New Delhi, September 20
Delhi police has sent its teams to several places, especially in western UP, in an attempt to unravel the mystery behind the yesterday’s shootout outside Jama Masjid and the terrorists’ failed attempt of allegedly detonating a car bomb at a nearby crowded same place.

Security officials said they had important leads and if they worked out, there could be a breakthrough as early as in next 24 hours. It has also been confirmed that the mail purportedly sent by Indian Mujahideen claiming responsibility for the terror attack was sent from Mumbai.

Delhi Police Commissioner YS Dadwal said the case would be cracked and showed a change in police opinion by saying that the terror angle could not be ruled out. The police had yesterday discounted the possibility of some terror outfit’s involvement in the attack. One of the problems facing cops is varying eyewitness accounts as they spoke to more than 30 persons, who claimed to have witnessed the attackers. Some said the gunmen were not wearing any helmets and they could recognise them while many others said they were in helmets. They also had different versions about the make and registration number of the bike they were riding upon.

Police sources said they have picked up samples of ammonium nitrate from the car, which had caught fire after a mild blast, parked about 100 metres from the Jama Masjid. The samples have been sent to the CFSL for forensic examination while police sources believed that two bombs with timers set at different times were planted in the car. “The bomb did not go off probably because of loose pressure cooker lid. There could have been disaster and police is now wondering whether these bombs were meant to be the main attack with shooting at foreigners being a diversionary tactics,” said the official.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police, which is investigating the matter, is also checking the details of youths from a particular UP district. Many IM terrorists were from the district. Police teams have been sent to Bijnore, Meerut and Agra chasing some leads as well. The injured Taiwanese tourists, Ko Chang and Ku Ze Wei, both in their 20s, are said to be stable and recovering at LNJP hospital here.

Meanwhile, the elite National Security Guards — who are drawn from the Army’s frontline infantry battalions — will take over the Commonwealth Games village tomorrow. 

New Delhi, September 20
A day after the attack on Taiwanese tourists near Jama Masjid and the subsequent issuance of travel advisories by the US, the UK, New Zealand and Australia, Tourism Minister Kumari Selja today asserted that India was a safe place for tourists and that the country’s security agencies were well equipped to look after its foreign guests.

Talking to The Tribune, the Tourism Minister appealed to tourists and tourism fraternity “not to panic by such stray incidents”. “India is a safe destination and safety and security of tourists is the utmost concern of the government.”

Notably, yesterday’s attack came on the eve of the Commonwealth Games — beginning October 3 — thus raising doubts about security aspects during the 12-day sporting extravaganza.

While investigation agencies are at work to bring culprits to book, government sources indicate that yesterday’s incident was more of a “local effort”. A letter, which Indian Mujahideen claimed it had sent, said the attack on tourists was “an act of retribution for the 2008 Batla House encounter”.

Selja said she had instructed her ministry’s offices in other countries to present the incident in the right perspective and promote India as a safe destination. “The attack on tourists shows the desperation of those elements who want to create panic in the society by attacking innocent people.”

She said the fear about India facing security issues was misplaced as many parts of the world have been known to face similar problems.

Meanwhile, the Minister blamed the recent fall in the number of foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India on weather. She said the peak tourist season would start in October and India would then witness a rise in the arrival of foreign tourists.

Official figures reveal FTAs in August declined considerably as compared to July. While 4.52 lakh foreign tourists visited India in July, their number went down to 3.82 lakh in August.

Not just this, industry stakeholders are yet to register any significant spurt in the bookings ahead of what is being sold abroad as the “greatest international sports extravaganza” India has ever seen. 

Nanoor/Burdwan, Sept 20
After her ‘cuckoo’ remarks, Trinamool Congress chief and Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee took another swipe at Rahul Gandhi saying she was not a “seasonal flower”. Mamata also said that she did not do politics from a “bed of gold”.

“Amra dumurer phool noi (We are not a seasonal flower rarely seen) that we will appear like cuckoos before elections, chirp and fly away,” Mamata said yesterday, without making any reference to the young AICC General Secretary, but comments seen as directed at his two recent visits to West Bengal. “The road I travel is on my fingertips. I know its characteristics. Throughout the year I am with the people. I know their problems and they know me. I understand their language,” she said.

Pointing to her spartan life style, she said “I wear hawai chappals because I like wearing them and not because someone says so,” she said, while addressing a party rally at Nanoor in Birbhum district where 11 partymen were killed allegedly by CPM men a decade ago.

“We do not do politics from a bed of gold. We do politics standing on the ground round the year. We hold rallies with the people in the summer heat and the monsoon rain,” she said.

Taking umbrage at Mamata’s remarks, West Bengal Parliamentary Congress Committee chief Manas Bhunia today told a party rally in Burdwan district that Rahul during his visit did not hurt anybody’s self-esteem and that she should not have used such language.

