Monday, November 2, 1998

Spurious medicines seized
NEW DELHI, Nov 1 — A joint team of the Delhi police and the Drugs Control Department of the Delhi Government reportedly busted a racket of spurious drugs on Friday.

Suspected child sex
workers rescued
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Nov 1 — Eleven minor tribal children, including nine girls from Karnataka, who were forced to work in the Kovalom beach near here as hawkers and probably as sex workers would leave for their home state in the next two days, thanks to the efforts of the local police and the Kerala Women’s Commission.

• INLD forms panel for Rajasthan
• Mandakini visits TV academy

Cong-BSP poll pact in MP

NEW DELHI, Nov 1 (PTI) —The Congress will have an “arrangement” with the BSP in Madhya Pradesh under which it will contest all 320 seats and the BSP 120 in this month’s assembly elections as part of an agreement to ensure the defeat of the BJP.

Disclosing this here today, state Chief Minister Digvijay Singh said there had been no formal discussions with the BSP for an alliance or seat-sharing but “we have had discussions for an arrangement”.

In a question-answer session, he conceded the BSP had a presence in the state in about 35 per cent of the constituencies with about 15,000 votes in each of them which cut into the Scheduled Caste vote bank of the Congress and backward classes votes of the BJP.

Asserting that the Congress was “very much” in the race for power, Mr Digvijay Singh said while in the beginning his party had a fairly low rating, the anti-incumbency factor against the BJP at the Centre had neutralised the same factor against his government in the state “and now we are fairly even”.

The price rise, especially of onions, and a series of political “muddles” the centre was embroiled in would work to the advantage of the Congress, he said, adding that he would not agree with the view that the state was lost for the party for the November 25 elections.

He admitted the Congress had made mistakes in the past of conceding to Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists on the issues of the Shah Bano case and on the shilanyas issue.

Mr Digvijay Singh said though the Congress rank and file was opposed to any kind of alliance with the BSP, the fact could not be overlooked that the BSP “is a factor to be reckoned with in the state.”

“We appreciate BSP leader Kanshi Ram’s statement (on a strategic understanding with the Congress) and we are grateful to him for his efforts to defeat the BJP,” he said.

The Chief Minister said “ever since the Congress became a suspect in the eyes of the minorities, other parties have tried to capitalise the situation with the BJP and its allies coming to the forefront.”

Mr Digvijay Singh said he would contest from his traditional Raghogarh Assembly constituency, once represented by his father.

Asked whether dissident activities within the state Congress would harm the party, the Chief Minister quipped, “Dissidence is new for the BJP. We are old masters and with our experience and knowhow of controlling dissent, we will be able to manage comfortably.”

He said any party which was able to effectively control internal sabotage and dissidence would sail through at the hustings.

Asked if the issue of corruption would affect the party, he shot back saying, “corruption is an issue in (BJP-ruled) Uttar Pradesh also. Which government in this country doesn’t have corruption charges levelled against it.”

On the controversy over the recital of ‘Saraswati vandana’ at the recent state Education Ministers’ conference here, Mr Digvijay Singh clarified that the objection was not against it.

He said the opposition was against the BJP’s move to surreptitiously “saffronise” the country’s education system by incorporating objectionable recommendations made by Vidya Bharati, rss education wing, in the agenda for the conference.

Spurious medicines seized
From Our Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Nov 1 — A joint team of the Delhi police and the Drugs Control Department of the Delhi Government reportedly busted a racket of spurious drugs on Friday.

M/s Ranbaxy Laboratory Limited and M/s Pfizer Corporation lodged a complaint with the crime branch of the Delhi police that spurious medicines, fortwin injection and becosule capsules produced by them were being sold in Delhi.

The crime branch received a tip-off that Pradeep and Prem Pal were reportedly involved in this racket in Bhagirath Place Market in North Delhi, the police said.

The crime branch sent a decoy to the suspected who agreed to supply 10 strips of 10 capsules each of becosule and 30 packets of eight ampoules each of fortwin. The police arrested the suspects when they came to deliver the medicines.

The police said the drugs had labels with infringed copyrights and trademarks of the companies.

A raid was conducted at the house of Prem Pal in Jagjit Nagar in North-East Delhi where huge quantities of spurious drugs, other infringed labels, silver foils and steel rollers bearing trademarks and copyrights of various reputed companies were seized.

