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Monday,
October 14, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Cauvery row: Rajnikant observes fast
Another feather in NHRC’s cap 6 Abu Salem men to face trial BJP harps on achievements VHP warns NDA govt of snapping ties |
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Salman to apply
for bail afresh Sanjay,
88 accused to appear today One injured in Solapur police firing Bangladesh ‘haven’ for anti-India ultras Railways
told to compensate passengers Industrialist axed to death
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Cauvery row: Rajnikant observes fast Chennai, October 13 At the end of his nine-hour-long fast, which clearly established his individual popularity, he sipped a glass of juice offered by a little girl and then drove to the Raj
Bhavan, where he presented a memorandum to Governor P.S. Rammohan’s Secretary, as the Governor was out of station. Speaking briefly after ending the fast, the actor, hailing from Karnataka, said it was in the hands of the Supreme Court and the Karnataka Government to decide whether his fast was a success. “The Supreme Court order should be obeyed and Karnataka should release water” was his brief comment. He also thanked the state government and leaders of various political parties for extending their unstinted support to his struggle. The fast by the actor came a day after the Tamil film industry organised a mammoth rally in Neyveli, where they demanded disconnection of power to Karnataka from the Neyveli Lignite Corporation thermal power stations. Film director and convener of the “Kalaiyulaga Cauvery Poratta Kuzhu”
(Tinselworld Cauvery Agitation Committee), K. Bharati Raja, hit out at DMK president and
Rajnikant, who had opposed the idea of stopping power to Karnataka from Neyveli stations. Rajnikant began his fast at 8 am with only veteran actor Vijaykumar by his side. As the day wore on, many of his colleagues, including the South Indian Film Artistes’ Association president,
Vijaykant, turned up to greet him. The notable absentee was Bharati Raja.
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Another feather in NHRC’s cap New Delhi, October 13 The Defence Ministry has conveyed this in its compliance report sent to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which had earlier directed Ministries of Defence and Home to pay an immediate interim relief of Rs 3 lakh to Meena Khatoon whose husband Mohammad. Tayeb Ali had disappeared from the custody of Assam Rifles and was not seen thereafter, NHRC sources told UNI. This is a significant victory for the NHRC which has been consistently demanding that human rights violation by the defence personnel be brought under its ambit and they be made accountable. Meena of Keirang Muslim village in Imphal had complained to the Manipur Human Rights Commission (MHRC) saying her husband was picked up by uniformed Army personnel on July 25, 1999, while he was going from his village towards Imphal on a two-wheeler. He and his moped were put inside a van which was without a number plate and carried inside the battalion headquarters of 17 Assam Rifles. An acquaintance of Ali, who had followed the van in a taxi, informed about this to the victim’s family. But all efforts to find Ali by his family and villagers were resisted by security personnel at the headquarters and he remained untraceable since then, the complaint had stated. The MHRC considered the matter, examined five witnesses and issued notices to the Inspector-General of Police (Law and Order) who informed the commission that the DGP of Imphal had issued messages to all police authorities concerned in Manipur to find Ali. The police took up the matter with Assam Rifles, but was told that no individual by the name of Mohammad. Tayab Ali was picked up by any of its unit. The state commission then referred the matter to the NHRC as it related to the “armed forces.’’ Thereafter, the NHRC using its power under Section 19 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, called for a report from the Defence Ministry and the Union Home Ministry, the sources said. In its report the Defence Ministry informed the NHRC that Assam Rifles had received information that some insurgents after firing on CRPF personnel were fleeing towards Dimarpur so a team was established to apprehend them. The team tried to stop a speeding vehicle upon which there was exchange of fire and one person died while the driver of the vehicle managed to escape. The dead was later identified as Mohammad Tayab Ali and his body was handed over to the local police.
