Pressure mounts for action against Somnath Bharti

NEW DELHI: Pressure mounted on the Delhi Government today to take action against Law Minister Somnath Bharti after one of the African women assaulted in a midnight raid in south Delhi accused him of having led the group that barged into her house and attacked them.

"We were attacked on Wednesday night by Indians who were led by Somnath Bharti... we were harassed, we were beaten, they were having long sticks. They said we should leave their country or else they would kill us one by one," the Ugandan national said.

The woman said she identified Bharti because "he came in the night and the next day I saw him on television. The Delhi Police came in time and saved us from the mob." She had recorded her statement before a magistrate yesterday, saying that she would be able to identify the persons who had barged into her house on the intervening night of January 15-16.

The woman recorded her statement in camera under Sec 164 CrPC which is admissible in court. The statement has been now given to the police in a sealed cover and will be opened only during the trial.

Bharti came under attack for the midnight raid from women activists who sought his removal from the post for "misbehaving" with the African women.

The Delhi Commission for Women summoned Bharti after the women alleged that they had been assaulted by the group led by the minister.

"We had asked him to appear before the Commission yesterday but he did not show up. We will be sending another summon through the concerned SHO to him tomorrow. If he still does not appear, we shall write to the Lt Governor and to the Delhi Police Commissioner to register an FIR," Barkha Singh, Chairperson of the Commission, said.

In an open letter to the Delhi Chief Minister, a group of women activists, including Kavita Krishnan, said the conduct of the Law Minister was "shocking and is not acceptable".

Krishnan alleged that the "simple point is that he has endangered those African women by calling upon a mob to go chase them and catch them".

NCW chairperson Mamta Sharma said now it is clear that Bharti was present there at the spot as it has been confirmed by the Ugandan women after identifying him in the CD.

Sharma said Bharti "should have resigned or should have been asked to resign. He has no right to go to a woman's place and do this 'harkat' (create a stir). He should have resigned on his own".

The activists said, "The Delhi Police must be accountable to the Constitution and not to bidding of ministers and mobs."

"These Ugandan women have alleged that they were beaten and groped sexually. On what basis do you deem these allegations to be false? Is it the government's contention that only 'ma, behen, beti' are entitled to safety and dignity – and that prostitutes can be left to the mercy of moralistic mobs?

"Without any other evidence, can women be forced to undergo drug tests only because of their race and nationality? The drug tests and cavity searches to which these women were subjected, turned up negative: when do you plan to apologise to them for the false allegation and the indignity, not to mention the groping they suffered at the hands of your minister's supporters?," the letter said.

"According to the Africans and their Indian friends, Malviya Nagar SHO Vijay Pal had acted to protect the African women on the night of the raid. Today, this SHO has been penalised – for failing to obey the orders of the minister who expected him to indiscriminately raid the homes of all people of African nationalities," the letter said.

The activists further said this sends out a dangerous message to the police — that if they uphold democratic rights of vulnerable individuals as mandated by the Constitution, they will be penalised.

Accusing that attempts were being made to shield Bharti, AAP rebel MLA Vinod Binny said action must be taken against those misbehaved with the women.

Meanwhile, Air Deccan founder and AAP member Capt G.R. Gopinath said that while AAP demanded action against police officers pending an inquiry on ground that they may interfere in the probe, the same yardstick should apply to Bharti.

He had also said that Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet should govern from their offices and only his party workers must protest.

Activist Shobha Oza demanded that an FIR should be lodged against Bharti and his supporters.

Transport Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj defended his colleagues and said every citizen including a minister had a right to tell the police to raid a place if there was a drug or prostitution ring.

Bharti had claimed that the raid had been conducted after he received information about a prostitution and drugs racket in the area.

The police has listed the Ugandan national as a prosecution witness in the case. She will again testify in court during the trial over the alleged incident.

The court had ordered registration of an FIR upon a petition filed by the woman in question seeking a criminal case against the alleged offenders.

A city court had ordered registration of an FIR against unknown persons in connection with the midnight raid against African women at Khirki Extension here. — PTI

Kejriwal dharna: Delhi Police files FIR against unknown persons

NEW DELHI/Ghaziabad: The Delhi Police has registered an FIR against unknown persons in connection with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s dharna outside Rail Bhavan in New Delhi that witnessed many violent scuffles in the high-security area, where prohibitory orders were in place.

The case was registered at Parliament Street Police Station last night under section 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of duty) and section 333 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter public servant from duty) of IPC, police sources said.

The two-day dharna by Kejriwal witnessed several altercations between police and AAP workers and at least 31 persons, including policemen and media personnel, were injured.

“The cases registered in connection with the agitation on January 20th and 21st in the area of Parliament Street Police Station will be investigated on merit,” a statement released by the Delhi Police said.

