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Call for a federal front
BJD ups ante on special status for Odisha
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Ishrat case: CBI wants ADGP declared proclaimed offender
India’s elite anti-terror force NSG plans to go hi-tech
Residents of 16 dilapidated Mumbai buildings face eviction
AFT seeks details of action taken against Army’s legal chief
Govt gives nod to CBI to probe ex-coal secy
Army’s top-secret letter leaks, six indicted
After S Arabia, Kuwait says it’ll reduce foreign workers
Cops get report on Jiah’s abortion
Police forced me to name Kundra, says his biz partner
Chhota Shakeel ‘aide’ arrested from Mumbai
UP to play big role in BJP’s return to Centre: Amit Shah
Fresh probe involves Rail Board member, Bansal’s PS
Heat wave claims four lives in Assam
CSIR develops mobile bridge inspection unit
ASI, ISRO ex-employee nabbed for running fake currency racket
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Mamata talks with Nitish, Patnaik
JD(U) gen secy calls on West Bengal CM Tribune News Service/PTI
Kolkata, June 12 “I spoke to Nitish Kumar. Nitishji is in agreement that it would be good if we come together and form a federal front. We will all talk (with regional parties) in different states,” Banerjee said after a meeting with JD(U) general secretary KC Tyagi in her official chamber. “And, Tyagiji has come to talk to me on the subject,” she said. “I also spoke to Naveen Patnaik (Odisha Chief Minister) on the issue over phone today. When we talk again we will decide the venue where we will meet,” Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo, told reporters here. “We are happy. And, you know some days ago Babulal Marandi (JVM-P chief) came from Jharkhand to talk on this. Two or three other leaders came and talked with us,” she said. Banerjee said, “Since my call for a federal front through a Facebook post some days ago, many are talking with us. “We will talk on strengthening of the federal structure,” the West Bengal Chief Minister said. She said her Bihar counterpart agreed that formation of a federal front would be good for the country as well as states. “Nitishji said ‘we will be happy if we can do it with the objective of the common cause of the people’,” she said. On his part, Tyagi said, “You have heard that she has talked with Naveen Patnaik and Babulal Marandi. We are going to have our party meeting within two or three days. We will respond after that. But we are still part of NDA.” Stating that JD(U) had high regard for the Trinamool chief, he said, “Our leaders Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar have long association with Didi. Sharad Yadav had participated in a rally held by Didi at Jantar Mantar.” However, several Left Front and Congress leaders criticised Mamata’s proposal. According to CPM leader Md Selim, such alternative third front where the Left Front parties are excluded will be a utopian idea. Left Front chairman Biman Bose termed it as most ridiculous and absurd proposal.
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Advani wants Badal to persuade Nitish Chandigarh, June 12 Having strong reservations regarding the appointment of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the chief of the campaign committee of the BJP, Nitish Kumar and other senior leaders of his party have been indirectly indicating that they would move out of the NDA fold. However, the SAD has neither confirmed nor denied that Advani has spoken to Badal to use his influence to convince Nitish Kumar not to break ties with the NDA. Responding to a question asked in this regard, Badal's media adviser Harcharan Bains said that he would neither confirm nor deny the reports in this regard. However, Bains said that Badal was one of the most respected and tallest leaders of the NDA. Obviously, he would be always prepared to strengthen the NDA. He said that it was a known fact that Badal had very good relations with leaders of many regional parties and Nitish Kumar was one of them.
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BJD ups ante on special status for Odisha
New Delhi, June 12 “The policy of the political discrimination pursued by the UPA government is a dangerous trend and not conducive to federal structure. The selfish interest of the Congress has become the sole criterion of Central assistance. Discrimination by the Centre is also evident even when it comes to assistance during natural calamities, such as floods and cyclones”, Patnaik said while addressing a rally here today marking the culmination of a Swabhiman Yatra organised by the Biju Janata Dal. The Chief Minister also handed over a memorandum signed by one crore people of Odisha demanding special category status for the state to President Pranab Mukherjee. The BJD leader became the second Chief Minister after Nitish Kumar of Bihar to organise a political rally in the capital demanding special status for the state. On his part, Patnaik accused the Centre of favouring states like Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh in the grant of funds and demanded that Odisha be given its rightful share as the state continues to lag behind on most of the socio-economic and development indicators even thought it witnessed significant growth since 2000. “The state is a deserving case having an international boundary apart from fulfilling other criteria for a special category status. Our struggle from ‘palli’ has reached to ‘Dilli’ and we will not let the Central government overlook our demand” he said.’ Lashing out at the Centre for adopting ‘discriminatory tactics’ in resource and budgetary allocations, he said the government was shirking its responsibility towards the poor people.
