Dharamsala, July 18
The fast track court of Kangra yesterday released on bail all four accused in the Aman Kachroo ragging death case. They were released against a personal bond of Rs 50,000 along with a surety of same amount.

The accused have been released on bail after a time period of about 16 months. They were students of Tanda Medical College and were accused of killing first-year-student Aman Satya Kachroo while ragging in March last year.A case under Section 302 of the IPC was registered against the accused, including Abhinav Verma, Mukul Sharma, Navin Verma and Ajay. The incident had evoked a nationwide uproar. The Supreme Court (SC) had issued notices to the state government and medical college authorities after the incident following which the then college principal was put under suspension. The state government was also forced to issue an ordinance to enforce anti-ragging law as per the Raghawan Committee suggestions.

Anti-ragging committees were formed in all institutions of higher learning. The committees have shown results as ragging incidents have gone down considerably in professional colleges of Himachal this year.

Aman’s family had alleged that he was hit by the accused due to which he sustained internal injuries that led to his death.However, councils for the accused maintained that Aman was suffering from heart disease that led to his death, a fact denied by the victim’s family. 

New Delhi, July 18
For the Kachroo family, this day marks the end of a long wait for justice. A little over 15 months ago, their only son, Aman, was killed in a freak ragging incident on the campus of Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, where he studied. Yesterday, the four students accused of killing Aman walked out on bail, delivering a huge blow to the national anti-ragging movement, which Aman’s death inspired.

“All this while, we kept faith in the state’s commitment to protect children and send a strong message to those who played with the lives of others. But with the bail of the accused in Aman’s case, my hope has given way. It’s an indication that the government has no commitment to end ragging, a reflection of the way things work in our country -- judgments are delivered, promises are made, and then everything falls apart like a pack of cards,” Raj Kachroo, Aman’s father told The Tribune today. Since last evening, when the news arrived that a Kangra court had granted bail to Ajay Verma, Naveen Verma, Abhinav Verma and Mukul Sharma, charged with the murder of Aman, a lull has gripped the Kachroo household.

“We were hoping that this case, which became a symbol of anti-ragging campaign in India, would be decided on priority. We never thought the accused would get bail. We were awaiting a sentence,” Indra Dhar, Aman’s aunt said. The family’s desperation is natural considering the faith they put in the state government to fight the case. They didn’t even become a party to it. “We believed that this case was between the state and the accused. But we have been failed. Yesterday, not only did the accused get bail, their charges were diluted,” Kachroo added.

Asked if he would challenge the dilution of charges, he said he was not out to seek revenge. “All I wanted was speedy justice. Now that hope has died. The state prosecutor had a foolproof case, but he squandered the chance. He had the post-mortem report that confirmed that Aman died after his head was banged against a wall. He had eyewitness accounts of 21 students. But everything has been wasted,” rued the man.

New Delhi, July 18
External Affairs Ministry official Madhuri Gupta, who is in jail on charges of spying for Pakistan, was looking for blueprints of Salal Hydel project in Poonch district and of a coal mine in Kalakote during her visit to Jammu in March-April this year.

This came to light during investigations into the case by security agencies which were trying to ascertain the purpose of the visit of the diplomat to Rajouri district.

Contrary to earlier reports that she had picked up a packet, the 53-year-old Gupta is understood to have failed to reach her contact from whom she had to take blueprints pertaining to these projects. — PTI

Mumbai, July 18
Cutting across the party lines, the MPs and MLAs from Maharashtra’s Nanded district asked former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naiduto return home this evening. The meeting held at Dharmabad town warned that a bandh would be held in the entire district on Monday if Naidu and hissupporters persisted on visiting the disputed Babhli dam site.

An all-party meeting held in Maharashtra's Nanded district on Sunday afternoon demanded that Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu withdraw his anti-dam agitation and leave the state by the evening, an official said.

The opposition to Naidu’s visit is being orchestrated by the Congress party leaders in Nanded with local MP Bhaskarrao Khatgaonkar and MLA Omprakash Pokarna mobilising support for the proposed Nanded bandh tomorrow.

Speaking to reporters at Dharmabad, Khatgaonkar and his colleagues alleged that Naidu was holding protests in Maharashtra as part of his strategy to remain relevant in AP politics.

Byelections would be held in the Telengana district on July 27. Telengana lies close to the Maharashtra border and supply of water from the Babhli dam remains a contentious issue.

Naidu along with his followers arrived in Maharashtra on Friday on a mission to inspect the Babhli Dam. However, the state administration arrested them and confined them to the technicaltraining institute at Dharmabad. Naidu and his colleagues have refused to accept bail and have been sent to judicial custody till Monday.

New Delhi, July 18
New Delhi is surprised over the contradictory statements being made by Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi since Thursday when his talks with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna broke down in Islamabad.

According to sources, his latest statement that he never said that Krishna was on phone with New Delhi during the prolonged parleys is clearly an ‘afterthought’ as it seems that he has earned the wrath of his ‘masters’ in Islamabad for his language.

The Pakistani minister had alleged on Friday that Krishna was taking instructions from Delhi all the time during the meeting. The sources privy to the failed talks said it was Qureshi and his team that was constantly on the phone during the marathon parleys.

“We had a very clear mandate when we went to Pakistan…there was absolutely no need for us to talk to anyone in Delhi after that. The groundwork for the Foreign Minister’s visit had already been by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao during her visit to Pakistan in June,” they added.

Qureshi’s other statement as part of his rhetoric against New Delhi that he would not visit India for a ‘leisure trip’ in November-December but for meaningful, result-oriented and constructive talks has also not gone down well here. “We have always said that we are prepared for a serious, sustained and meaningful dialogue on all issues…it was the negative attitude of the Pakistani side which killed the talks,’’ the sources added.

The two foreign ministers will be together in Kabul on Tuesday for a donors’ conference on Afghanistan. The sources said as of now a bilateral meeting on the margins of the Kabul conference was not on the cards. “Let the tempers cool down… there will be many more opportunities for the two ministers to meet in the coming days, they added.

Though New Delhi has defended in public Home Secretary GK Pillai’s statement linking Pakistan’s ISI with the Mumbai massacre, there are many in official circles who acknowledge that it was not the wisest thing to do on the eve of the Islamabad talks.

Pillai’s remarks clouded the talks to such an extent that India sought a definite answer from Pakistan on how it would expedite the trial of seven LET operatives in custody for their involvement in the Mumbai attacks and how it would check the activities of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, who was being allowed to roam freely in Pakistan.

Just as actors and cricketers are inexorably drawn to each other, politicians and Bollywood stars appear to be taken up with each other in equal measure. Many actors have, over the years, made a successful switch from the film world to the political arena.

Political parties are constantly vying with each other to draft them for their election campaign. So, it is not unusual to find politicians in Delhi socialising with members of the film fraternity. The high-profile Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel is a case in point.

While writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar and actor-director son Farhan Akhtar have been spotted in his office, the macho Salman Khan and girlfriend Katrina Kaif occasionally drop in for a late night session of kebabs and biryani at his residence.