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IAC forms panel to probe charges against members

NEW DELHI: India Against Corruption on Friday announced the formation of a three-member panel of retired judges to probe charges against its prominent members, including Prashant Bhushan and Anjali Damania. 

Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A P Shah, Justice B H Marlapalle (retd) of the Bombay High Court and Justice Jaspal Singh (retd) of the Delhi High Court will form the “internal Lokpal” for Kejriwal’s yet-to-be named party. 

Kejriwal said irregularities have been alleged against Bhushan in buying land in Himachal Pradesh, Mayank Gandhi of having links with builders and Damania’s land deals in Maharashtra. 

“We have from time to time requested the government to set up an independent enquiry to investigate into the matter and give us double the punishment than prescribed if found guilty. Unfortunately, the government has been more interested in mud-slinging than setting up an independent probe. 

“Therefore, we have formed an independent ombudsman consisting of three retired judges enjoying a reputation of high integrity and independence to inquire into any charges made against key members of IAC and they will probe Bhushan, Gandhi and Damania,” Kejriwal said. 

He said they are sending their cases to the three retired judges on Monday and would request them to expeditiously inquire into these charges and give their report as early as possible and within three months. 

Kejriwal said the ombudsmen would be requested to examine in depth the allegations and material against IAC members, their defence and give a report on whether the allegations show any illegal or immoral act being committed by IAC members. 

“If any member is found guilty of any illegal or immoral activity he would be expected to resign from the proposed party,” he said. — PTI

SC grants bail to Kazmi in Israeli diplomat car attack case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Syed Mohammad Kazmi, who has been behind bars since March 6 in the Israeli diplomat car attack case.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir granted bail and directed him to deposit his passport before the concerned authority.

Kazmi has also been restrained from going abroad.

The Bench passed the order on a plea filed by Kazmi challenging the Delhi High Court’s order which had dismissed his plea for bail.

Kazmi, who claims to have been writing for an Iranian publication, was picked up after a probe showed that he had been in touch with the suspect who is believed to have stuck the magnetic bomb on Israeli diplomat Tal Yehoshua’s car on February 13, according to the police.

Kazmi is alleged to have helped the suspect in conducting the recce of the Israeli Embassy to keep a tab on arrival and departure of diplomats.

Israeli diplomat Tal Yehoshua Koren, 42, wife of Israeli Defence Attache Colonel Yossi Refaelov and an Indian driver of the embassy vehicle, were among four persons injured in the blast caused by the magnetic bomb stuck to her vehicle by a motorcycle-borne person. — PTI

Mob tries to set ablaze supply officer

BADAUN (UP): A mob of over 150 people allegedly tried to set ablaze the District Supply Officer (DSO) in Dehgava village after he sealed a fair price shop selling adulterated diesel.

An FIR has been lodged against 154 people, including 150 unidentified people, for the attack, the police said on Friday.

The incident took place on Thursday when on a tip off, DSO Neeraj Singh raided fair price shop owner Girish Chandra's house and found him mixing kerosene with diesel.

Finding this, the officer sealed the shop of Girish. While returning from there, he was surrounded by a mob including women, which tried to set him afire by sprinkling kerosene on him.

The officer managed to escape from the spot and informed senior officers about the incident.

On his complaint, two FIRs — one against Girish under Essential Commodities Act and other again Girish, Manoj, Sandeep and Mayank and 150 others was lodged for allegedly attacking him.

The police is trying to arrest the other accused, who are at large. — PTI

High drama at Thiruvananthapuram airport,
pilot presses hijack button

Thiruvananthapuram: High drama unfolded at the airport here on Friday, when the pilot of an Abu Dhabi-Kochi Air India flight pressed the hijack button in panic after passengers created a ruckus in the cockpit following diversion of the plane to Thiruvananthapuram.

According to airport officials, protesting passengers allegedly entered the cockpit of the aircraft after having waited in the plane for over four hours to go to Kochi.

The pilot then pressed the hijack button, they said.

Following the message, police and other security personnel surrounded the aircraft which was parked at the airport.

The plane was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram due to bad weather, the officials said.

Passengers refused to de-board the aircraft despite repeated requests by the airlines.

Aviation regulator DGCA has ordered a probe into the incident, official sources said in New Delhi. — PTI

Deccan Chargers move SC against BCCI

NEW DELHI: The cash-strapped Deccan Chargers on Friday moved the Supreme Court against the team’s termination from the Indian Premier League (IPL) by the BCCI. 

The Deccan Chargers have challenged the Bombay High Court order refusing to set aside a status quo order passed by an arbitrator on cessation of its membership in the league. 

The appeal against the High Court order was mentioned by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi before a bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, which said it would hear the matter later in the day. — PTI

Digvijaya welcomes CBI probe into Indore mall case

NEW DELHI: A day after the Madhya Pradesh high court asked CBI to probe Treasure Island mall case allegedly involving him, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh said he was ready to face punishment if he did any wrong. 