Kejriwal’s dharna in the heart of the Capital came to an abrupt end last night after two police officers were sent on leave under a neat compromise with the Centre over his demand for suspension of five officials for alleged dereliction of duty.

The over 30-hour protest outside Rail Bhavan in the Raisina Hill area that virtually morphed into a demand for control over Delhi Police and threatened to disrupt the Republic Day celebrations on Sunday ended following an assurance from the Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung.

Kejriwal announced that he was calling off the protest following the “victory” achieved by the people of Delhi.

Under the compromise, the SHO of Malviya Nagar, who refused to raid an alleged drug and prostitution ring on the orders of Law Minister Somnath Bharti, and PCR van in-charge of Paharganj, where a Danish woman was gangraped last week, were sent on leave, paving the way for an end to the confrontation with the Centre. 

NEW DELHI: Rubbishing various speculation surrounding his mother Sunanda Pushkar’s death, her 21-year-old son Shiv Menon on Wednesday said she was “too strong” to commit suicide and died due to an unfortunate combination of media stress, tensions and a wrong mix of different medication.

Menon, Sunanda’s son from a previous marriage, said both Shashi Tharoor and his mother were “very much in love” despite their “occasional differences” and that he did not believe that the Union Minister was capable of harming her physically.

“What the media reports have been alleging and implying in regard to my mother’s death is not just untrue, it is outrageous. Anyone who knew my mother would simply know that she was too strong to commit suicide,” he said in a statement.

“I also do not believe that Shashi was capable of physically harming her, let alone the speculation that he could have taken her life,” he said.

Sunanda, 52, was found dead in a five-star hotel in South Delhi on Friday night, a day after her twitter spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar over an alleged affair with Tharoor.

“It was an unfortunate combination of media stress, tensions and a wrong mix of different medication. Her death was peaceful, she passed in her sleep. Please let her soul rest, I think there has been enough attention drawn towards her life,” Menon said.

The Sub Divisional Magistrate probing the case yesterday directed police to investigate murder or suicide angles in Sunanda’s death after the autopsy pin-pointed “poisoning” as the reason for her demise.

SDM Alok Sharma has given this directive to the police after considering the autopsy report which mentioned over a dozen injury marks on both her hands as well as a minor bruise on her left cheek which could be due to use of “blunt force”.

However, the report ruled out death due to these injuries.

The SDM, who had recorded the statement of Sunanda’s brother, son, Tharoor and his staff, said that no family member suspected any foul play in the death. — PTI

HAMILTON: India were on Wednesday dethroned as the number one ODI team after they suffered a 15-run defeat in a rain-truncated second one-dayer against New Zealand, who have now taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

India, who desperately needed a win to retain their top spot, made a valiant effort to overhaul the revised target of 297 in 42 overs but failed to cross the finishing line scoring 277 for nine in 41.3 overs, giving Australia pole position in the ICC ODI rankings. The Duckworth-Lewis par score in 41.3 overs was 293.

Put into bat, the Kiwis rattled up 271 for seven riding on Kane Williamson’s 76 and Corey Anderson’s rampaging 17-ball 44 that included five huge sixes as the hosts amassed a whopping 101 runs in 8.4 overs after rain interruption.

India was left with a daunting task of chasing a revised target of 297 as per the D/L method and was again done in by a shaky start.

Virat Kohli top-scored with a sparkling 78 while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (56), Suresh Raina (35), Ajinkya Rahane (36) got the starts but could not translate them into match-winning knocks.

Tim Southee (4/72) was pick of the New Zealand bowlers while Anderson again displayed his all-round prowess picking up three for 67.

Shikhar Dhawan (12, 22 balls) and Rohit Sharma (20, 34 balls) wasted a lot of deliveries upfront as India couldn’t take advantage of the bowling Powerplay.

Kohli and Rahane added 90 runs for the third-wicket after Dhawan was bowled by Southee and Sharma edged one to Luke Ronchi behind the stumps.

Both Kohli and Rahane played confident strokes but the Mumbaikar was done in by Mitchell McClenaghan, who got one to kick up and Rahane only got an edge to the keeper.

Skipper Dhoni came out to bat ahead of Suresh Raina but they could not take the score closer to the target unlike Napier.

Kohli was looking to accelerate when he mistimed and hit straight to the substitute fielder at mid-on. He made 78 runs off 65 balls, with seven fours and two sixes.

Raina chipped in with a quick-fire 35 off 22 balls with six fours. He put on 62 runs in only 39 balls with Dhoni as the chase started looking hopeful once again. But he fell in the 37th over, much to the disappointment of his captain.

Thereafter, Dhoni reached his 50 in the 39th over, off 41 balls, looking to take India home single-handedly.

