M A I N   N E W S

Rs 1.02 lakh fake currency seized

AMRITSAR, Feb 4 (UNI) — Customs officials have seized fake Indian currency worth over Rs 1.02 lakh from three passengers of Samjhauta Express, including a Pakistani national.

Indian Customs officer G.S. Oberoi (right) examines Wahid Ahmed (sitting) at the Attari railway station, near the India-Pakistan border, on Thursday. The police arrested Ahmed and two other men trying to smuggle in fake Indian currency. Ahmed’s bag contained fake notes worth more than Rs 99,000. —AP/PTI

Customs Assistant Commissioner J.S. Arora told UNI today that they made the seizure with assistance from immigration officials, when the trio alighted at Attari railway station from the train coming from Lahore yesterday. Fake currency worth Rs 99,000 was found in the baggage of a 65-year-old Wahed Ahmed, a resident of the trans-Yamuna area of New Delhi, Mr Arora said. The notes were concealed in his baggage in such a manner that even an X-ray machine could not detect these and were found only during a manual checking, he added. Two notes of Rs 500 denomination each were recovered from a Pakistani national identified as Shahbar Ahmed a resident of Hyderabad (Sindh). The culprit claimed that he was given those notes in exchange of Pakistani currency at Lahore railway station.

Fake notes totalling Rs 2,500 were seized from Boondh Khan, a resident of Jaipur, according to DSP (Immigration) Simranjit Singh.

Meanwhile, three abandoned pistols were recovered from the sewerage by a Railways sweeper at Attari Railway station today. The matter was under investigation.

Pak to consider ‘other means’ if talks fail

ISLAMABAD, Feb 4 (PTI) — Pakistan today issued a veiled threat that if negotiations “prove futile” to resolve bilateral differences with India, there was a need to settle them by “other means”.

“If negotiations prove futile, as they have proved too often between Pakistan and India, the need for settlement by other means becomes all more relevant,” Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar told reporters on the eve of the “solidarity day” with Kashmiris.

Accusing India of making a “fetish” of bilateral settlement, he alleged that New Delhi had sought to “renege and renounce its moral, legal and international obligations” on resolving the differences.

Replying to another question, the minister said US President Bill Clinton should visit Pakistan during his planned trip to South Asia in March because of the long-standing close relations between the two countries.

Clinton offers to mediate

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (UNI) — US President Bill Clinton has renewed his offer of personal help to India and Pakistan “to resume and intensify their dialogue on all issues,” which broke down in the wake of the Kargil conflict last year.

“However, to make progress in this area, the cycle of mistrust and violence must be broken. I am personally committed to do what I can towards this objective,” the President said while accepting here yesterday the letter of credence from newly appointed Pakistani ambassador Maleeha Lodhi.

He said, “the United States is prepared to work intensively to see dialogue between Pakistan and India on all issues resume and intensify.”