"Treasure Island was the first mall in Indore and is now the most popular for which permission was given during my tenure," Singh said on microblogging site Twitter. 

He said the matter was investigated by the Economic Offences Wing of the Madhya Pradesh as well as the police and there was "no case". 

Noting that the Indore bench of the high court has asked CBI to investigate the matter, Singh said that he welcomes the decision. 

"Must investigate and punish me if I have done anything wrong," he said. 

Responding to a tweet, Singh said the BJP government's minister also approved the decision taken by his government in Treasure Island Mall case when they came to power. 

The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court had on Thursday asked the CBI to probe Treasure Island scam case here, involving former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, and report back within six months. 

Social activist Mahesh Garg had filed a complaint with the state Economic Offences Wing in 2009 in this regard. 

The allegation was that the mall was illegally built on a residential plot of one lakh square feet, with undue concessions from the state government. 

EOW, which conducted a probe against 12 accused, including Singh, later filed a closure report, giving clean chit to Singh, while saying there was a case against six others including the developers. 

Dissatisfied with the EOW report, Garg had filed a PIL in the high court demanding a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities. — PTI

6 Indian UN peacekeepers wounded in ambush in Congo

United Nations: Six Indian peacekeepers and a local interpreter, serving with the United Nations mission in strife-torn Congo, were wounded when their patrol was ambushed in what is being termed as a "targetted and deliberate" attack.

The six peacekeepers were part of the Indian contingent serving with the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).

They were ambushed along with their interpreter while returning from a patrol with 12 other peacekeepers near Buganza in North Kivu province on October 17 after finding the bodies of four civilians, the mission said in a news release.

"This premeditated, targeted and deliberate attack is inadmissible," said the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of MONUSCO, Roger Meece.

"We will work with the national authorities to identify those responsible for this ignoble deed so that they are called to justice." A UN Indian peacekeeper was killed in the same province in July when he was caught in a cross-fire in clashes between Congo's armed forces and a rebel group known as the March 23 Movement (M23).

Al-Qaeda still active, says Obama

Washington: US President Barack Obama has conceded that al-Qaeda is still active, despite the fact that its top leadership has been decimated in the last few years.

"It's true that al-Qaeda is still active, at least sort of remnants of it are staging in other parts of North Africa and the Middle East," Obama told the Comedy Central "The Daily Show" in an interview.

"We've been able to do is to say we ended the war in Iraq, we're winding down the war in Afghanistan, we've gone after al-Qaeda and its leadership," he said.

Earlier in the day, his spokesman said that al-Qaeda remains the number one enemy of the US, even as strength of this terrorist organization has been considerably weakened and many of its top leadership killed.

"Al Qaeda remains our number-one enemy and our number- one foe. That is why we focus so much of our attention on al-Qaeda and its affiliates, because the struggle against al-Qaeda continues, and the (US) President has been focused on it since the day he took office," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.

"This President, when he came into office, made clear his intention of refocusing our efforts on those who attacked the United States of America and killed Americans on September 11th, 2001. And he has kept that promise," he said.

North Korea threatens military strike against South

SEOUL: The North Korean army threatened on Friday to carry out a “merciless military strike” against South Korea next week, in a serious escalation of cross-border tensions. 

The Korean People’s Army (KPA) vowed to initiate the strike if a group of North Korean defectors now living in the South went ahead with plans to scatter propaganda leaflets next Monday from balloons floated over the border. 

“The moment a minor movement for the scattering is captured... a merciless military strike by the Western Front will be put into practice without warning,” the KPA said in a statement carried on the official Korean Central News Agency. 

Residents in and around the area where the activists plan to launch their balloons should “evacuate in anticipation of possible damage”, the statement said. 

“The surrounding area will become targets of direct firing of the KPA,” the statement said, adding: “The KPA never makes empty talk.” 

A group of North Korean defectors plan to carry out the leafleting exercise on October 22 at the border near the town of Paju, around 60 kilometres north of Seoul. 

Such exercises are relatively common and North Korea has threatened action in the past, but today’s statement was unusually strong with its specific naming of the time and location, coupled with the evacuation warning. 

It comes at a time of heightened border tensions, and a day after South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak made a surprise visit to an island close to the disputed maritime border that was shelled by Pyongyang two years ago. 

During his visit, Lee told troops stationed on the island that they should “fight to the death” to protect the border and “retaliate strongly” in the event of any North Korea provocation. 

There have been widespread concerns in the South that Pyongyang may try to instigate a military clash that would temporarily destabilise the Korean peninsula in the run up to South Korea’s presidential election in December. 

On Wednesday, South Korea announced an annual, large-scale military exercise aimed at countering threats from North Korea. 

The week-long Hoguk exercise beginning October 25 will involve 240,000 army, navy, air force and marine corps personnel, with 500 US soldiers also taking part. 

Some 28,500 US military personnel are stationed in the South - a legacy of the Korean War that ended with a ceasefire but not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war. — PTI