Hyderabad, April 30
Andhra Pradesh MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi was critically injured today after being attacked by a group of nine persons in the old Hyderabad city, triggering tension in the area.The three-time legislator, who belongs to Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), was attacked when he was getting into his vehicle after participating in padayatra at Barkas in his constituency of Chandrayanagutta.

The 39-year-old MLA received three bullet injuries, besides sustaining knife wounds on hands. Akbar was rushed to Owaisi Hospital, owned by his family, where he was operated upon. He is reported to be out of danger at the time of the filing of the report.

Another MIM MLA from Malakpet, Ahmad Balala, and a party corporator were also injured in the attack. In the subsequent shootout, a gunman of Balala opened fire at the assailants, killing one person on the spot and seriously injuring two others. They are undergoing treatment at a private hospital here.

The police said the attack was a result of a property dispute over control of a burial ground in the area. The assailants owed allegiance to a rival party, Majlis Bachao Tehreek, a political outfit by Amanullah Khan, a former MIM member. Akbar had defeated Amanullah Khan in 1999 and retained the seat in the subsequent elections. Akbar is the younger brother of MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.

The main culprit in the assassination bid, Mohammed Pahlwan, has been arrested. The MIM has called for a city bandh on Sunday in protest against the attack. As news of the attack spread, a large number of MIM workers gathered at the hospital and raised slogans against the government. Shops and business establishments downed their shutters in the communally sensitive old city areas.

New Delhi, April 30
The government today came out firing on all cylinders to tackle the ‘misinformation’ about the Purulia arms drop case being spread by fugitive Kim Davy and his associate Peter Bleach.

Their claims are not “substantiated by evidence and facts”, a government statement said tonight.

Countering what Kim Davy and Peter Bleach have said in a section of the media, New Delhi today said the fact is “no government agency connived with or helped them in their heinous act.” The government has facilitated free, impartial and professional investigation of the case at every stage and was committed “to unravel the truth and the entire conspiracy behind the crime”.

Davy and Bleach, both involved in the December 1995 Purulia arms drop case, had claimed on an Indian TV channel that the arms drop was planned and executed by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in collaboration with British spy agency MI-5.

A three-page statement of the government said the allegations made by proclaimed offender Kim Davy, are “mischievous and aimed at misleading the prosecuting agency (CBI) and the court in Denmark”. Davy is set to be extradited on an Indian request. “The self-serving allegations are an attempt to give a political colour to his crime and deflect the judicial process”, the statement said.

Various Indian intelligence and security agencies have provided all support to the CBI in its investigation in and outside the country, it said.

Davy had admitted to his role in the arms drop case in front of print and visual media as also in a book written by him. 

New Delhi, April 30
Putting his weight behind the CBI that has booked some of the top politicians and business honchos in the 2G spectrum and Commonwealth Games cases in the recent time, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said it should carry on the good work without any fear and bring to book all the guilty irrespective of their profile.

“The CBI is today investigating many high-profile cases of corruption that have attracted a great deal of public attention. The handling of these cases constitutes a litmus test for you. The CBI should act without fear or favour and bring to book all those who are guilty, irrespective of their position or status,” said Singh.

“Nobody is above the law of the land and that law alone should be the guiding beacon for the CBI,” stressed Singh, while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the new CBI headquarters in south Delhi.

The recent CBI catch includes former IT & Communication Minister A. Raja in 2G spectrum case and former Commonwealth Games chief Suresh Kalmadi for causing large-scale embezzlement of public funds meant for the games. 

Banda, April 30
Unless the Central and state governments rise above political lines to work in tandem, Bundelkhand region would not see the development it deserves despite the Rs 7266-crore package, declared Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh here today.

Addressing a massive Congress party rally at the GIC grounds, the first to be addressed by a PM since 1989, Dr Singh made a veiled attack on the Mayawati government, when he said that the state government had not accelerated the pace of development at the speed that was expected.

Amidst loud cheering he announced that a sum of Rs 200 crores will be spend for providing drinking water in the rural areas. He also announced a Central agriculture university in Jhansi for which the UP government has given its consent. A bill would soon be introduced for this.

Besides, Jhansi Government Medical College was being upgraded and seven central schools were to come up in the region.