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Ishrat case: CBI wants ADGP declared proclaimed offender
Ahmedabad, June 12 The central agency has also summoned another former top cop, retired DGP KR Kaushik for questioning in the same connection after detaining the former central intelligence bureau chief in the state Rajendra Kumar who had allegedly generated fake intelligence inputs to paint the Mumbra (Mumbai) college girl Ishrat Jahan and her associates as operatives of the Lashkar-e-Toiba on a "mission" to assassinate Modi and other Hindu leaders to facilitate the encounter. If the court accept the CBI's plea to declare Pandey, the 1980 batch IPS cadre officer attached to Gujarat who at the time of the Ishrat Jahan encounter in 2004 was the Ahmedabad Joint Police Commissioner (crime branch), to attach his property if he refused to "surrender." Pandey has reportedly gone "underground" for more than a month now after the CBI issued him summons and had remained untraceable after he went on indefinite leave last month. Pandey through his advocate had approached the Supreme Court to get the CBI warrant against him squashed but was rejected by the apex court yesterday. Pandey, Kaushik, who then was the police commissioner of Ahmedabad and over a dozen other police officers including the "encounter specialist" DG Vanzara, in detention in connection with Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, were first named as accused in the "inquiry report" of Ahmedabad magistrate S. P. Tamang in 2009 questioning the genuineness of the "encounter" and suspected it to be a "fake one."
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India’s elite anti-terror force NSG plans to go hi-tech
New Delhi, June 12 The technology had enabled US President Barack Obama to watch the live footage of the Al-Qaida leader being shot in the head. The footage was taken from a camera attached to the helmet of a Navy Seal. The Seals are Special Operations Force of the US. Taking a cue from the operation, codenamed "Neptune Spear", that took place in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 1, 2011, the NSG has now planned to use the same technology for their Special Force operations as well. The state-of-the-art equipment includes voice-data-video transfer, "mesh variety" communication devices, health-monitoring system, and body and head armour that is capable of protecting a man from the bullets fired from an AK-47 rifle. All these technologies have been integrated to form the "Future Black Cat Commando System". The system is presently under consideration by the government. The NSG will soon have a "test bed" to check the functioning of the system, which will be done by a "hit" (a squad of six to seven commandos) right up to the highest level of the top-level commanders. In a "hit," each troop will be equipped with a computer. The helmets have night vision goggles, which also have a night-vision camera that can be switched on or off. "The computer will send the live camera footage to the command centre via a commercial satellite. The commanders, who are monitoring the "hit," can change the plans of an operation in real time," said an official. This will also allow commanders sitting at the command centre to pass orders directly to the "hit" as well as receive requests from the commandos through the latest communication system called the "mesh or gridded variety". "The mesh variety allows the commandos of different "hits" to communicate simultaneously with each other and their commanders sitting thousands of miles away. They all are on the same radio channel. It is like a conference call over a telephone that will enable coordination of effort in case there are more than one "hit" operating. The radio devices that are presently with the NSG allows only one person to communicate at a time," explained the official. A mesh variety radio is attached to a commando's uniform. The radio is connected by a wire to the headphones and a mouthpiece close to the jaw. The communication device uses the bone conduction technology, which is the conduction of sound to the inner ear through the skull bones. "They will allow hands-free operations enabling the commando to fire his weapon even while communicating," said the official. The video transfer and the communication devices have been approved by the government for digital secrecy, implying that a conversation cannot be monitored or the system penetrated. "Messages being passed on the present radio handsets with the NSG can be intercepted easily. So radio silence or restricted conversation has to be maintained when the enemy is nearby," said sources. The future commando system will also use the state-of-the-art "level-3 alpha" helmet and body armour, capable of taking the hits from the 7.62 mm bullets of the AK-47 assault rifle. The Glock pistols and MP5s, the two primary weapons of the NSG, will also be equipped with the latest sights. The commandos will also have a health-monitoring system in the form of a wrist band. "It monitors the vital organs such as the heart and the brain. The commanders will have a monitoring system, which will show if a commando has been killed or is still alive," said the sources. Bharat Electronics Limited has been tasked to procure the equipment. "The system is in a good stage of development. Until now, we have tested individual pieces. After the "test bed," there will be further trials. Once the trials are complete, the entire NSG force will be equipped with it," informed the official.