The police seized 1,100 ampoules of painkiller injections, 28,720 tablets of antibiotics, anti-dehydration analgesics and B complex, 10,800 cartoons of various medicines of different companies. Besides this, foil rolls with falsified impressions, 79,000 tablets and seven steel rollers with marking of various medicines used for printing of silver foils were seized the police said.

During interrogation the suspects disclosed they used to purchase drugs from Satyapal Singh of Bathinda. Prem Pal came into contract with Satypal when he went to Bathinda in 1985. He was reportedly lured by Satyapal to work for him for huge profits. Most of the buyers of spurious drugs were daily passengers coming to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.

They also disclosed they used to purchase ampoules of diazepam at the cost of Re 1 or Rs 2 and remove the labels by dipping them in water and then affix the infringed labels of Ranbaxy Laboratories.

Procurement agencies not cooperating
with farmers, says MP
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 1 — Mr Prem Singh Chandumarja, MP, today appealed to the Prime Minister to compensate the farmers for loss suffered on account of difference in the procurement price of foodgrains and actual payment.

Talking to newspersons here today, Mr Chandumajra said the farmers were reeling under the impact of losses both on account of weather and low payment.

“The Central Government should announce a bonus so that the difference between the procurement price of Rs 475 per quintal and actual payment in market today is covered,” he said.

He said since agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy, the farmers should not be made to suffer and urged the government to take remedial measures.

Mr Chandumajra said the Parliamentarians National Farmers Front of which he is the President, would meet the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, next week to press for their demands.

Apart from compensation, he said, the demands include the early introduction of the crop insurance scheme, special assistance to the farming sector, sheds in grain markets to protect it from the vagaries of weather and godowns in rural areas.

Mr Chandumajra said the front is also concerned about the impending shortage of DAP and would urge the government to take steps to correct it.

He said while the fertiliser was lying at Kandla port, it was not being moved for distribution. The front would urge the government to augment its supply since the farmers would face problems in the near future on account of shortage.

Mr Chandumajra also charged that the central procurement agencies were not cooperating with the farmers whose grain was rotting at wholesale markets in Punjab. He also urged the Centre to urgently provide assistance to the farmers who had suffered losses on account of unseasonal rains.

It may be recalled the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and his Haryana counterpart, Mr Bansi Lal, had called on the Prime Minister seeking central assistance for damages suffered by the farmers on account of unseasonal rains. Following this, the Centre had sent teams to assess the damage in both states.

Suspected child sex workers rescued

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Nov 1 (PTI) — Eleven minor tribal children, including nine girls from Karnataka, who were forced to work in the Kovalom beach near here as hawkers and probably as sex workers would leave for their home state in the next two days, thanks to the efforts of the local police and the Kerala Women’s Commission.

The children belonging to the Lambadia tribe and in the age group of eight to 16, and brought here like slaves, were made to work in the beach for a hand-to-mouth existence.

Sugatha Kumari, chairperson of the women’s commission, who recently rescued the children with the help of the police, told PTI that they were probably sold to an inter-state gang dealing with kids by their parents for a pittance.

As soon as the commission took charge of the children, it informed the Karnataka police and the women’s commission there to intervene urgently and trace the parents of the minors.

A team of policemen and the Social Welfare Department Chairperson C. Girija from Karnataka were expected here to take the children back to that state.

Sugatha Kumari said the women’s commission had received complaints from two German tourists in 1996 of suspected child prostitution in Kovalam, a famous tourist spot. At that time the police and the government were informed, but the children absconded before raids took place.

When asked about their antecedents, the children replied in good English and said they were brought to Kovalam by their near ones.

However, all of them said, as if they had been told to say so, that they were brought by their “brother”.

The police said the girls were put up in huts near the beach. During daytime they roamed the beach selling handicrafts like leather and jute bags. At night, they allegedly became sex workers for the foreign tourists.

Although the commission volunteered to look after and sponsor education of some of the children, they turned down the gesture.

Govt rejects Karsan’s out-of-court
settlement offer

NEW DELHI, Nov 1 (PTI) — The government has rejected the latest offer of the Turkish firm Karsan for an “out-of-court settlement” in the Rs 133 crore urea supply deal.

“The offer has been considered and rejected by the government of India,” S K Ray, Vigilance Director of the Department of Fertilisers, said in the reply sent to Karsan’s solicitors in Geneva.

