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Sonia behind phone tapping: Mulayam
Ministry rubbishes charges |
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Abu Salem reveals all
Manmohan opens Delhi’s longest Metro line
Raj Thackeray seeks Vajpayee’s blessings
Containers had junk, not explosives
Police did not warn about attack, says
IISc Director
SAD divided on relief package
23 bar girls arrested
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Sonia behind phone tapping: Mulayam
Lucknow, December 30 He alleged that the tapping operation was aimed at him, his party’s general secretary Amar Singh and son Akhilesh Yadav among others. Making this sensational allegation before media, Mr Yadav said it was a planned operation to topple all non-Congress governments in the states. "I will soon be meeting other chief ministers to launch an offensive against this," he asserted. Mr Yadav father charged the Intelligence Bureau (IB) of being involved in the recent Operation Duryodhan and Operation Chakravayuh against MPs to divert attention from the Congress President in the Volcker oil-for-food scandal. Mr Yadav said former Foreign Minister Natwar Singh had been made a scapegoat to protect a family. "The Samajwadi Party has got details of where the Volcker money has been parked in London," Mr Yadav added. "We have particulars of phone calls made to a certain industrialist in London and of an industrialist making payments to a big organisation in the country," he said. Informing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of this "immoral, illegal and criminal activity" of taping telephonic conversations, Mr Yadav said he had learnt that the operation had been directed by 10 Janpath without the knowledge of the Prime Minister. He not only gave the PM a clean chit but also extended benefit of doubt to Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Mr Yadav said he had spoken to all of them since last night, sharing every bit of information in his possession, adding that it was possible that they might not be aware of the operation. Quoting "reliable" sources, Mr Yadav said the operation was carried out reportedly on the written orders of Delhi's Joint Commissioner, North Zone (Crime), Ranjit Narayan and Principal Secretary, Home, R Narayan Swamy. They had allegedly written two letters, dated October 22, 2005, and November 9, 2005, to their subordinate officers directing them to connect Mr Amar Singh's Lodhi Estate phone (011-39565414 and others) with 09811358986 so that the conversations could he heard and taped. Mr Yadav maintained that Delhi Police Commissioner K.K Paul had said "yes" to these calls being recorded. Mr Yadav accused Mr Narayanan and private secretary to Sonia Gandhi, UP cadre IAS officer, Pulak Chatterjee, of being a part of the "core team under the supervision of 10 Janpath" to tap his phone and those of other senior leaders of the party. Terming this reported interference of the IB into the personal life of political opponents as part of "Italian mafia culture", Mr Yadav said eavesdropping on personal matters and political proceedings and misusing the information was not just a crime but displayed a mindset opposed to healthy parliamentary traditions. Meanwhile, the Congress spokesman, Mr Akhilesh Pratap Yadav, taking strong exception to the charges, termed them as “ politically motivated ”.
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Ministry rubbishes charges
New Delhi, December 30 “ The allegation that the personal telephone of Mr Amar Singh is being monitored by the Delhi Police is totally baseless," Joint Secretary (IS) in the Home Ministry L. C. Goyal told newspersons here shortly after Mr Yadav made charges against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Lucknow. “ The matter has been thoroughly examined by the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, and the Principal Secretary (Home), Government of Delhi. “A case of forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy has been registered by the Delhi Police. The matter is being investigated by the Delhi Police expeditiously,” he said. He asserting that no phone was being tapped either on the instructions of the Delhi Police or the Union Home Ministry. The official said: “The documents and the evidence available with them (Mr Mulayam Singh) and with the telecom service provider, Reliance Infocom, cited as the basis of such monitoring, appears to be prima facie a clear case of forgery.” Mr Goyal said a case under relevant sections of the Indian Telegraph Act had also been registered by the Delhi Police, which was probing the case expeditiously.
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DCP: claims baseless
New Delhi, December 30 Terming the allegations of phone tapping as “baseless”, the Delhi Police Commissioner, Mr K. K. Paul, said: “No officer of the Delhi Police had tapped any phone of Mr Amar Singh.” |
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Abu Salem reveals all
Bangalore, December 30 Salem was “unstoppable” during the three-hour test conducted at the Bowring Institute here and has “given all the information that police wanted”, the sources said. The gangster, in sub-conscious state, also elaborated on the statement he made before the Mumbai police in which he disclosed the names of certain persons who were part of his financial chain of collection and distribution of money. “The results will give a new direction to our investigation,” a top ATS official said. “He gave far more details.” Salem had a long list of questions to answer. He was subjected to polygraph (lie-detector) and brain-mapping tests at the FSL here in the past two days. An FSL official said the report on the scientific tests would be ready tomorrow.
