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August 1, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Phoolan had full security: Advani Police remand for Pankaj’s accomplices Terrorist network unearthed, 23 held South Block blast: 4
Hizb-ul ultras held |
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LS adjourned over killing of Dalits Centre keeping tabs on Chohan Directive to envoy on Pak gurdwaras MC, power board land dispute hots up
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Phoolan had full security: Advani New Delhi, July 31 Making a statement on the murder of the Samajwadi Party MP outside her residence, Mr Advani said Phoolan Devi had been provided with three plainclothes personal security officers who were functioning round-the-clock in three shifts. In addition, the Uttar Pradesh Government had provided an armed police personnel for her security. “This arrangement continued till the very end,” he said. Giving an account of Phoolan Devi’s murder, Mr Advani informed the House that on the fateful day the Samajwadi Party MP had gone to the Parliament House annexe dispensary for a physiotherapy session at the end of which she and her personal security officer, (PSO), Balinder Singh, were driven to her residence at 44, Ashoka Road, by Mr Raghuraj Singh Shakya, her party colleague and MP, in his car. She and her PSO alighted from the car outside her residence at 1.20 p.m. and as they were walking towards the entrance gate, the assailants wearing masks fired at them. Phoolan Devi’s security officer returned the fire. The MP was hit by six bullets from close range and was rushed to the nearby Dr Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where she was declared “brought dead.” The PSO who sustained serious bullet injuries and was operated upon on July 26. His statement was subsequently recorded on July 28 and 29 after he was declared fit to do so by the doctors. The masked assailants were reported to have fled away in their getaway car which they abandoned not far from the scene of the crime to make good their escape in an autorickshaw. A red alert was sounded and a massive operation was immediately launched to apprehend the killers. The driver in whose autorickshaw the assailants had escaped was traced, and questioned. The abandoned car was examined and some clues were picked which included two revolvers and some live and empty cartridges, he said. Mr Advani said inquiries on the day of the murder itself pointed to Pankaj, alias Sher Singh Rana as the prime suspect. He had earlier in the day come to Phoolan Devi’s residence along with Uma Kashyap and her husband, Vijay Kashyap. Mr Advani pointed out that Pankaj had driven the MP in the getaway car from her residence to outside Parliament House premises earlier. |
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Police remand for Pankaj’s accomplices New Delhi, July 31 Crime branch sources said Vicky is believed to have been in touch through cell phones with the four suspects before and after the slaying of the Samajwadi Party MP on July 25. Two cell phones and two Sim cards, along with chargers, were seized from the suspects. The sources said the arrest of Vicky could well provide evidence to conclude whether there was a political angle to the murder or not. Police parties have been sent to several cities in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, Pankaj’s three accomplices — Ravinder, Shekhar and Rajbir — who were arrested from Saharanpur yesterday, have been brought to the Capital and are being interrogated separately. They were remanded in police custody today. Metropolitan Magistrate Mahesh Gupta remanded the three in 14-day police custody and directed the crime branch of the Delhi police to produce them before the court on August 14. Public Prosecutor Irfan Ahmed told the court that the three had corroborated the statement of Pankaj made before the Delhi police about the sequence of events leading to the killing and their movements thereafter. Police sources said the suspects were making contradictory statements. While earlier Ravinder, a distant cousin of Pankaj, alias Sher Singh Rana, had reportedly claimed that he had fired at the personal security officer (PSO) of Phoolan Devi, later he retracted and claimed that he and the other two suspects had nothing to do with the murder. They had surrendered because they came to know from media reports that Pankaj had named them. Pankaj, who was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital on Saturday after he complained of hypertension, was back to normal and was discharged later. The two country-made guns seized at the behest of the suspects and which are alleged to have been used in the murder have been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for a ballistic examination. According to the police, the weapons were reportedly picked up by Keshav Chand Chauhan, a party worker immediately after the incident and hidden in the garage. These were seized following the interrogation of Ranjit Parshad, an employee of the late MP. A police party has been sent to Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh to trace Chauhan to ascertain his role in the conspiracy. |
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Terrorist network unearthed, 23 held New Delhi, July 31 With the arrest of these people, the government also claimed to have foiled major terrorist attacks in various sensitive installations in the country, including Sena Bhavan here, and the elimination of some political leaders in the country. Briefing newspersons, Union Home Secretary Kamal Pande said the arrests were carried out from Delhi, Hyderabad, Jalgaon and Kanpur and were jointly executed by Central Intelligence agencies and the police of Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. “For some time now the security agencies and the police forces have been keeping a watch over and monitoring the activities of some suspected persons and as a consequences as many as 23 operatives of this terrorist network have been rounded up in different parts of the country for arrests and questioning of their involvements,” Mr Pande said. “We have thus successfully unearthed an entire a network comprising Hizbul Mujahideen and SIMI which involved in 14 cases terrorist violence resulting in 15 deaths and injuries to 18 personnel last year and this year,” the Home Secretary said. Some of the significant cases solved due to their arrests include the planting of explosive devices in the Central Secretariat, Sena Bhavan in Delhi, Gomati Express, Sabarmati Express and outside RSS Headquarters in Nagpur, he said adding with these arrests the intelligence and police forces had successfully foiled carrying out of Fidayeen attacks at Sena Bhavan, planting explosive devices in sensitive installations in Central Delhi, terrorist activities in Hyderabad, causing explosions in UP and Delhi and killing of some political persons. |