However, the six-line letter, sent to Karsan’s solicitors Pirenne Python Schifferli Peter and Associates last month, did not disclose any reason for non-acceptance of the offer.

When contacted, union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister S S Barnala initially feigned ignorance about it, but later confirmed the rejection.

“We have rejected their offer taking into account all aspects relating to the matter,” Mr Barnala told PTI.

“A criminal case is pending in the court, arbitration proceedings are also going on in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) at Amsterdam,” Mr Barnala said, adding “all these points were considered while taking the decision.”

In its latest set of proposals sent to Mr Barnala in August, Karsan had offered to “settle the present dispute in order to maintain the good and long-term relations with India”.

It had offered to arrange cent per cent security for the amount of Rs 133 crore in the form of Indian urban property, to be mortgaged in favour of National Fertilisers Ltd (NFL).

The Karsan offer stated that upon receipt of the security to the satisfaction of NFL, the criminal case should be withdrawn on all accused and they must be released and their passports returned.

It also envisaged withdrawal of claim and counter-claim brought by NFL and Karsan respectively, before ICC and closure of proceedings in this regard.

“The final amount to be paid as full and final settlement of the dispute will be negotiated and agreed upon by NFL and karsan during their talks in New Delhi,” the offer said.

Karsan, which offered to pay the substantial amount agreed upon by both sides within a period of three months of arranging the security, wanted release of the mortgaged property upon receipt of the amount.

“All seizures of bank accounts and properties of all accused in India and abroad must be lifted immediately, so as to enable Karsan to pay up the settled amount,” the offer document said.

Karsan started approaching the Indian government after the arrest of its two top executives, Cihan Karanci and Tuncay Alankus, in connection with the case in Geneva.

Immunology congress opens

NEW DELHI, Nov 1 (PTI) — The Global Congress on Immunology opened here today with a call from President K R Narayanan to free mankind from the scourge of diseases while a group of 30 women protestors demanded a halt to what they described as “unethical” research and development of contraceptive vaccines.

President Narayanan and Minister for Human Resource Development Murli Manohar Joshi urged scientists of all nations to work together and share their knowledge and experience to achieve this goal.

More than 2,600 scientists from 67 countries are participating in the week-long conference presided by Dr G P Talwar, one of India’s leading immunologists.

President Narayanan lamented that neither antibiotics nor the new vaccines reach the poorest sections of the society who need them most and asked scientists, industrialists and the governments to “join hands so that fruits of research can be made available to the common man with minimal delay at affordable cost.”

Describing the newly-approved leprosy vaccine developed by Dr Talwar as a major contribution to Indian science, the President said “India with its population problem is pursuing the possibilities of developing a fertility control vaccine”.

He also suggested to the world immunologists that the ayurveda system of India could perhaps give a holistic dimension to modern medicine “if rejuvenated and subjected to severe scientific research, analyses and tests”.

Mr Joshi said scientists with a little effort “can make the world free from diseases like leprosy, polio and measles”.

Dawood "used to threaten" Sharma

NEW DELHI, Nov 1 (PTI) — Controversial politician Romesh Sharma has claimed before a city court that he used to receive threat calls from Dawood Ibrahim, contradicting the police claim that he was an accomplice of the Dubai-based underworld don.

"We have documents to show that Dawood was Sharma’s enemy number one and evidence that the Dubai-based underworld don used to threaten him (Sharma)", his counsel I U Khan told Metropolitan Magistrate K S Mohi when the crime branch was seeking his police remand on Friday in connection with a case of land grab in South Delhi.

Khan accused the police of launching a media campaign against Sharma to project his client as an aide of Dawood and filing "false" cases one after another with the sole motive of harassing him at the instance of the BJP government.

Khan’s contention came in the wake of statements by the prosecution that the police needed to interrogate him on the basis of the complaint of M K Subba that Sharma had dispossessed him of a farmhouse at Chattarpur in 1990 and continued to give threats by using his Dawood connection.

Sharma, arrested on October 20 following a joint raid by police, the CBI and the Income Tax authorities at his Mayfair Colony residence in South Delhi, was remanded in five-day police custody in the case.