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6 Abu Salem men to face trial Mumbai, October 13 The charges were framed against the accused last week by designated judge A.M. Thipsay, presiding over a special court set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Abu Salem, facing charge of illegal stay in Lisbon, is absconding accused in this case. His case is likely to be
separated from other accused and will be tried as and when he is available to the police in India. The accused are Upendra Singh, Deepak Singh, Akhilesh Kumar Singh, alias Kallu, Nizamuddhin Abdul Rauf Khan, Ayub Ibrahim Patel and Saheblah Santoshi Giri, alias Goswami. They are charged with offences under Section 3 of MCOCA (committing organised crime activities, abetting offences and harbouring offenders), Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act (for possessing weapons and using them in the crime) and Section 120, IPC (conspiracy). They are also facing the charges of house trespass (Section 449, IPC) and criminal intimidation (Section 506 IPC). According to the prosecution, the deceased was the secretary of three film stars and the gangsters had asked him to pay extortion amount. As he failed to pay the money, he was killed by the gangsters on June 30, 2001. The gangsters, armed with lethal weapons, barged into victim’s premises in suburban Andheri and shot him at point blank range. After committing the crime, they escaped from the scene. Dewani died on the spot.
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BJP harps on achievements New Delhi, October 13 Apparently feeling the heat with its popularity chart dipping, the BJP attempted to play on the front foot through Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, who asserted that the NDA had provided the country with the much-needed political stability and an honest government at the Centre. Speaking at a function at the BJP Headquarters here the Deputy Prime Minister said, “It is a matter of pride that Vajpayee has been the Prime Minister since 1998 .... and very soon he will become the longest serving Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi”. Stating that Mr Vajpayee has been providing leadership to the country for four-and-a-half-years now, Mr Advani said in eight years before the NDA Prime Minister assumed office, there had been five to six Prime Ministers. “Even now we can say that Mr Vajpayee is the longest non-Congress Prime Minister to be in power,” he said. The Deputy Prime Minister said the NDA Government had given political stability and an able and honest government to the country and added that one of its major achievements was that it had included regional parties in the national government. “We have strengthened both federalism and democracy,” he said. Mr Advani said the proposal for linking the major rivers was being given a serious thought as its need was being felt all the more because of the drought-like situation in different parts of the country. Mr Vajpayee saw a presentation on the project before he left on a three-nation tour and efforts are on how to carry it forward, he said. Speaking on the occasion, BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu said the completion of three years of the NDA government had proved the Congress wrong that it alone could provide stability. “We have proved that the coalition of 23 parties has given a stable government, he said and asserted that the country had progressed in leaps and bounds in every sector, transforming itself from a country of shortages to one of surpluses. However, he said, there were several challenges before the government and the important ones included wiping out terrorism and checking infiltration, particularly in the North-East. On the drought situation in the country, he demanded that interest on loans to farmers should be waived off there was drought for two consecutive years and said the proposal for linking major rivers like Ganga, Cauvery, Godavari and Krishna should be expedited to help check both floods and drought and also to boost navigation. He suggested a mid-term review of the government’s functioning to analyse what had been promised and what had been done. Mr Naidu rubbished Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s allegation that the Centre was not giving enough assistance to states to tackle drought. A number of Union Ministers and senior party functionaries were also present on the occasion. |
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VHP warns NDA govt of snapping ties Udaipur, October 13 It also demanded that the Centre should forthwith stop the policy of appeasement of minorities. Talking to mediapersons here, VHP National Secretary Surendra Jain alleged that there was no difference in the policy of minority appeasement being pursued by the NDA government and the Congress. He accused the Centre of adopting this policy also on the pretext of “secularism’’. However, the VHP leader was all praise for the Union Government on its successful completion of the poll process in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly “to keep democracy alive there.” Mr Jain urged the Centre to hold talks with elected people’s representatives to sort out the problems being faced by Jammu and Kashmir otherwise, the election might be rendered unfruitful.
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Salman to apply for bail afresh Mumbai, October 13 The actor’s lawyer Abad Ponda is all set to move a fresh petition for bail as Salman’s plea for liberty was turned down by the court on October 10. Magistrate S.Y. Shisode had asked the police to inform on October 14 the progress made in tracing the owner of the vehicle involved in the mishap. The prosecution had told the court that a team had gone to Kerala to trace Abdul Rahim from whom Salman had procured the car. The actor allegedly rammed his vehicle into a bakery on September 28 in suburban Bandra killing one person and injuring four others. Salman was arrested on the same day on the charge of causing death by negligence and granted
bail. He was again arrested on October 7 on the charge of culpable homicide (Section 304-II of the IPC). Salman’s lawyer has questioned the police action to arrest the actor afresh in the same case. He said only the Magistrate could cancel Salman’s bail, not the police. The defence lawyer has also challenged the police move to book the actor under Section 304-II. According to him, this section presumes knowledge on the part of the accused to kill a person.