Future Commandos
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Residents of 16 dilapidated Mumbai buildings face eviction
Mumbai, June 12 Mumbai’s Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte told reporters that the authorities might call in the police to evacuate residents from such buildings as methods like cutting off water and power supply had failed. “People continue to stay put in these buildings even after we have cut off power and water supply. Now we will use force to evacuate them,” Kunte said. The Maharashtra Housing Development Authority (MHADA) which collects cess on these dilapidated buildings is the designated authority to take possession of these structures. However, residents are known to obtain stay orders from court and continue to stay on. “We are helpless after these residents officially indemnify us for any loss of life and property suffered by them,” a MHADA official said. Earlier attempts by the government to bring suicide charge against such persons had been rejected by the courts. MHADA officials say they have identified 16 buildings for immediate evacuation. The structural stability of 959 buildings in different parts of Mumbai is in doubt with almost all of them certified as “dangerous” to live in. However, the authorities issue notices to them only before the monsoon every year. This year, the BMC has ordered the residents of these buildings to move out by June 15. Incidentally, the five-storeyed Altaf Manzil which collapsed on Monday was not even in the list of dangerous buildings notified by the civic body. According to residents, the owner of a car showroom had illegally dismantled load bearing pillars on the ground floor weakening the structure. This is the second time in the last three months that the Maharashtra government threatened to evacuate residents of dangerous buildings. In April Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan warned that residents of all dangerous structures across Maharashtra would be evacuated.
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AFT seeks details of action taken against Army’s legal chief
Chandigarh, July 12 While observing that the transfer of a Lieutenant Colonel from the Army’s legal branch to another branch was “illegal’, the AFT had, in December 2012, pointed out bias and prejudice on part of the Major General heading the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Department, the Army’s legal wing, and suggested that the Ministry of Defence may take suitable action against him and other responsible after holding proper investigation. In January this year, the affected officer, Lt Col Mukul Dev had moved a contempt application for non-compliance of the AFT’s order. The Army had repeatedly been seeking time for implementing the order. “Today, the AFT directed that the entire case file along with details of the action taken in the matter be produced by the Defence Ministry before it on June 25,” the officer’s counsel, Col Rajiv Manglik (retd) told The Tribune. The Army’s legal head, Maj Gen PS Rathore, who is the respondent in the case, is scheduled to retire on July 31. The AFT had earlier ruled that Lt Col Dev’s transfer from the JAG branch to a branch dealing with land records, which had adversely affected his career, was made through an illegal order from within the Command Headquarters which had no authority to do so as the transfer was the prerogative of Army Headquarters. Consequently, two of the officer’s annual confidential reports (ACRs) pertaining to the aforementioned period have been set aside, with directions to the Army to hold a selection board to consider his promotion to the rank of Colonel as a fresh case. The two ACRs were initiated after the Lieutenant Colonel had moved court against his transfer. In his petition, Lt Col Dev had challenged the legality and validity of the ACRs which had been initiated by Maj Gen PS Rathore, when he was heading the JAG Branch at Command Headquarters as a Brigadier.
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Govt gives nod to CBI to probe ex-coal secy
New Delhi, June 12 The request of the investigating agency to probe the role of Gupta was earlier turned down by the government but now CBI sources said corporate affairs ministry has given the go ahead to the agency to quiz him. The ministry had refused to grant him permission even as the CBI reasoned out that his questioning was important as he was the secretary between 2006 to 2009. — PTI
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Army’s top-secret letter leaks, six indicted
New Delhi, June 12 Sources said the indicted personnel are in the process of facing disciplinary action on various counts in the incident which happened around a couple of years ago. The sensitive information could have been compromised because of leakage of a top secret letter written by the Tezpur-based 4 Corps to the Rangia-based 21 Mountain Division which is learned to have details about operational plans and other such crucial information relating to the sensitive China border, they said. Sources said at that point of time, the 21 Mountain Division was being commanded by Maj Gen NS Ghei, who was later promoted to the rank of Lt Gen and is presently commanding the Bathinda-based 10 Corps along Pakistan border. The letter went missing within a week of its receipt by the 21 Mountain Division and it is still untraceable. It is not yet clear whether defence ministry was informed by the top Army brass about the loss of such a sensitive letter at a time when Gen VK Singh was the Army Chief. — PTI
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After S Arabia, Kuwait says it’ll reduce foreign workers
New Delhi, June 12 The Kuwait government has announced that it wanted to reduce its expatriate population by one million over the next decade. Currently, foreigners make up slightly more than two thirds of Kuwait’s population. There are some 700,000 Indians working in Kuwait, constituting the largest expatriate workforce in the country. Explaining the rationale behind the policy, the Kuwaiti Labour Ministry said: It’s part of the ministry’s efforts to regulate the labour market, curb the phenomenon of marginal labour and restore the demographic equilibrium of the country.” As part of the policy, Kuwait is initially focusing on those workers who do not have valid visas and those who have come on a certain type of visa but are working in other areas. There is a feeling in Kuwait that a large number of expatriates come to the Gulf country in one category and take up jobs in another category. The purpose of the exercise is primarily to target these workers. Emphasising that the new Kuwaiti measure was not targeted against Indians, MEA spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said India had asked the Kuwaiti authorities both in New Delhi and Kuwait that it would be better to communicate the details of their new policy and provide a time-frame to those not complying with their visa status or to return to their home country. “Till now, we have issued less than 1000 emergency certificates for Indians wanting to return to India. Of these, not all have returned because by the time some of them desired to return, they were able to regularise their status,” he added.