The allegations against property dealer-turned politician Sharma, who had contested the Lok Sabha elections from Phulpur in 1996 and floated a party recently, included the violation of the Arms Act, the Wildlife Act, the Excise Act, the abduction and illegal detention of a businessman and forcefully obtaining ownership of a helicopter.

During the raids, property worth over Rs 500 crore, including a helicopter, 15 foreign cars, property documents pertaining to 12 houses in Delhi, Mumbai and Jalandhar, jewellery, gold crockery and a large quantity of foreign-made liquor, one tiger skin, one leopard skin, a deer skin and 14 rounds of .32 bore revolvers were recovered.

LTTE challenges ban on activities

TIRUCHIRAPALLI (TN), Nov 1 (PTI) — The LTTE today appeared before a statutory tribunal here and legally challenged the continuance of the ban on its activities in India, questioning the Union Government’s charge that its goal of a separate ‘Tamil Eelam’ undermined India’s sovereignty.

A Chennai-based advocate engaged by the LTTE began the militant outfit’s legal challenge by cross-examining a Tamil Nadu police official on whether the LTTE continued to be active in the state and how the government came to the conclusion that its ‘ultimate objective’ was to expand its ‘Eelam’ concept to include territories in Tamil Nadu.

Replying to the questions, Tamil Nadu ‘Q’ branch-CID (the police wing dealing with militancy) Superintendent of Police T V Ravichandran deposed before Presiding Officer Justice S K Mahajan that though contained to a large extent, the LTTE’s activities were against the nation’s interests.

After the proceedings, which lasted less than an hour, Justice Mahajan asked the lawyer, Mr N Chandrasekharan, to file his written submissions before November 5. He adjourned the one-day sitting without specifying the next date of hearing. The tribunal had held an initial sitting in Delhi last week.

This is the first time since the ban was first imposed in 1992 that the LTTE has appeared before the tribunal set up under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The ban was extended for a fourth two-year period from May 14,1998.

Mr Ravichandran said since the last notification of 1996, a lot of arms and ammunitions had been seized and cyanide capsules recovered from militants. As many as 41 LTTE militants who entered the country in the guise of refugees had been lodged in special camps in the state.

Mr Chandrasekharan wanted to know whether there was any basis for the charge in the Centre’s affidavit that the LTTE’s ‘larger objective’ was to include Indian territory in the Tamil ‘homeland’.

Justice Mahajan intervened to say it was an inference drawn from the fact that the LTTE had trained members of the ‘Tamil Nadu Retrieval Force’ (an Indian separatist outfit in Tamil Nadu, the existence of which came to light in 1991 during the investigation into the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case) in Sri Lanka.

After the cross-examination, Mr Chandrasekharan argued that government’s claim about the ‘larger objective’ was ‘imaginary’. He wanted the presiding officer to consider this aspect before approving the ban.

Another question to be considered was why the government had not imposed any ban prior to 1991, if the LTTE had such an objective right from its inception.

Plan on prices "poll-oriented"
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 1 — The Congress today said the government’s six-point action plan to check the price spiral should have been initiated earlier and charged that the move was "election-oriented".

Reacting to the plan announced by the Centre yesterday, the party said: "It has taken the BJP-led government six months to announce some measures to check the price spiral".

The secretary of the AICC Economic Affairs Department, Mr Jairam Ramesh, told newspersons here that the fall in production this year was just not sufficient to warrant such a "sharp increase in the prices of food items and essential commodities."

Commenting on the announcement by the Prime Minister that a Cabinet committee would now monitor the prices every week, Mr Ramesh said the then Congress Government had set up a Cabinet Committee on Prices under the chairmanship of the Finance Minister, a practice which continued during the UF regime. "Do we take it that the Cabinet Committee on Prices had gone to sleep in the past eight months since the BJP came to power?" he asked.

He also sought to highlight different statements of the BJP spokesman and the Finance Minister on the export of onions, stating that while the former had maintained that the prices rose due to exports, the latter stated that exported onions were not widely consumed locally.

Even on actual imports, Mr Ramesh said the Congress had information that only a negligible portion of the 60,000 tonnes of onions had actually been imported.

"In any case, one does not make an announcement of the intention to import because it pushes up the prices,’’ Mr Ramesh said.

More than the doubling of the rate of inflation since the BJP came to power, the spiralling prices were the result of delay in action on many fronts by the government.

