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ISI activities on rise on Indo-Nepal border
Ultras sneaking in ‘from all over’
Hoax terror calls send cops in a tizzy
Cong may halt peace with Pak
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Mumbai cops in Kanpur
Supreme Court cautions High Courts against misuse of PILs
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ISI activities on rise on Indo-Nepal border
Patna, July 14 Sources disclosed that over the years the second largest city of Nepal, Birganj, has emerged as a major centre for sending counterfeit currency, drugs, explosives and arms to different parts of India through Bihar. The fresh steps taken by the Central and state intelligence agencies to take stock of the ISI activities on the Indo-Nepal border has assumed significance in the wake of the recent serial blasts in Mumbai. The state intelligence department had reportedly been tipped off today by the Nepal Police about the arrest of two Pakistanis from a five-star hotel in Kathmandu yesterday. The names of the arrested Pakistanis are Moiddin Siddiqui and Gulam Hasan Cheema. According to PTI they have been remanded to judicial custody for five days. According to sources they were also arrested by the Nepalese police five years ago in connection with the seizure of RDX from them. Sources said that in the backdrop of the arrests, the intelligence agencies were trying to probe whether the terrorists were using Nepal to hatch the plot of carrying out bomb blasts in Mumbai. Sources in the home department disclosed that intelligence officials had already reached Kathmandu to interrogate the two arrested Pakistanis. According to sources, the customs department had seized narcotics worth over Rs 1.4 crore in the past one year from the border areas of
Bihar. The intelligence wing was also worried over the free flow of fake currency notes in the denomination of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500. It was learnt that the police had seized such fakes notes in more than 200 different places on the Indo-Nepal border in past one year. The prima facie investigation by different wings of the law enforcing agencies indicated that more than 3,000 persons residing on the Indo-Nepal border, particularly in Sikrahna and Raxaul, had been enjoying dual citizenship by registering themselves in both India's and Nepal's voters' list. The ISI was reportedly targeting the Raxaul sub-division in Bihar as a recruiting ground for terrorists, with Birganj, allegedly, being the nerve centre of such obnoxious activities. The ISI was reportedly known for its activities on the Indo-Nepal border since 1996 following the arrest of over a dozen hardcore terrorists from Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Mumbai over the past few years. Sources in the intelligence agencies suspected that this might assume ominous proportion after the open admission by Al-Qaida of its presence in Jammu and Kashmir. The Intelligence Bureau Director E. I. L. Narshimhan had visited Raxaul to take stock of the reported growing activities of militants and smugglers along the border, allegedly patronised by the ISI, which has also been a source of concern for the local authorities too. The Union Home ministry presently has deployed 18 companies of central forces along with 900 Jawans of SSB between Bairgania and Sikta along the Indo-Nepal border to check any possible subversive activities by terrorists and smugglers.
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Ultras sneaking in ‘from all over’
New Delhi, July 14 “Now it is no more LoC. Terrorists are coming from all over. Earlier they used to come through the LoC largely. Now, they are using territories of many of our neighbouring countries, not just for infiltration but also for smuggling arms and explosives,” the Minister said. He pointed out that terrorists were working in a systematic manner and by choosing to pick different kinds of targets all over India, they wanted to convey a signal that they could strike at will, anywhere. In that case what was the Government of India doing, this correspondent asked. “We will not be overwhelmed by terrorism. India will eventually vanquish these forces. It is a long haul, though,” Mr Sharma responded. Asked what would be India’s response to the July 11 mayhem unleashed by terrorists in Mumbai and Srinagar and whether it meant end of the Indo-Pak peace process, the Minister gave a cautious but thinly-veiled response: “We will be very firm. We realise the gravity of the threat posed by terrorism. It is important that the Indian response is calibrated, mature and firm; not a knee-jerk reaction.” Mr Sharma said the terrorists’ objective had always been to derail the peace process ever since it started three years ago. However, he hastily added a word of caution, saying that Pakistan needed to act responsibly and deliver on Indian concerns regarding terrorism. “At the same time, it would not be wise for the region to remain trapped in eternal hatred and bloodletting.” In response to a pointed query from this correspondent whether India would be willing to confirm dates for the Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan, which were tentatively scheduled to take place here on July 20 and 21, the Minister said: “The talks will take place at an appropriate time.” When pressed further for a more elaborate answer, he remarked: “When incidents of such enormity as July 11 happen, they do vitiate the atmosphere. It is certainly not conducive to create the required atmosphere.
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Hoax terror calls send cops in a tizzy
New Delhi, July 14 Senior police officers and the bomb squads were first rushed to the Connaught Place area after a call was received that a bomb had been planted in the PVR Cinema complex half an hour after midnight. After a thorough check, the police declared a call a hoax. But no sooner had they done this that they received another call this time claiming that powerful explosives were planted at the recently inaugurated Askshardham temple in East Delhi. Again senior police and security officials rushed to the spot to monitor search of the sprawling complex. The temple complex is already under a heavy security net. Mercifully this call too proved a hoax. The police sources revealed that in between there were several other calls and all of them were subsequently found to be hoaxes but the exercise took a heavy toll of the already beleagured security personnel who have been on round the clock duty since the serial blast in Mumbai on Tuesday. Such hoax calls not only tend to tire out the personnel but also tend to break their concentration leading to lapses. Senior police officers said that once a call is received there is no way to ignore it. "We have to carry out the search even if we feel that the call is a hoax. We can not take chances under the circumstances when the intelligence reports have suggested that there may be more such terrorist related incidents", a senior security official said. Senior security and intelligence officers agree that it is not the vital installations in the National Capital Territory of Delhi but the soft targets which are a cause of major concern for them. While there is enough security in and around the vital installations, it is the soft target areas like the markets, restaurants and parks which need to be secured. Given the vast area of responsibility and the force available it is only natural that the presence of the khaki is only salutary.
