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Monday,
September 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Police not equipped to fight terrorism:
experts Naidu’s call to curb
terrorism Haryana Govt justifies release of
convicts Mauritius seeks tech transfer from Haryana SFI threatens stir on fee
hike |
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6 robbers held under ‘Operation
Night Vigil’ HC judge inspects Bhiwani courts Japanese fever claims 5 lives Farmers demand compensation
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Police not equipped to fight terrorism:
experts Hisar, September 16 The Haryana Police, for instance, had raised a battalion in 1988, through special recruitment, to deal with the terrorist activities. The men for this elite battalion were chosen specially for their special physical and mental qualities necessary to deal with the terrorist activities. These men served meritoriously but most of them have since been absorbed into the district police and with age have lost the special skills required to counter terrorists. Mr Rajpal Singh, SP, and winner of the President’s Police Medal, who has considerable experience in anti-terrorist operations, said: “The face of terrorism has changed beyond recognition over the past few years. The modern day terrorists are far better equipped and skilled than their counterparts in the early nineties. They now speak several languages, handle different and far deadlier weapons with ease and are trained far more professionally. They are also highly motivated and have a much better understanding of international politics and diplomacy.” He said the ordinary police, thus was not fully prepared to meet the challenges posed by the present day terrorism. “Policemen deployed on anti-terrorist duty should possess special skills. This can be done by recruiting men naturally endowed with extraordinary mental and physical agility as had been done in Haryana in 1988. Anti-terrorist forces must have sophisticated weapons to match the terrorists’ weaponry. These men must also be highly motivated and their sense of duty and bravery must be of the highest order if they have to counter insurgency”, he said. Mr Rajpal Singh, who is credited with apprehending dreaded Sikh terrorists responsible for the massacre of 39 bus passengers at Daryapur near here in 1987, said modern day terrorists relied heavily on sophisticated communications equipment and information technology (IT) of which the ordinary policemen had no idea. Thus, anti-terrorist forces must have a scientific background with a fair idea of information technology and computers if they were to perform creditably. However, our policemen were yet to acquire these skills, he added. He said the morale of these special forces must be maintained at the highest level and to do so it was necessary that they had some kind of legal amnesty. Pointing to the large number of Punjab Police officers facing prosecution for actions during the period of insurgency, he said that such legal exercises only meant that in future the dedicated officers would think twice before putting their lives at risk fighting the insurgents. A senior Army intelligence officer, who did not want to be named, said the rules of the game had changed over the years. With the IT and
communications coming of age in the country, the task of keeping a tab on activities of anti-nationals and terrorists had become more difficult. He felt that though the Army maintained a close liaison with senior police officers now for exchange of information and assessing requirements, he found that the ordinary policemen were simply not up to the job. “They are neither trained nor educated enough. In such circumstances, it was difficult for the police to act against terrorists effectively”, he added. He said the Army was already training its men at all levels in counter insurgency operations. But the same was not true of the state police forces in general. He said the police training methodology must be changed so that every new recruit was given some training in counter insurgency operations. Mr Rajpal Singh, on the other hand, said it was necessary to train the police trainers first because only top rated trainers could in turn train policemen to meet the challenges of the modern day terrorism. Both of them agreed that the recent American incidents had given an entirely new dimension to how far terrorists can strike. They said since terrorist organisations tend to emulate acts of each other, the security forces in the region need to assess their preparedness afresh. The present structure of the police, they felt, could not be expected to face the situation. |
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Naidu’s call to curb
terrorism Ambala, September 16 Talking to mediapersons before the start of a meeting of BJP workers from Ambala, Panchkula, Yamunanagar and Kurukshetra districts here, Mr Naidu said there was a need for more penal punishment for such heinous crimes. Mr Naidu said, “We have to be in a state of alertness”. He said the terrorist attacks on the USA was a matter of grave concern for the civilised world. “A joint attack is needed on the terrorist training centres and hideouts”, he said. He said India was already affected by terrorism which was a crime against humanity. “We have been a victim of terrorism and now the world is realising the gravity of the situation,” he said. “Pakistan is aiding and abetting terrorism. Now Pakistan should hand over Dawood Ibrahim to us and withdraw support to jehad. It is a well-known secret that terrorist camps are being run