NEW DELHI: Pakistan on Sunday rejected Indian charges that morphed pictures of Assam and Myanmar violence which sparked an exodus of north-eastern citizens from other states originalted in Pakistan.

Such remarks only widen the trust deficit between the two countries, sources in the Pakistan High Commission here said.

Home Secretary R.K. Singh said on Saturday that the bulk of rumours of imminent attacks on northeastern people for the killings of Muslims in Assam originated in Pakistan.

The rumours forced thousands to flee Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

The Pakistani sources said these were "cooked up" charges.

"Instead of indulging in mud-slinging and blame game, it's time for India to address its internal issues," the source told IANS. "Such comments only widen the trust deficit."

Singh had said India would take up the issue with Pakistan. "I am certain they will deny our information but our technical team is very certain of the information it has gathered," he said. 

The government on Saturday said the bulk SMSes and MMSes that triggered panic among the north-eastern people had been traced to Pakistan and a protest would be lodged with Islamabad.

“Pakistan is trying to create trouble by inciting people… This exposes its attempt at cyber warfare against India,” said Union Home Secretary RK Singh.

In the MMSes, those who died in cyclone Nargis in Myanmar were shown as victims of the Assam violence. “Seventy-six websites were identified with morphed images. Most of these were uploaded in Pakistan,” Singh said.

The home secretary said the details would be provided to the external affairs ministry so that it could take up the matter with Pakistan.

The home ministry has banned close to 100 websites for carrying objectionable material and arrested one person to find source of the doctored MMS clips and SMSes.

The MHA has also asked Google to provide the IP address and other details of the ID from where the doctored photographs were circulated.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has said that a probe will be instituted to find out facts regarding alleged involvement of foreign hands in the recent Assam violence. "From the beginning, I have stated that some foreign hands are involved. It is not merely a clash between Bodos and minorities. The Union Home Ministry report that Pakistani elements were involved has vindicated our stand," Gogoi told PTI.

"We will institute a probe to find out details regarding the involvement of foreign elements in the violence," he added. — IANS, PTI

NEW DELHI: The government is contemplating levying heavy penalties on states overdrawing electricity that results in grid failure and possible imprisonment of chief secretaries to check the menace. "I am contemplating now heavy fine and also a provision to imprison authorities and state chief secretaries for disobeying that ... perhaps we need to enforce it," power minister Veerapa Moily told Karan Thapar in 'Devil's Advocate' programme on CNN-IBN.

Over half of the country's population in 21 states went without electricity for several hours on July 31 as three major transmission grids failed, bringing northern, eastern and north-eastern regions to a grinding halt. The massive failure happened less than 24 hours after the Northern Grid collapsed and was revived on July 30.

Overdrawal of electricity by some states was one of the reasons for failure of power grids on two consecutive days on July 30 and July 31.

Citing the report of the expert panel that probed the failure of grids, Moily said not only overdrawal but overloading was also a reason for the collapse.

"There are various reasons and it is not only overdrawing by some of the states in the Northern Grid but it is also due to overloading from the Western Grid.

"One side, overloading from the Western Grid, second overdrawal here and the combination meant grid collapses for two consecutive days," Moily, who took over as Power Minister earlier this month, said.

According to Moily, there should be independent regulatory authorities at the state-level to check overdrawing by various states.

"We may have to bring some legislation and amendment to the 2003 Electricity Act to ensure that their enforcement powers are really strengthened," he added. — PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police today seized servers from former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda's now-defunct MDLR airlines office in Gurgaon for further probe into suicide of his ex-employee Geetika Sharma. Kanda was sent to police custody for a week following his surrender on Saturday. He has been charged with abetment to suicide, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence. The charge of abetting suicide under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Geetika, 23, a former airhostess with Kanda's MDLR Airlines, was found hanging in her flat in northwest Delhi on August 5. She alleged in her suicide note that she was ending her life due to harassment by Kanda and one of his employees, Aruna Chaddha.

On August 14, the Delhi Police opposed Kanda's anticipatory bail plea in the high court saying they needed to quiz him.

A Delhi court later issued a non-bailable warrant against him. — Agencies