— PTI |
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Manmohan opens Delhi’s longest Metro line
New Delhi, December 30 After purchasing a token from the Rajiv Chowk station, the Prime Minister travelled to the next station at Barakhamba Road and back, before formally inaugurating the line at a ceremony there. Terming it a “good New Year’s gift to citizens of Delhi”, the Prime Minister said: “I hope it cheers our citizens”. He promised that the Centre would encourage all proven technologies to boost mass urban transport through rail, road and other means. He also unveiled a plaque, symbolising the completion of Phase-I, and pulled a lever to flag off the first train on the Barakhamba-Dwarka section. The metro line, which will also run underground, will be operational for general public from 6 am tomorrow. Construction work is still being carried out on a majority of the 22 stations being covered by Line-3. But DMRC officials assured that the line was completely operational, adding that the construction work will be completed in the next two months.
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Raj Thackeray seeks Vajpayee’s blessings Mumbai, December 30 While Raj Thackeray has already set his eyes on the country’s richest civic body, the original Shiv Sena is keen on retaining its 20-year old hold in the metropolis. And the BJP, which has played second fiddle to the Shiv Sena in Mumbai, is in an enviable position of choosing between the two Thackerays who are only too eager to please. Breaking protocol, Raj Thackeray along with his wife Sharmila decided to visit senior BJP leaders in the city where they had gathered to celebrate the party’s silver jubilee. After a short meeting with Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Mr L.K. Advani, Raj Thackeray said he had come to seek their blessings for his political foray. “Both Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani are my seniors and I came to seek their blessings,” Raj Thackeray said later. Earlier, former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi was present at the BJP’s rally at Shivaji Park. Since Raj Thackeray broke away from the Shiv Sena, BJP leaders in Maharashtra have kept lines of communication open with Raj Thackeray. Senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari was among those who called on Raj days after he announced his decision to launch his own party.
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Containers had junk, not explosives
New Delhi, December 30 “Yesterday the Navy Divers, using sonar system, had sighted two container-type material lying on the sea bed about 10 nautical miles off Mumbai Port. But that turned out to be huge junk,” a Home Ministry official said here today. He said more Navy divers had been pressed into service to locate the explosives. In a related development, Union Home Secretary V K Duggal and Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt chaired a high-level meeting here this evening alongwith senior intelligence, Coast Guards and Navy officials to chalk out the strategy to locate the explosives. Immediately after the meeting, the multi-agency security team formed in this case was asked to question the supplier of the explosives at Secunderabad, besides quizzing officials at the Bombay Port Trust. |
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Police did not warn about attack, says
IISc Director
Bangalore, December 30 The security in the institute was exposed during the high profile visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jaiabao on April 10 this year. A Tibetan youth leader, Tenzin Tsundue, was able to climb the tower on the fourth floor of the building and display a banner with the slogan “Free Tibet”. A police report on this security breach revealed that the sprawling 430 acre IISc campus was manned by only 30 security personnel at any given point of time, six supervisory officials and one senior policeman. Recently, the Deputy
Commissioner of Police (Central Division) G.B. Chebbi had visited the campus and reviewed the security arrangements with the IISc authorities and expressed the need for more stringent security. This visit, police officials say, was the result of general tip-offs that IT centres and scientific institutions could be targeted by terrorist outfits. The IISc Director, while reacting to these charges, today claimed “if anyone is to be blamed you can blame me”. The DGP, Mr B.S. Sial, said the police, was ready to hold workshops on industrial security immediately to enable institutions and corporate offices to streamline their security set-ups. |
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SAD divided on relief package
New Delhi, December 30 While SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal termed the compensation package as a “cruel joke” and “the very height of human insensitivity” for the victims settled in Punjab, the Delhi unit of the party said those settled in Punjab had amassed a large chunk of the compensation. Protestors, led by Akali workers, today held a dharna alleging that the New Delhi survivors of the carnage had not been adequately compensated. |
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23 bar girls arrested
Mumbai, December 30 |
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