jail.
Updated on Jul 04, 2015 05:07 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prawesh Lama, New Delhi