Saudi to again hire Indian maids, but on reduced salaries
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia will resume the hiring of Indian female domestic workers but on less salaries than before, Xinhua reported Wednesday citing the Al Hayat newspaper. This is part of an agreement recently signed by the two countries' labour ministries, according to Ahmed Al Faheed, Under Secretary (International Affairs) at the Saudi Labour Ministry
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Cops get report on Jiah’s abortion
“There have been no new developments so far. We have received the medical reports from the hospital where the foetus was aborted,” a police officer said. A lawyer of arrested suspect Suraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi, said “We will be able to give out more information tomorrow.” Suraj was arrested on June 10 for allegedly abetting the suicide of Jiah Khan. He would be questioned in police custody till June 13. Jiah mentioned about her abortion in her six-page letter, which was handed to the police by her mother. The police sought the report on the abortion to corroborate the information in Jiah’s letter. Suraj’s arrest came barely two days after Jiah’s family handed over to police the note penned by her. It was recovered by the actress’s kin three days after her suicide on June 3. — IANS
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Police forced me to name Kundra, says his biz partner
New Delhi, June 12 Goenka, whose statement has been recorded as a witness in the case, also said he was forced to name his friend Kundra to save himself from physical torture and from being booked under MCOCA, as threatened by the police. "Due to threats, torture and extreme fear of consequences on refusing to comply with the dictates of the police, I made the statement before the magistrate. It was not made voluntarily and was given under duress on directions of police," he said. Goenka made the remarks in an application for retraction of his June 5 statement made before a magistrate in which he had named Kundra in the cricket betting. Additional Sessions Judge Vinay Kumar Khanna heard brief arguments and directed the Special Cell of Delhi Police to file its response. "The Special Cell to file reply with supporting affidavit of its in charge on or before June 14," he said. Goenka said he was not disclosing the truth after the court pulled up the police for invoking MCOCA while giving bail to accused persons in the IPL spot-fixing case. In his detailed application filed though his counsel Tarun Goomber, he narrated the alleged torture at the hands of the Delhi Police. — PTI Two-day remand for
bookie
New Delhi: The hearing on the bail pleas of Rajasthan Royal's Ajit Chandila and four others in the IPL spot-fixing scandal was deferred by a Delhi court, which remanded bookie Sunil Bhatia to two-day police custody
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Chhota Shakeel ‘aide’ arrested from Mumbai
New Delhi, June 12 Investigators claimed Ansari (38) is a rival of arrested bookie Ramesh Vyas, who also has underworld connections. “They forwarded instructions and betting rates sent from Dubai and Pakistan. They opened rates in India and managed post-betting accounts and conflicts between bookies,” said a senior Delhi Police officer investigating the case. He added that the underworld may have used violence to establish their writ and decisions in the IPL betting and spot-fixing cases. Ansari had been on the run after the Delhi Police unearthed the spot-fixing scam with the arrest of Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan and some bookies on May 16. He fled to Kashmir where he kept changing his hideouts. He was finally arrested from a petrol pump in Mumbai’s Kamatipura area on Tuesday when he had gone to meet his son. He was brought by air to Delhi and produced before a Delhi court, which remanded him to the police custody for five days. Investigators had placed Ansari’s phone under surveillance since April and had intercepted conversations between him and underworld dons based in Dubai and Pakistan. After May 16, his phone was inactive. Police teams were sent to different places, including Kashmir, to nab him. The Delhi Police had earlier claimed that a crime syndicate headed by fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim and his henchman Shakeel was running a vast network of bookies and hawala operators across the country.