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Sanjay, 88 accused to appear today Mumbai, October 13 On a plea by defence lawyers Farhana Shah and Subhash Kanse, 89 accused, including Sanjay, had been exempted till October 14 by judge P.D. Kode. The court has summoned them tomorrow. The CBI has sought time to conclude its arguments in this marathon trial which has reached its fag end after seven years. The agency pleaded that it was seeking time as its officer had gone to Lisbon to seek extradition of notorious gangster Abu Salem, also an absconding accused in this case. In a related development, accused Shaikh Aziz has challenged the constitutional validity of the TADA (P) Act. His lawyer, Nafiz Siddiqui, argued that the Act was ultravires the constitution and the special court should make a reference to the Supreme Court to determine the validity of the Act. CBI lawyer S. Natrajan, on September 16, opposed the plea of the accused to make a reference to the Supreme Court. He said the Special Court had no powers to entertain such a petition. He also opined that the accused should have gone directly to the apex court instead of approaching the designated TADA (P) court. The court is yet to pass order on Shaikh Aziz’s petition.
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One injured in Solapur police firing Solapur , October 13 Two groups had a confrontation around 3 p.m. at Nai Zindagi Chowk and the police had to open fire to disperse them. The injured was admitted to Solapur Civil Hospital, the police said, adding that 45 persons were arrested in this connection. The situation continued to remain tense for the third consecutive day here, with sporadic incidents of rioting since morning despite the imposition of curfew and the deployment of the Rapid Action Force. Curfew, which was imposed till 6 a.m. today, was relaxed till 8.30 a.m. and later reimposed indefinitely, the police said.
UNI
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Bangladesh ‘haven’ for anti-India ultras New Delhi, October 13 Quoting sources in the Indian intelligence and Bangladesh’s largest Al-Qaida allied terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), the magazine said agents of Bangladesh’s military intelligence service DGFI, “maintain their contact with their counterparts in the ISI and have a long history of supporting rebels fighting Indian rule across the border, including providing safe houses in Dhaka for leaders of (banned) ULFA”. A HUJI source told the magazine that 150 men belonging to “Taliban and Al-Qaida fighters from Afghanistan” had entered Bangladesh through the Chittagong harbour in December. They came in a boat with ammunition and AK-47 rifles. The source in the 2,000-strong HUJI and port workers, who saw the boats arrival, claimed that the man who greeted the new arrivals was a Major in the DGFI even though a spokesman for the intelligence service denied the Major’s existence despite diplomatic registration records showing the officer was a long-standing member of the DGFI and was once posted in Kolkata, posing as a diplomat. According to the magazine, the HUJI source and a Bangladesh military source maintained that the Major was the last line in an operation that began in Afghanistan. “Time”, which quoted reports from Cairo, Jakarta and Washington, said: “The emergence of the Al-Qaida in Dhaka is merely the latest sign that Bangladesh’s more radical Islamic groups are coming out from the forests.”
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Railways told to compensate passengers New Delhi, October 13 Dismissing an appeal filed by Northern Railway, commission president Justice Lokeshwar Prasad and member Rumnita Mittal said: “Instead of filing this frivolous appeal, Northern Railway should have taken remedial measures to ensure that innocent passengers do not become prey to anti-social elements while travelling by train.” The complainant, Amar Nath
Aggarwal, had alleged that in the wee hours of April 25, 1991, some persons snatched a gold chain worth Rs 12,000 from his wife and another chain valued at Rs 20,000 from another woman. The forum had found the Railways guilty of deficiency in service and had ordered it to pay Rs 32,000 for the loss of the gold chains and Rs 50,000 for mental agony and torture suffered by the passengers. The Railways had contended that it was the duty of the passengers to keep their belongings safely and it was not responsible for the personal belongings of the passengers. Holding that the appeal filed by the Railways was not only delayed but also devoid of merits, the commission said the passengers suffered the loss and trauma due to the defect, deficiency and negligence on the part of the Railways.
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Industrialist axed to death Varanasi, October 13 A man with a ‘katar’ (a sharp-edged weapon) was arrested while trying to flee from the spot, police sources said adding the industrialist was perhaps killed with the seized weapon. Senior police officials rushed to the spot and were conducting investigations.
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