“If some people think that our leaders chirp like the cuckoo before elections and then disappear, they are wrong. I request such leaders not to use such language. Bengal knows the meaning of respect.” On Mamata’s comment that she did not do politics from a bed of gold, Bhunia recounted the contributions of the Nehru-Gandhi family and said both Jawaharlal Nehru and Kamala Nehru had worked for the country, while Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had laid down their lives for it. — PTI

Chennai, September 20
More than six decades after Independence, the Tamil Nadu government has woken up to the demands of tribals living in Vettukkadu village, surrounded by the Mullaiperiyar river and thick jungles of the Western Ghats, by opening a part-time ration shop in their area.

This is the first government project in the village, which is largely inaccessible due to its location between thick forests and the Mullaiperiyar river. No government scheme, including medical, educational and pension projects, have reached this village, populated only by 70 tribal families.

The major demand of the tribals was a PDS shop in their locality, since it was difficult for them to reach the main land to get essential food items. The villagers had to travel several kilometres over one of the hills of the Western Ghats and cross the Mullaiperiyar river, when the water flow is low.

During rainy season, they cannot get essential food items since all routes connecting the village to the mainland are usually cut off due to floods. They have no choice but to starve during rainy season since they cannot buy and store large quantities of food with their paltry income.

This rainy season promises to be different for the tribals, following the inauguration of a part-time PDS shop today, more than a month before rainy season begins in Tamil Nadu. Civil Supplies Department officials would bring essential commodities to this shop and store it for distribution, the administration said. The part-time ration shop would be opened twice a week and essential commodities would be supplied at the rates prescribed by the government, they said.

DC P Muthuveeran, who inaugurated the shop, said card holders at this village numbered just 70, which was insufficient to open even a part-time shop, he pointed out, adding that the district administration had obtained special permission from the government to open the shop.

New Delhi, September 20
At a time when people are spending a fortune on drinking water, the Supreme Court today acknowledged that they have the right to free drinking water as part of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. It, however, expressed its inability to entertain a PIL on the issue as it was not in a position to monitor the local bodies across the country responsible for ensuring this.

A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia asked the NGO-petitioner, Voice of India, to approach the high courts with the plea for free drinking water.

“We cannot monitor such local institutions under Article 32 of the Constitution. We refuse to believe that the concerned High Courts will not look into such grievances, if specific detailed instances are brought to their notice,” the Bench, which included Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar, said in a detailed order. It made the remark in response to a plea that the SC should entertain the plea, instead of asking the petitioner to move the HCs.

Recording the petitioner’s plea for “free potable drinking water” through the municipal bodies of various states, the Bench said, “We are fully conscious of the fact that even after 60 years, a citizen of this country is not getting clean potable water. In this regard, we agree with the petitioner.

“It is, however, not possible for this court to monitor and grant relief to the petitioner on all India basis…. Lastly, the subject matter of this writ petition is a state subject under the Constitution.” 

Guwahati, September 20
The Manipur Government has announced a cash award of Rs 10 lakh for Mary Kom for winning the fifth consecutive gold in the World Boxing Championship in Barbados.

Mary claimed the title after defeating rival Steluta Duta of Romania 16-6 in the final yesterday. In a statement, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh said her achievement would be recorded in “golden letters” in the annals of sports history of the country.

Working as the DSP (CID), Manipur, Mary is a brand ambassador for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. She was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award two years ago.

Her husband K Onkholer Kom said, “She wants to achieve more for the country and has pledged to work hard for the Olympics.”

Patna, September 20
Lalu Prasad and his party, the RJD, suffered another jolt today when former Chief Minister Rabri Devi’s brother Subhash Yadav, an ex-Rajya Sabha member, quit the party with the prediction that the RJD-LJP alliance would be doomed in the ensuing Assembly elections.

Subhash, the youngest brother-in-law of Lalu Prasad, also advised his “jija” to retire from politics and lead a peaceful life. According to him, Lalu had lived his life and he was no more popular among the electorate. “It is high time Laluji takes “sanyas” and passes the reigns of the party to the younger generation,” Subhash said. Once a blue-eyed boy of Lalu, Subhash termed his mentor to be an arrogant person who preferred sycophants and new comers as candidates, sidelining old timers.

Apparently, Subhash is sore with Rabri Devi and Lalu ever since he was denied re-nomination by the party for the Rajya Sabha elections held a couple of months ago. He had become quite critical of his sister and brother-in law since then. Denial of the RJD ticket to some of his hardcore supporters in the ensuing elections for the Bihar Assembly is said to have become the latest provocation.

Although, Subhash did not name the party he was going to join, he was all praise for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and strongly advocated for his second term.

Notably, Lalu’s another controversial brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav, a former MP, had joined the Congress before the last Lok Sabha elections. Sadhu had unsuccessfully contested the Bettiah (West Champaran) Lok Sabha seat against filmmaker Prakash Jha on the Congress ticket. Despite hectic campaigning by both Lalu and Rabri, Jha lost the elections to the NDA candidate from that seat.