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UP to play big role in BJP’s return to Centre: Amit Shah
Lucknow, June 13 Speaking to waiting mediapersons at the BJP headquarters, he assured that Uttar Pradesh would play a significant role in the return of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre in 2014. His visit scheduled for the end of May had been postponed due to the Naxal attack on Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh. This visit comes days after the elevation of his mentor Narendra Modi as the chairman of the party's campaigning committee. With party patriarch LK Advani now virtually a mere figure, a section within the Uttar Pradesh BJP, which was earlier resenting Shah, has now fallen in line. Factionalism had cost the BJP dear in 2009 as it had managed to win only 10 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. Shah presided over a string of meetings of the party's state office-bearers and regional presidents, general secretaries and office-bearers of all the wings and cells, said party spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak. He is scheduled to have meetings with senior leaders like Kalraj Mishra and Kalyan Singh tomorrow and have an interaction with the media before flying out of
Lucknow.
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Fresh probe involves Rail Board member, Bansal’s PS
New Delhi, June 12 CBI sources said the agency has come to know that Kul Bhushan who is a Railway Board Member (Electrical) has allegedly favoured a private builder in awarding contract to develop a railway land. They said Bhushan allegedly relaxed norms which helped the builder grab the contract worth several crores of rupees. The sources said the agency came to know about these alleged favours during its probe in the Rs 10 crore Railway cash-for-posting scandal allegedly involving Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla and the then member (Staff) Mahesh Kumar. They said during the questioning of the accused and scanning of files related to Bhushan, the agency came to know about the favours. In the second preliminary inquiry, the CBI claimed that Bansal's Private Secretary Rahul Bhandari allegedly used to infringe in the transfer and posting matters of the Railway Ministry apparently for monetary gains. The sources said the agency had gathered the information during its ongoing probe in the bribery scandal that Bhandari was allegedly instrumental in influencing number of key postings and transfers in the Ministry. They said Bhandari, a 1997-batch Punjab-cadre IAS officer, has been grilled about these instances during his examination by the agency which is likely to file charge sheet in connection with the Railway bribery scandal this month. Bhandari and Bhushan did not respond to SMSes seeking their reaction on the development. — PTI
What cbi says
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Heat wave claims four lives in Assam
Guwahati, June 12 The Kamrup (Mertropolitan) district administration has declared three holidays from tomorrow in all government and private schools in the district. According to sources in the Regional Meteorological Centre, the daytime temperature has shot up in all parts of the state. Guwahati city recorded a maximum temperature of 38.8°C today. It has crossed the all-time high of 38.5°C for June, which was recorded in 1979. The hot weather conditions are likely to continue in the state for another couple of days. A pavement dweller died of heat-related symptoms after collapsing in a busy area of the city today. One death each has been reported from Nagaon, Hailakandi and Silchar districts.
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CSIR develops mobile bridge inspection unit
Chandigarh, June 12 For the first time in the country, a mobile bridge inspection unit (MBIU) has been developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s Ludhiana-based Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) Centre of Excellence for Farm Machinery. Mounted on an 18-wheeled 25-tonne truck, the MBIU is designed to provide easy access to intricate parts of concrete road bridges’ structure quickly and effectively for examination. The MBIU’s articulated structure has three rotary and three linear joints that are activated through electric drives for each directional motion. Keeping in view its operating nature and environment, adequate safety features have been built into the system. The inspection team can easily manoeuvre itself to a desired point under the bridge, while the vehicle is parked on top of the bridge. After completion of one stage between two pillars, the vehicle, equipped with a special electrical drive, can be propelled forward or backward without folding up the unit. Civil engineers can systematically inspect the bridges, take samples or undertake non-destructive tests to forecast the residual life of bridges. Currently, no such indigenous machine is available. Only a few companies in the world like Moog of Germany and Hydra of USA are manufacturing MBIUs which are hydraulically-operated folding machines and cost as high as Rs 6 crore to Rs 7 crore apiece, with annual maintenance costs ranging between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 30 lakh. These also require highly skilled manpower to operate. The MBIU, on the other hand, costs Rs 1 crore and its maintenance cost is comparatively low, besides it being capable of being operated by semi-skilled workers. The project has been jointly sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology and CSIR’s Central Road Research Institute. A demonstration of MBIU’s operational capabilities was held for a high-level team from CSIR headquarters recently.
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ASI, ISRO ex-employee nabbed for running fake currency racket
Kollam, June 12 ASI Anil Kumar and Madhava Kurup, a retired Class-III employee of ISRO, and two others were arrested from Thiruvananthapuram yesterday, the police said. They were produced before the Judicial Magistrate Court here today, which remanded them in judicial custody. The police raided an apartment in Thiruvananthapuram, and seized fake notes with a face value of Rs 2.85 lakh in Rs 500 denomination. The gang had allegedly circulated fake currencies in Thiruvananthapuram. The police is on the lookout for other persons who acted as their links in some of the neighbouring states. — PTI
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Kolkata, June 12
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