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Cong may halt peace with Pak
New Delhi, July 14 The party and government’s changed stance comes a day after the BJP blamed the UPA government for being soft on terrorism It also
follows National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan’s briefing to Cabinet ministers in which he presented them with irrefutable proof that terrorists operating from Pakistani territory were responsible for the carnage in Mumbai. Speaking in tandem, both the Prime Minister and the Congress did not name Pakistan directly but underlined that despite firm assurances by Islamabad, there has been no let-up in the incidence of cross-border terrorism. Addressing a Press conference in Mumbai, Dr. Singh maintained that “these terror modules are instigated, inspired and supported by elements
across the border”, adding that it would be difficult to carry forward the peace process in these circumstances. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi today spoke in the same vein when he stated that the recent dastardly attacks in Mumbai and Srinagar showed that cross-border terrorism has not diminished. “It is an open secret that interests inimical to India are allowed to operate with impunity from across the border,” he said, adding emphatically that such inhuman acts could not continue side by side with attempts to normalise relations with neighbouring countries. Echoing the Prime Minister, the Congress also made it clear that unless a conducive atmosphere for talks is created, definite change on the ground, “nothing can be ruled out”, implying that India should then put a halt to the ongoing peace process,
beginning by calling off the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries. This is a clear shift in the party’s position which two days ago, had stated that confidence building measures with Pakistan will continue. The Prime Minister’s televised address to the nation had also been silent on Pakistan’s role in these attacks. Quick to cash in on the Congress and Centre’s ambivalence, the BJP immediately went on the offensive. It charged the UPA government for its laxity on internal security which, according to the BJP, had made India a soft state. The BJP also announced its plan to despatch Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, also the party’s best-known Hindutva face, to Mumbai on Monday. While bowing to public sentiment on the issue of cross-border terrorism, the Congress balanced its attack against Pakistan by taking up cudgels on behalf of the Palestine people sending out a message to its minority support base. In a suo moto statement, the Congress condemned the
indiscriminate and disproportionate use of military force by Israel which, it said, had placed enormous hardship on innocent Palestinians.
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Mumbai cops in Kanpur
Lucknow, July 14 It is learnt that following surveillance of telephone calls made immediately before the blasts the Kanpur connection is being explored. While, Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav have turned soft on the Students Islamic Movement of India, virtually giving it a clean chit. Kanpur is said to be stronghold of the banned organisation. Its state President Mohammad Aamir belongs to Kanpur and is the trusted lieutenant of its national president Shahid Badr Falahi.
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Teachers lathi-charged, govt apologises
Patna, July 14 Eight policemen also sustained injuries as the mob pelted stones at them. These temporary teachers were appointed as ‘lok sikshaks’ by the NDA government in 2002-03 as part of the “Sarvasiksha Abhiyan” across the country to educate children in those villages where there were no schools within a one km radius. The agitating teachers demanded a hike in their remuneration and permanent placement. On behalf of the government, the state home secretary Afzal Amanaullah apologised for the lathi-charge by the police. He, however, said that the police were compelled to resort to force when the teachers tried to break a security cordon and blocked the VIP R-block square in an attempt to meet the top brass of the state administration. However, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave an assurance through Mr Amanullah to recruit 60 per cent of a total of 22,000 temporary teachers in the state as permanent teachers during the forthcoming recruitment drive to fill-up 2.5 lakh vacant and new posts in the schools.
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Supreme Court cautions High Courts
New Delhi, July 14 “The public interest litigation which has now come to occupy an important filed in the administration of law should not be publicity interest litigation, or private interest litigation, or political interest litigation or the latest trend as paise (money) income litigation,” a Bench of Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat and Mr Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta held, while laying down detailed guidelines for high courts to deal with the PILs. The Court said of late “busybodies, middlesome interlopers, wayfarers or officious interveners having absolutely no public interest except for personal gain or private profit either of themselves or as a proxy of others or for any other extraneous motivation or for glare of publicity break the queue muffing their faces by wearing the mask of PILs and get into the court… thus indulge in criminal wastage of courts’ valuable time.” This many times resulted in delay in hearing other cases and created frustration in the minds of genuine litigants and in the process loose their faith in the justice delivery system itself, the apex court said cautioning the high courts to tread with care in dealing with PILs. The apex court laid down a five-point criteria for high courts to satisfy themselves before admitting the PILs. These include, testing of the credentials of petitioner, verifying the correctness of information, facts not to be vague and indefinite and strike a balance between two conflicting interests, not to allow any one to indulge in wild and reckless allegations besmirching the character of others and avoidance of public mischief. “In such cases the courts cannot be afford to be liberal. They have to be extremely careful to see that under the guise of redressing a public grievance, it does not encroach upon the sphere reserved by the Constitution to the executive and legislature,” it said. If a PIL failed on these tests, the high courts should throw it out as it was necessary to filter out the frivolous petitions with heavy costs from the genuine ones so that no petition was filed with “oblique motive”, the apex court said. The direction came on an appeal by Kusum Lata from UP, whose PIL on the issue of state’s mines and minerals rules was rejected by Allahabad High Court after finding it not maintainable. The apex court upheld the High Court order as she was found to be an interesting party by the High Court.
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