in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” he added. Mr Naidu said if support was not extended to terrorists then terrorism could be tackled in a fortnight. “Regarding Kashmir, we have always said that we are ready for bilateral talks,” he said. He said terrorism was not religion-based since a terrorist could not have any religion. “The Prime Minister is in touch with the Opposition regarding the developments following the terrorist attacks on the USA. The government is assessing the situation,” Mr Naidu said and added that support to the USA would be extended keeping our national interests in mind. Referring to the Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), Mr Naidu said the scheme would be started this month. “The main aim is to target rural people and provide them employment guarantee. If they are ready to work, then work will be provided by the government,” he said. Mr Naidu said the draft proposal of the SGRY was ready and would be forwarded to the Cabinet within four days. “The government is ready to implement this scheme and it has been endorsed by the standing committee with representatives of 12 states, besides four Union Ministers,” he said. The scheme was for Rs 10,000 crore of which Rs 5,000 crore would be for foodgrain and the rest would be monetary. While 75 per cent of the foodgrain would be provided by the centre, the rest would be provided by the state government, he said. “The employment-oriented schemes like the Employment Assurance Scheme and the Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana would be merged into the SGRY. There are three parts of the scheme. The first is food security, the second is asset creation in rural areas and the third is employment guarantee,” he said. Mr Naidu said stress would be laid on he water rejuvenation programme and rainwater harvesting. The allocation to the states would be based, among other things, on the basis of people living below the poverty line and the landless people. “We want that panchayats should have a major role in the scheme,” he said. To a query, Mr Naidu emphasised that the deaths in Orissa were not due to starvation but due to malnutrition. Under the food-for-work programme, 23 lakh tonnes of foodgrain were allotted to states affected by droughts and floods. Of that only 14.11 lakh tonnes were lifted by the states and only 7.21 lakh tonnes distributed, he said. |
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Haryana Govt justifies release of
convicts Chandigarh, September 16 The government broke its prolonged silence on the controversy and issued a press statement here claiming that the cases had been decided with due regard to the constitutional provisions. Quoting a spokesman of the government’s Home Department, an official release said that 13 convicts had been released by the Governor by exercising powers under Article 161. The released convicts were involved in 11 different cases. Six of them had already undergone sentences ranging from 10 years to 19 years. In many states, which included Haryana, there were numorous instances where without the exercise of powers under Article 161, a life sentence was completed after imprisonment of eight and a half years to nine years, due to liberal provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and parole rules which primarily aimed at reforming convicts. It said regarding convicts Pawan Kumar and Kartar Singh, the imprisonment awarded to them was one year and two years, respectively. As per Section 360 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), it was mandatory to grant probation to the accused person whenever the sentence was less than seven years. Section 361 of the CrPC further stated that if probation was not granted then reasons should be assigned as to why it was not granted. In view of such provisions the exercise of powers under Article 161 by the Governor should not be questioned at all in these cases, especially when it was done with due circumspection and caution. The Supreme Court took a similar view regarding powers under Article 72 of the President and Article 161 of the Governor in the well-known case of Kehar Singh , the release said. Referring to three other cases, the release said that Nirmal Singh was sentenced to death by the trial court but his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment by the high court which was sustained by the Supreme Court. The total period of sentence undergone by the convict was seven years four months and 29 days. The release claimed that the case of Nirmal Singh was one which was not supported by any living witness. The kith and kin of the four murdered persons, including the eye witnesses, did not support the prosecution case and rather refused to identify him as the murderer . As many as 11 others injured, allegedly by a sten gun, also did not support the prosecution case. The release, however, stopped short of calling the court verdict flawed, and said that without going into the question of whether the judiciary was wrong, what weighed with the government was that 20 MLAs, two MPs, the gram panchayat and even the complainant party had supported the case for pardon. It added that the released prisoner had lost his land, his father was murdered, his brother died under mysterious circumstances and there was no one to support Nirmal Singh’s wife and two minor children. Three other convicts who were set free were Sat Parkash, Satbir and Himmat Singh. They were accused of murdering Jasbir Singh. According to the government, the murder was the result of rivalry between two factions of university students. They were released under