George: govt still open on Central rule in Bihar

LUCKNOW, Nov 1 (PTI) — The Centre will not remain a mute spectator to the current situation in Bihar for a long time and may again recommend the imposition of President's rule in the state, Defence Minister George Fernandes said here today.

The Centre might not wait for the (Bihar) Assembly to complete its (one-and-a-half year's remaining) term and may review the Cabinet's earlier recommendations to impose President's rule there, Mr Fernandes said.

He said: "It is only for the time being that the Cabinet recommendations to this effect, which was sent back by President K. R. Narayanan, have been kept in abeyance".

"Considering the situation in Bihar, the issue is still wide open", he remarked, adding that "there are several ifs and buts in this and we might review it at an appropriate time".

When a reporter drew his attention that only one-and-a-half year was left for the Bihar Assembly to complete its term, Mr Fernandes said: "I think it would be difficult to wait for such a long time. This time we might recommend the dissolution of the Assembly rather than keeping it in suspended animation".

DARBHANGA: Railway Minister Nitish Kumar has also said the Centre was "seriously contemplating" the recommendation of President's rule in Bihar as the law and order situation in the state has reached its "lowest ebb".

Speaking at a foundation stone-laying function of a computerised railway reservation office here, to be built at a cost of Rs 78 lakh, Mr Kumar condemned the Bihar Government for "not cooperating with the Centre" for controlling incidents of crime in moving trains.

Mr Kumar also inaugurated a Rs 233-crore project for the conversion of railway lines between Jainagar and Darbhanga into broad gauge.

Bansi sours INLD-BJP ‘pact’
From Vimal Sumbly
Tribune News Service

BHADRA (Rajasthan), Nov 1 — Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal today sprang a surprise on his coalition partner, the BJP by addressing a political rally in this assembly segment of Hanumangarh district.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's plans for an electoral alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal with Mr Bansi Lal's rival are no longer a secret. Feeling isolated and cornered by the INLD supremo, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Mr Bansi Lal tried to checkmate his arch rival and pre-empt the alliance by holding his own rally for the BJP.

Mr Bansi Lal was accompanied by his trusted colleague from the BJP in his Cabinet, Prof Ganeshi Lal. Professor Lal, who enjoys considerable clout in the BJP and is a trained RSS worker, is also said to be opposed to his party forming an alliance with the INLD in Rajasthan.

In fact, along with the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj, are said to have prevented an alliance between Mr Chautala's party and the BJP for the 1996 assembly elections, which saw Mr Bansi Lal into the Chief Minister's chair.

The Indian National Lok Dal, which enjoys considerable clout among Jat voters in Rajasthan, primarily because of Devi Lal, has been planning to contest at least 60 seats from Rajasthan, which goes to the polls on November 25. It is said to have already reached an understanding with the BJP on the issue.

Mr Om Prakash Chautala's son, Mr Ajay Chautala is currently an MLA from Nahore in Hanumangarh district. Although he is unlikely to seek re-election from here, given his growing interest in Haryana politics, his party wants to play a dominant role in these elections through and alliance with the BJP.

The seat currently represented by an independent MLA, Mr Gian Singh, who is reported to have obtained the Congress ticket this time.

Mr Bansi Lal has ostensibly gone to Bhadra to meet the Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Som Pal in connection with approval for a flood relief programme.

But addressing a public meeting along with the Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Som Pal, his game plan became evident when he came heavily on the INLD for trying to venture into the "troubled waters" of Rajasthan.

He said the INLD has lost its significance. Mr Chautala had been rejected by the people of Haryana. So now he was trying to fight elections in Rajasthan. Mr Bansi Lal said, three generations of Mr Devi Lal's family were defeated in the last Lok Sabha elections — Mr Devi Lal from Rohtak, Mr Ajay Chautala form Bhiwani and Mr Ranjit Singh, one of the Devi Lal's sons from Hisar on the Congress ticket.

He also criticised the opposition Congress saying the Congress was no longer a party of freedom fighters but of corrupt opportunists. Lauding the achievements of the BJP government at the centre and in Rajasthan, he said, it was the BJP that had provided a riot-free government.

Addressing the meeting, Mr Som Pal criticised the Congress for trying to create instability in the country. He pointed out that the Congress had "absolutely failed" farmers during its over four-decade rule as it failed to formulate a sound agriculture policy. He was, however, silent on the INLD and Mr Chautala.

