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Monday,
December 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Punjab put on full alert Chandigarh, December 23 The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, confirmed that the request had been made by the Central Government and the state government would do everything to provide whole-hearted support to meet any external aggression or defending the sovereignty of the country. The payment for trucks and other transport vehicles so requisitioned would be made directly to the truckers by the Central Government, he added. Meanwhile, movement of troops through the state has started picking up as the state has been put on full alert. The police and paramilitary forces have been deployed at all vantage points. Security of vital instalments, including power stations, power transmission lines, water supply works, rail lines, airports and other public places has been beefed up. The Director-General of Police, Mr Sarabjit Singh, has been touring various parts of the state to oversee the arrangements and augmentation of security network. In an informal chat with newsmen here this evening, Mr Badal reiterated that party MLAs, Ministers and office-bearers had been asked to go to border areas where tension had been building up for the past some days because of the movement of troops along the Line of Control and international border in the State. While talking about the issues in the coming elections, he said peace, communal harmony and constructive relations with the Centre would be core areas. The current year, he said, was the golden year in the history of Punjab as overall development had taken place. He referred to the inauguration of several prestigious power projects, including Ranjit Sagar Dam, and work on construction of fly-overs, four-laning of national and state highways, inauguration of bridges and improvement in roads throughout the state. Mr Badal said the Shiromani Akali Dal would release its first list of candidates for the coming assembly elections within five-days. Asked about his health, he said he would hopefully start moving around in the state by the first week of January. He would undergo X-ray examination on December 30. The medical reports indicate that the wound was healing and the recovery was satisfactory. 
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CCS takes stock of situation New Delhi, December 23 The CCS meeting was held in the background of fresh incidents of Pakistani firing along the LoC and the Siachen glacier. Defence Minister George Fernandes postponed his visit to the western sector scheduled to commence today to attend the meeting. Talking to reporters after the CCS meeting, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said India was fully prepared to meet any development on LoC. “Be assured of our full preparedness. Nothing is lacking,” Mr Jaswant Singh said. He did not specify what would be India’s next step, saying that it will be known at the appropriate time. Mr Jaswant Singh described as extremely disappointing the reaction of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to India’s decision to recall its High Commissioner and said it appeared that the General made the statement without understanding the depth of the situation. “I must, of course, first discount for the General Sahib’s tendency to engage in military malapropism,” Mr Jaswant Singh said, while commenting on General Musharraf’s statement that India’s move was “arrogant and a knee-jerk reaction.” The minister briefed the CCS about the demarche to Pakistan and that country’s
response to it. The recent occurrences in Kashmir were also discussed at the CCS meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The next CCS meeting will be held only after the Christmas break. The minister criticised General Musharraf for time and again coming out with instinctive reactions, belittling serious issues. |
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Parliament staffer arrested New Delhi, December 23 Senior Executive Assistant in Parliament Secretariat’s Question Cell Ajay Kumar was caught yesterday supplying a bag containing documents relating to defence, atomic energy, nuclear research, railway security, ship-designing, and technology upgradation to Pakistan High Commission staffer Mohammad Sharief Khan, a press note issued by the Delhi Police said. Khan was detained and questioned before being handed over to Pakistan High Commission, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) L.N. Rao said. Kumar’s interrogation revealed that Khan had several times in the past asked him about the security arrangements around Parliament House and arrange a pass for him to watch Parliament proceeding. The note said Kumar had informed Khan that Parliamentary security staff, when on duty, remain unarmed. “It is being probed if there is involvement of Pakistan High Commission-based intelligence operatives in the attack on Parliament,” the note said. During interrogation, Kumar told the police that he had been working for Pakistan-based intelligence operatives for the past several years in return for payment. Kumar used to provide information about locations of various defence units and their movements on the basis of his personal observation and pass on “sensitive” documents to which he had access to because of his official position. Meanwhile, India informed Pakistan today that it briefly detained one of the staffers of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi as he was caught spying and denied Islamabad’s allegation that he was abducted and tortured. Sources in the Indian High Commission here said Pakistan had also been officially told that the Pakistan High Commission was kept informed immediately after Khan was caught receiving the documents.
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