Article 161 since it was felt that it was faction rivalry which led to naming of the three accused who were acquitted by the trial court but convicted by the Supreme Court. They were also found to have good conduct, were postgraduates and married with children. “ There were sufficient reasons from which it could be inferred that they would not be a menace to society and would not repeat or indulge in any kind of offence”, the release said. Regarding the release of Shryian Kumar Jain, convicted for the murder of Krishan Kumar , the release said that he was convicted along with four others by the Sessions Judge. The high court acquitted him and two others but the Supreme Court again convicted two of them, including Jain. He was granted pardon initially by the Governor on January 25, 1999. The order was challenged in the Supreme Court which set it aside on the ground that the entire facts were not before the Governor while exercising powers under Article 161 and there was no application of mind while granting pardon. However, the Supreme Court concluded that the quashing of the order did not debar the Governor from reconsidering the matter. Subsequently, the convict’s prayer was again considered by the Governor and he was released on June 15, 2001. Some of the facts which weighed in favour of his release were that he was a young man, a postgraduate who had responsibility for his 81 year-old mother, wife and two minor children, the release said. |
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Mauritius seeks tech transfer from Haryana New Delhi, September 16 A request to this effect was made by the Mauritius High Commi-ssioner to India, Mr Daneelal Seewoo, when he called on the Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala here last evening. The High Commissioner also said he had visited the industrial model township (IMT) at Manesar developed by the HSIDC near Gurgaon and was highly impressed with the level of infrastructure there. He felt that a delegation led by the Haryana Chief Minister should visit Mauritius immediately for scouting
investment at IMT, Manesar. He also invited the entrepreneurs from Haryana for making investment in Mauritius. |
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SFI threatens stir on fee hike Rohtak, September 16 The students of Maharaja Agrasen college for women at Jhajjar boycotted classes for the third consecutive day yesterday to protest against “exorbitant” hike in fee structure. In a joint statement here today, Beenu and Bharti, president and secretary of the joint committee of the SFI, respectively, said the college authorities charged from Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 from a student this year. Moreover, they alleged the college principal misbehaved with the delegates of students and threatened to lodge a complaint with the police against the office-bearers of the SFI which extended support to the students’ agitation. The student leaders said a large number of poor students would be deprived of the Right to Education if the ‘considerable’ hike in the fee structure was not withdrawn. The college principal could not be contacted in this connection. |
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6 robbers held under ‘Operation
Night Vigil’ Fatehabad, September 16 The SP, Mr Hanif Qureshi, told mediapersons here today that on the orders of the Director-General of Police, “Operation Night Vigil” had been launched all over the state. The operation included intensive patrolling and nakabandi from dusk to dawn coupled with crackdown on criminals. The SP said on the very first day of the operation today, the police on a tip off raided a hideout in the wee hours, arresting Pawan, Krishan, Banti and Jarnail, all residents of Kaithal town, and Jagmal and Jagroop, both brothers and residents of Dband village near Kaithal. The police recovered two countrymade pistols, four cartridges, four ceiling fans, a television set and a Maruti car. |
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HC judge inspects Bhiwani courts Bhiwani, September 16 According to sources, Mr Justice Kathuria stopped his car and staff away from the complex and arrived the courts on foot. He inspected the working of the staff in various courts like a common man. Later, the visit was marked by judges. Mr Justice Kathuria is the inspection judge for the district. He took report of the pending cases from different courts and addressed members of the Bar Association. He stressed upon providing cheap and speedy justice. |
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Japanese fever claims 5 lives Kurukshetra, September 16 Social activists, who gathered information on the disease and its victims, claimed that Kavita (19) of Kurukshetra University, Hina (5) of Fauji Colony, Sangita (8) of Peerwali Gali at Thanesar, Raghunath of Nalwai village and Mathura Prasad of Panchkula had died of the disease in the Civil Hospital here. Four people are under treatment, they added. Dr Bhutani said blood samples had been sent to a Delhi laboratory for
investigation. UNI |
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Farmers demand compensation Sirsa, September 16 According to the information received here today, the farmers took out a procession through the main bazars of the town causing a traffic jam for two hours. Earlier, they gathered at the Kisan Rest House. They were addressed by the president of the Kisan Morcha, Mr Ramesh
Bhadu, who demanded that the farmers should be compensated by the government after making a survey of the loss suffered by them. |
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