His efforts came to nought though as he holed out in the deep in the 40th over.

Earlier, Indian bowlers dished out yet another listless performance as New Zealand scored an imposing 271 for seven in 42 overs.

Williamson set the platform with a polished knock of 77 helping Anderson to cut loose as he played a brilliant cameo smashing 44 off 17 balls. Ross Taylor hit 57 off 56 balls with seven hits to the fence.

For India, Mohammad Shami (3-55) was once again the most successful bowler. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-43), Ishant Sharma (1-46), Ravindra Jadeja (1-46) and Suresh Raina (1-18) took a wicket apiece while R. Ashwin (0-50)’s poor form with the ball continued. — PTI

NEW DELHI: Hurt by the prolonged slowdown in the automobile industry, Tata Motors will offer a voluntary retirement scheme to a section of employees as it looks at rationalising costs.

The company, which on Wednesday announced a truck racing series for the first time in India to be held in March, also said it is investing Rs 3,000 crore on product development in FY14.

“The industry as well as India is going through a rather protracted downturn. Therefore, there are lots of things out there to enable us, ensure our structure is suitable.

Voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) allows those people to move on with our support,” Tata Motors Managing Director Karl Slym told reporters here.

Asked how many employees would be offered the VRS, he said it would be a “very minor” number.

In December, domestic car sales declined 4.52 per cent from a year earlier to 1,32,561 units. Tata Motors’ sales fell about 42 per cent to 6,537 units last month.

Total sales of commercial vehicles were down 25.53 per cent to 46,757 units. The company’s commercial vehicle sales dropped 45.83 per cent to 25,738 units.

Hit by a prolonged slump in sales, Hinduja flagship firm Ashok Leyand had offered a VRS for its executives during the third quarter. It spent Rs 43.58 crore on settlements for those who accepted the offer up to December 31.

On plans for product development, Slym said the company is spending Rs 3,000 crore in FY14. This is a part of the company’s Plan 20-20 and will span commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles, he added.

Stating that the company plans to make newer technologies available, he said the T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship will serve as a “laboratory” for developing new products.

“We have worked on this for eight months...we want to use this platform, not only for us but also for our partners to use the platform to develop new technologies for our trucking business,” he said.

The race will be held on March 22-23 at the Buddh International Circuit at Greater Noida.

Slym said a revival in the commercial vehicles market is unlikely in the next 12 months.

The CV market is 50 per cent of what it was two years ago and this is the longest downturn the industry has witnessed, he added. — PTI

Hyderabad: Doyen of Telugu cinema Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who mesmerised audiences with memorable performances in hits like 'Batasari', 'Devadas' and 'Tenali Ramakrishna' in a career spanning more than seven decades, died early today after losing his battle with cancer.

A Dada Saheb Phalke Award winner, the 91-year-old acted in more than 250 films, including a few in Tamil.

Nageswara Rao had a lively chat with family members last night and passed away in his sleep, the legendary actor's son Nagarjuna, a popular hero, said.

He was rushed to the super-speciality Care Hospitals at Banjara Hills here in the small hours, where the doctors declared him dead.

Rao, who recently underwent a surgery for intestinal cancer, is survived by three daughters and two sons.

Known for his strong will power and positive attitude, Rao himself declared his illness to the public last year and appealed to the fans to take it in their stride.

The body of Nageswara Rao was kept at Annapurna Studios, established by him, to enable people to pay their last respects.

Rao, who had a stature on par with late N. T. Rama Rao, was one of the earliest stars of the black-and-white era.

Born in Krishna district of coastal Andhra Pradesh, he started his career as a stage artiste and made his film debut in early 1940s with 'Dharmapatni', in which he acted as a woman.

He went on to give huge hits such as 'Batasari', 'Devadas' and 'Prem Nagar', 'Tenali Ramakrishna', 'Maya Bazaar', 'Missamma' and 'Sitaramayya Gari Manavaralu'.

He earned fame for his poignant portrayal of 'Devdas' in the film based on the novel of acclaimed Bengali author Sarat Chandra Chatterjee.

Rao played a pioneering role in shifting the Telugu film industry from Chennai to Hyderabad and established Annapurna Studios, named after his wife, which helped the cause in no small measure.

Several producers recall that he pressed them to shift base to Hyderabad for making films with him.

Rao recently completed shooting for his home production 'Manam' which casts three generations of the family — himself, Nagarjuna and his grandson Naga Chaitanya.

In fact, dubbing facilities had been set up at his residence as he wanted to do it himself, family sources said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Opposition leader N. Chandrababu Naidu, YSR Congress president Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy and several other leaders and film personalities condoled his death.

Several film personalities paid their last respects to the departed soul. — PTI