By criticising the INLD from a BJP platform and in its bastion, Mr Bansi Lal seems to have complicated matters from the BJP.

For it is not just in Rajasthan that the BJP's fate will be linked with the INLD but in Delhi, as well. By coming out openly against the INLD, he had conveyed in clear terms that he would not like his coalition partner to sup with his arch rival.

Mr Bansi Lal is also using his influence over BJP leaders of the state like Prof Ganeshi Lal to the best possible extent. For by ensuring Prof Ganeshi Lal's presence in today's rally he has conveyed that he still enjoys support in the BJP. Interestingly no BJP MLA from Rajasthan was present at Mr Bansi Lal's meeting.

The coming days will witness hectic and strategic lobbying by different groups that may give rise to strange political formations which are unlikely to help a desperate BJP.

INLD forms panel for Rajasthan
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 1 — The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) today announced the formation of a seven-member committee headed by former MP Mr Ramji Lal Yadav to scrutinise and recommend the names of party candidates for the Rajasthan Assembly elections.The other members of the panel are Mr Vijay Singh Bhandari, Mr Nand Lal, Mrs Vimla Ola, Mr Ramesh Choudhary, Mr Nizam Ahmed and Mr Kesar Dev Mehrada, a party note said here today.Meanwhile, party’s youth wing chief, Mr Ajay Singh Chautala today challenged the Lok Dal President, Mr Ajit Singh, to make it public who made him the chief of the party.

He said only the INLD had been recognised by the Election Commission and it had a duly-elected President.

Mandakini visitsTV academy
From Our Correspondent

NOIDA, Nov 1 — Renowned Bollywood actress Mandakini accompanied by Kargyu Rimpoche visited the Asian Academy of Film and Television. Rimpoche said he would be launching his film “The Power of Compassion” early next year.

The Bollywood actress whose first film “Ram Teri Ganga Maili”, was a box-office hit has now switched to the small screen. Her pop album “No Vacancy” is a hit.

WWF seeks ban on shark fishing
NEW DELHI: The World Wide Fund (WWF-India) has called for a legislation for banning fishing of whale sharks in India. The whale shark has come under increasing threat for its meat, fin and liver, particularly along the 1,640-km-long coastline of Gujarat, where it has become the target of the fishing industry in Veraval and Okha, the WWF-I has said. Though there are reports of accidental catches from other maritime states, Gujarat, with the longest coastline, provides the best conditions for the fish catchers, the WWF-I has said in a newsletter. — PTI

Crisis centre closes for 2 weeks
NEW DELHI: A non-government organisation (NGO) running a successful day care centre for the emotionally disturbed for over two decades has “closed” its crisis intervention programme for two weeks following internal problems, it said on Sunday. “We are a self-motivated organisation and have the responsibility to maintain programmes started by us decades ago,” representatives of the NGO, Sanjivini, said. Parents of those affected by the closure of the programme in a letter said the abrupt decision had left its schizophrenic dependents “emotionally high and dry”. — PTI

12 decomposed bodies found
GUWAHATI: Twelve decomposed bodies of adivasi victims of recent ethnic clashes in Assam were found in Kokrajhar during a search operation, official sources said on Saturday. The bodies had been identified as belonging to victims of the September Bodo-adivasi clash in Gossaigaon sub division, the sources said from Kokrajhar. The search was launched from Wednesday by the district police and the CRPF following a complaint that 16 persons belonging to the adivasis were missing since September 15, the sources said. — PTI

Idols stolen from temple
JAIPUR: An ancient one-foot black stone statue of Lord Krishna, two metal idols and some ornaments were stolen from Arigopal Temple at Andhi village in Jaipur district on Thursday. The police said on Saturday the theft took place in the early hours of the morning. No one has been arrested so far. Meanwhile, the temple priest and villagers have gone on relay fast demanding early recovery of idols and arrest of those involved in the theft. Several shops in the village also downed their shutters to protest against the theft. — UNI

Fire destroys 7 shops
CALCUTTA: A major fire in Baranagore market near here destroyed seven shops, including two ration outlets, on Saturday night, the police said. The Baranagore police said 14 fire engines fought for one and a half hours to control the blaze. Four of them were still engaged in dousing the flickers. The police suspect the fire was caused by a short circuit. Details were awaited. — PTI