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South Block blast: 4 Hizb-ul ultras held New Delhi, July 31 The militants — Gulzar Ahmed Wani, Ghulam Moinuddin Shah, Mumtaz Ahmed alias Maulana and Feroz — were arrested from the New Delhi railway station. The police seized RDX, other explosives, grenade launchers, grenade shells, detonators, timers and wireless sets from these men. While addressing mediapersons, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Ajai Raj Sharma, said besides Delhi, the militants also operated in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. They had confessed to be involved in the Agra and Kanpur blast. Fundamentalist groups, including an activist of the Student Islamic Movement of India, were among in their contacts. Gulzar Ahmed Wani is a postgraduate from
Aligarh Muslim University. He was sent back to the university again by Hizb-ul Mujahideen chief in Srinagar to make network there. He was doing Ph.D. During interrogation they have confessed to be involved in the planting of IED at North Block, twin blasts at a cycle stand in canteen of Sena Bhavan and South Block. They have also confessed their involvement in bomb explosion case at the BSF Headquarters at the CGO complex on the Lodhi Road, another high security establishment. In the high-security area of South Block the PMO, offices of the Defence and External Affairs and in North Block, the Home Ministry and the Finance Ministry and in Sena Bhavan, the office of the military intelligence are located. The explosive was recovered from a parking lot of North Block on April 11 where it was planted in a tiffin box. The culprits were nabbed after setting a trap at the New Delhi railway station. |
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LS adjourned over killing of Dalits New Delhi, July 31 Led by BSP leader Mayawati, Opposition members trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans demanding the resignation of the BJP-led state government. They demanded an immediate discussion on the issue, forcing abrupt adjournment of the House for the day. Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi’s efforts to restore order proved futile as the members continued to stall proceedings. In the din, the papers listed on the day’s agenda were tabled. A statement by Home Minister L.K. Advani on the killing of Phoolan Devi was also tabled. Congress members were heard demanding the presence of the Prime Minister in the House and a statement from him on his resignation offer made at the BJP parliamentary party meeting this morning. The House was earlier adjourned till 2 p.m. on the same issue. |
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Centre keeping tabs on Chohan New Delhi, July 31 “Both the Centre and the Punjab Government are keeping a watch on the utterances and the activities of Dr J.S. Chohan”, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr Vidyasagar Rao, informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply today. The minister’s reply said: “The Punjab Government had also informed that action would be taken against Dr Chohan as per the law, as and when warranted”. On a question whether any precautionary measures were being taken to ensure that the situation in Punjab does not return to the terrorism-hit days of eighties, the Lok Sabha was told that the government had adopted a “coordinated and multi-pronged approach” for tackling the activities of militants. |
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Directive to envoy on Pak gurdwaras New Delhi, July 31 In a communication to National Commission for Minorities Vice-Chairman Tarlochan Singh on July 24, Mr Jaswant Singh said he had specially asked Mr Nambiar to take necessary “follow-up” action. Mr Tarlochan Singh had met Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf here on July 14. It was at General Musharraf’s behest that he handed the visiting dignitary a note about the dilapidated condition of gurdwaras in Pakistan. General Musharraf had assured Mr Tarlochan Singh that he would initiate action in this regard. |
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MC, power board land dispute hots up Hanumangarh, July 31 The disputed piece of land is situated near Bhagat Singh Chowk of the city. The municipal council has claimed again that the land belongs to it and the electricity board has been occupying it illegally. Refuting the allegations of the municipal council, board officials say the land was allotted to it years ago. The controversy arose in April when the board cut the power supply of the streetlights of the city over the non-payment of the electricity bills. The municipal council reacted by saying that a payment of about Rs 60 lakh was due from the board as it had “illegally” possessed a piece of land measuring 2,310 sq yards in the city, which belonged to the municipal council. The Board officials had said the land was allotted to it in 1969. No agreement could be reached between the two parties at that time. Sources in the electricity board said the municipal council was using this ruse to avoid making payments of electricity bills due from it. According to these sources in a letter no. 15759 of July 9, 1999, it was made clear the land was allotted to the board. The letter also said that payment for this piece of land could be collected from the board as it had occupied the land by getting the registry in its favour. The officials said the board was ready to follow the instructions given in the letter. Whereas the municipal council wants payment at the prevailing land rates, the board says it will make the payment at rates which prevailed at the time of the allotment of the land. It is learnt that the council is preparing to write a letter to the board demanding payment for the land. |
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More A-I flights made non-smoking New Delhi, July 31 The domestic legs of all flights within India will, as earlier, remain non-smoking. This move follows a call by the WHO. |
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Lok Janshakti
rally today New Delhi, July 31 |
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New Delhi, July 31
