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Wednesday,
September 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
Nadeem, Taurani ‘gave
money’ to kill Gulshan Tehelka counsel grills
film-maker Police probes
spurt in hoax calls Enron chief’s letter ‘insulting’
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Govt succumbing to
US pressure: CPM BJP’s signature
drive against terrorism Contempt notice to Khurana Centre, NSCN (I-M) agree to find solution
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Nadeem, Taurani ‘gave
money’ to kill Gulshan Mumbai,
September 25 Deposing before Sessions Judge M.L. Tahilyani, the witness,
Arif Lakdawala, said the money was then passed on to the alleged
killers on the same day in pursuance of the alleged conspiracy. The
witness told the public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam that he had gone to
suburban Juhu on June 27, 1997, along with his builder friend Keki
Balsara, to collect money on behalf of Abu Salem. Two persons arrived
in a Tata Estate car and handed over the money in two bags to the
duo. The witness said the two persons who had brought money were
music composer Nadeem Akhtar Saifee and Ramesh Taurani. Asked if he
could identify both, the witness said Nadeem was not before the court
while Taurani was sitting with other accused. He pointed at Taurani
and the latter stood up for identification. Narrating the events, the
witness said after handing over the money to them, Nadeem and Taurani
had a telephonic conversation with Abu Salem on the former’s mobile
phone. He heard Nadeem telling Abu Salem “Bhaijaan abhi Gulshan ka
kaam jaldi kar do” (brother now complete the job of Gulshan
soon). In a related development, defence lawyer Aban Ponda filed an
application urging that this witness should be treated as an accused
because he had actively participated in the conspiracy. The judge
directed the prosecution to file its say. Earlier, the witness
identified two of the three accused who had accepted the alleged
contract money given by him and Balsara. However, he could not
identify the third one and wrongly pointed out at co-accused Shabir
Ali. PTI |
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Tehelka counsel grills
film-maker New Delhi, September 25 As soon as the hearing began, Justice Venkataswami asked the government’s counsel Additional-Solicitor-General Kirit N Raval when the government was filing the inquiry report supporting its allegation of “economic motives” behind the expose. Mr Raval asked for two days’ time to respond. Kapoor, who yesterday submitted before the commission that there were “all chances of doctoring” of Tehelka tapes by way of audio and video superimposition and therefore, these should be sent for detailed expert examination, was grilled by Tehelka counsel Siddarth Luthra and asked to prove his “expertise” on the subject. Though maintaining in his affidavit that he was an independent witness, Kapoor was produced as a witness by the counsel for Jaya Jaitly. The film-maker said it was the handling of various equipment and familiarising oneself with the latest techniques which was important rather than having any academic qualification for such expertise. Kapoor, whose father was in the Army, was also questioned by the commission’s counsel as to why he had only selected the shots of meetings of Tehelka reporters with former BJP President Bangaru Laxman and former Samata Party President Jaya Jaitly for examination and not those where the defence personnel were figuring. The film-maker, who has done only senior secondary, said his submission was “totally” based on his 18 years of experience as film-maker, editor and director. |
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Police probes
spurt in hoax calls New Delhi, September 25 The Delhi Police said it had received at least four such calls during the past few days, the latest relating to the two Rajdhani trains — Mumbai to New Delhi and Mumbai to Nizamuddin today. The trains were held up for at least two to three hours this morning causing considerable
inconvenience to the officials as well as the passengers. A thorough search was made in both trains after which the call was declared to be hoax and the trains allowed to proceed. The call was received by the police which informed the Railways in the Capital. Since the information did not specify which Rajdhani was the target, the Railways decided to immediately stop both the express trains. The Mumbai-New Delhi train was brought to halt at Shloka near Hodal in Faridabad at 8.30 a.m. and searched thoroughly by the Railways and the local police for about two hours. The Mumbai-Nizamuddin train was stopped for nearly three hours at Jaganpatti between Gangapur and Mathura stations and declared clear after a complete search. The other places that have been the target of hoax callers are the airport, the South Block and the Tis Hazari courts. |
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Enron chief’s letter ‘insulting’ New Delhi, September 25 In his letter, Mr Lay has said, “The conduct of the Government of India and the Government of Maharashtra in refusing to honour their obligations under their respective guarantees.....are what is to be expected of governments that have a history of not respecting contracts and the rule of law.” The CPI has taken exception to the Enron chief’s insinuating statement that “contracts with governmental authorities in India do not represent anything more than a mere starting point for a later re-negotiation and are broken by the Indian authorities. |
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Reports on starvation deaths malicious: PM Nagla Chanderbhan (Mathura), September 25 “Reports of starvation deaths is a malicious propaganda which will lower the country’s prestige. Such reports have hidden the truth and misrepresented the facts,” Mr Vajpayee said, addressing a mammoth rally here after launching the ‘Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)’ in this backward village, around 25 kms from Mathura city. “When such reports were inquired into, not only were foodgrains found at some houses but they also had some bank balance,” he said launching the SGRY at the birthplace of Jana Sangh founder Deen Dayal Upadhyaya on the occasion of his birth anniversary.
PTI |
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Govt succumbing to
US pressure: CPM New Delhi, September 25 Addressing a rally, CPM General Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet said while “we sympathise with the American people on the terrorist attacks but we do not support them in the war against a developing nation from our soil”. “Fight against terrorism should be secular meaning the target should not only be Muslim terrorist organisations but others as well, which are functioning in other parts of our country”, Mr Surjeet said asking why organisations like Lashkar-e-Toiba, responsible for many terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, were not being targeted. In a related development the CPI also warned the government against getting involved in moves to “install” a government in Afghanistan saying New Delhi would be “dragged along” by the USA and its allies without its concerns about cross-border terrorism being addressed. The CPI Central Secretariat demanded in a statement that the entire issue of global fight against terrorism should be discussed in the UN General Assembly and the Security Council. The party stressed that there could be “no purely military solution” to the problem and the worldwide campaign should be under the UN auspices and control. Stating that “not a word” had been said about terrorist bases in Pakistan and the Pak-occupied Kashmir or about similar camps “known to exist in the USA itself”, the CPI said “India would be dragged along without its concern of security from cross-border terrorism being addressed, except for some soothing words and smooth talk from the US envoy to India”. |
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BJP’s signature
drive against terrorism New Delhi, September 25 “We propose to collect such signatures from about 11,000 persons and hand it over to Home Minister L.K. Advani to show our commitment to fight terrorism”, BJP Vice-President Madan Lal Khurana told newspersons while leading the signature campaign. BJP leaders and workers were participating in a function to mark the birth anniversary of Deen Dayal
Upadhyaya, who was the president of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the forerunner of the BJP. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Khurana said: “If the US wants Osama bin Laden for the attacks on their country, then we want Dawood Ibrahim for his hand in the Mumbai blasts.” The BJP general secretary, Mr Narendra Modi, blamed Pakistan’s ISI and organisations like SIMI for perpetrating terrorism in India. |
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Contempt notice to Khurana Bhopal, September 25 Lokayukta sources today said Mr Khurana, at a recent press conference, had described the Lokayukta as an “agent of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh”. Notices have also been issued to newspapers which had published stories on Mr Khurana’s remarks, the sources said.
PTI |
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Centre, NSCN (I-M) agree to find solution New Delhi, September 25 A joint statement to this effect was made by the two sides after talks in Amsterdam on September 20 and 21, Mr
Padmanabhaiah, who led the central team, said. Mr Padmanabhaiah said he held parleys with NSCN (I-M) leaders T. Muivah and Issac Swu in Amsterdam on “substantive issues” relating to Nagaland.
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