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US gurdwara shooter was Army veteran: report

NEW YORK: Though the FBI is tight lipped about the identity of the shooter behind the gruesome killing of six people at a gurdwara in Wisconsin, media reports say he was a white Army veteran in his 40s and possibly a “skin head” or “white supremacist”. 

Few details emerged about the man whose Cudahy duplex apartment was searched by police hours after the shooting in Milwaukee’s Oak Creek suburb. 

He was described as white, single, in his 40s and an Army veteran. 

“That description came in part from Kurt Weins, who lives in the 3700 block of E Holmes Avenue in Cudahy. He said he rented the property to a man he believed to be from Chicago with no record of violence in Wisconsin,” Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel reported. 

Authorities did not tell Weins whether his tenant was the shooting suspect, but the description matches that of the man that sources said was the shooter, the report said. 

ABC News, citing unnamed sources, said it was told the shootings were the work of a “white supremacist” or “skinhead”. 

Weins said he ran a thorough check on the man, whom he would not name because police told him not to disclose the name. 

“I had him checked out and he definitely checked out,” Weins said. The man appeared to be something of a loner, he said. 

Tattoos on the body of the slain gunman and certain biographical details led the FBI to treat the attack at a Milwaukee-area temple as an act of domestic terrorism, Los Angeles Times said quoting sources. 

Eyewitness have said that the shooter had a “9/11 tattoo” on his arm. — PTI

Manmohan expresses shock over shooting incident 

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday expressed shock and sadness over the shooting incident at a gurdwara in the US and hoped authorities there would ensure that such violent acts are not repeated.

“I am deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the shooting incident that has resulted in the loss of precious lives and injuries to devotees attending a prayer service at a gurdwara in Wisconsin, USA,” he said in a statement in New Delhi.

“We hope that the authorities will reach out to the grieving families and ensure conditions that such violent acts are not repeated in the future,” Dr Singh said.

The Prime Minister said what was more painful was the fact that this “senseless act of violence” should be targeted at a religious place.

“I send my deepest condolences to the families that have been bereaved in this incident. Our thoughts are with them in this moment of their grief.” 

Stating that India stands in solidarity with all peace-loving Americans who have condemned the violence, he welcomed US President Barack Obama’s statement on the tragic incident.

Later, talking to reporters, the Prime Minister said he was “enormously” saddened by the incident and hoped the “American authorities will investigate who were behind this dastardly attack”.

“...I sincerely hope that the American authorities will do all that is necessary to investigate the case, provide relief and succour to the affected families,” he said.

Six persons were killed in the attack on the gurdwara during Sunday morning prayers in Wisconsin by at least one gunman who was also shot dead, police said. — PTI

Hazare disbands team, says no more talks with govt

NEW DELHI: Apparently paving the way for the formation of a political party, Anna Hazare on Monday disbanded Team Anna and decided not to have any more talks with the government on Lokpal issue.

The dissolution of Hazare’s team came three days after it ended its indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi with plans for formation of a political alternative to fight the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The announcement was made by Hazare in his blog, but he did not clearly specify whether they were going to immediately announce formation of a party though he talked about the procedures for setting up a political alternative.

“The government is not ready to enact Jan Lokpal Bill. How long and how many times we will go on fast? Now people have asked us to leave fast and give an alternative. I also thought that the government is not going to curb corruption.

“We are now stopping the activities of Team Anna today. Team Anna was formed to fight for Jan Lokpal. We have also decided not to have any more talks with the government. From today, there will be no Team Anna or Team Anna Core Committee,” Hazare said.

Since April last year, Team Anna has been on streets with Hazare going on indefinite fast four times and one-day fasts also four times besides being part of a joint committee to draft the Lokpal Bill.

Team Anna’s decision to enter electoral politics had earlier met with opposition from several of its core committee members like Justice Santosh Hegde, Medha Patkar, Chandramohan and Akhil Gogoi.

“I have given an alternative of sending good people to Parliament. But I am not going to be part of any party nor I will contest elections. After getting Jan Lokpal, I will go back to Maharashtra and indulge in my activities.

“I have told this to those who are for forming a party. Even after forming the party, this movement should go on. In the movement, we had earlier demanded for Jan Lokpal Bill and now keeping this movement alive, send good people to Parliament with the help of people and ensure that the law is enacted,” he said. — PTI

Chander Mohan's ex-wife Fiza found dead

Chandigarh: Anuradha Bali, estranged wife of former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan, was today found dead at her residence in Mohali near here.

The body of 39-year-old Bali, alias Fiza Mohammad, a former Assistant Advocate General of Haryana, was found lying on her bed in her residence with several insects roaming over it, SHO Kulbir Singh said.

A senior police officer said the body found in a ground floor bedroom was in a decomposed state and preliminary inquiry showed that she may have died four to five days back.

"At this stage nothing can be stated on whether it is a case of suicide," the officer said.

No suicide note has so far been recovered, the police said.

The police opened the house after neighbours reported foul smell coming from there.

Bali hogged limelight after her marriage with Chander Mohan a few years back when he was the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana.

However, after his controversial marriage Chander Mohan was disowned by his father and former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal.

Having remained incommunicado for several days, the couple had resurfaced after embracing Islam and Bali changing her name to Fiza and Chander Mohan to Chand Mohammed.

Relations later soured between the two and Fiza joined politics by launching a political outfit.

Sources said that she was planning to join BSP.

Chander Mohan had recently buried his differences with his younger brother Kuldeep Bishnoi and joined the HJC headed by the latter.

In the 2009 Assembly elections in Haryana, Fiza had vigorously campaigned against the Bhajan Lal family which was contesting from Adampur in Hisar district. — PTI

Mars rover Curiosity lands on surface of Red Planet

Pasadena (California): The Mars science rover Curiosity landed on the Martian surface shortly after 10.30 pm Pacific time on Sunday (1.30 am EDT Monday/0530 GMT) to begin a two-year mission seeking evidence the Red Planet once hosted ingredients for life, the NASA said.

Mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles burst into applause and cheered as they received signals relayed by a Mars orbiter confirming that the rover had survived a make-or-break descent and touched down within its landing zone.

The NASA described the feat as perhaps the most complex achieved in robotic spaceflight.

Moments later, Curiosity beamed back its first three images from the Martian surface, one of them showing a wheel of the vehicle.

"I can't believe this. This is unbelievable," said Allen Chen, the deputy leader of the rover's descent and landing team.

The car-sized rover apparently came to rest at its planned destination near the foot of a tall mountain rising from the floor of Gale Crater in Mars' southern hemisphere, mission controllers said.

The $2.5 billion Curiosity project, formally called the Mars Science Laboratory, is NASA's first astrobiology mission since the 1970s-era Viking probes.

The landing marks a major victory and milestone for a US space agency beleaguered by budget cuts and the recent loss of its 30-year-old space shuttle program.

"It's an enormous step forward in planetary exploration. Nobody has ever done anything like this," said John Holdren, the top science advisor to President Barack Obama, who was visiting JPL for the event. "It was an incredible performance."

The exact condition of the one-ton, six-wheeled, nuclear powered vehicle upon its arrival could not be immediately ascertained.

The NASA plans to put the rover and its sophisticated instruments, touted as the first full-fledged mobile science lab sent to another world, through several weeks of engineering checks before starting its two-year surface mission in earnest.

The landing capped a journey of more than eight months across more than 350 million miles (567 million km) of space since the Mars Science Lab was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. — Reuters