Guwahati, August 28
The Gauhati High Court today ordered that the examination of Assam Rifles witnesses by the C. Upendra Commission, probing the death of Th Manorama Devi in Manipur, would be held in camera, with limited access to the parties concerned and their respective lawyers before the commission.

Admitting two petitions filed by the five Assam Rifles personnel and posting it for further hearing on September 28, Mr Justice P.G. Agarwal declined to restrain the commission from proceeding with the probe and decided that the hearing would be held on the central jail premises for which the Manipur Government could make arrangements.

The high court further ruled that only the mother and brother of Th Manorama Devi and their lawyers and lawyers of the Assam Rifles and the Manipur Government could be present before the commission.

The parties concerned were permitted by the court to cross-examine the witnesses present on behalf of the Assam Rifles men.

The high court directed the commission to shift its venue to the Imphal Central Jail minutes after it began the day’s proceedings.

The chairman of the commission took some time to get the formal copy of the high court order and after getting it, decided to convene the next sitting on August 30 at 11 a.m. at the high-security Imphal Central Jail.

The high court further ruled that the statements of the Assam Rifles men recorded by the commission and its report would not be published without prior leave of the court.

The court also made it clear that the directions issued today regarding shifting of the venue were only in respect of examination of the Assam Rifles personnel and so far as any other proceedings of the commission were concerned, the same could be held at any venue, as might be decided by the commission. — PTI

New Delhi, August 28
Delhi police today claimed to have solved the sensational murder of Pushkin Chandra and another youth Kuldeep, which revealed the ‘gay side’ of the Capital’s social life, with the arrest of three persons from different parts of the country including Delhi.

The murder which took place on August 14 last at one of Delhi’s plush colonies had left the police clueless initially as there were no leads available to the motive behind the murder or the identity of the killers. The bodies of the two were found with multiple stab wounds in different parts of the outhouse of the place owned by Pushkin’s father Anil Kumar Chandra, who is a retired IAS officer.

The three arrested have been identified as Rajesh (24), Praveen Kumar alias Munna and his father Jai Kishor. While Rajesh was a resident of Old Rajender Nagar, Praveen Kumar and Jai Kishor were the residents of servant quarters in Pusa Road.

According to the police the motive behind the murder of Pushkin was that the victim was allegedly blackmailing two of the accused in regard to the expressive photographs which had been taken by the victim during various meetings he had with the two youth. The men were afraid that Pushkin would make their pictures public and decided to allegedly kill him, a police officer said.

Kuldeep, the other victim was allegedly killed, as the accused wanted to have no witnesses to the killing. Kuldeep, reportedly put up a stiff resistance before he was stabbed.

Pushkin, a USAID officer, had reportedly cultivated friendship with a large number of “young able bodied” males and was in the habit of taking their expressive photographs.

The police are still searching the fourth accused Moti alias Mohit, who is still at large.

Aurangabad (Maharashtra), August 28
Curfew was today relaxed in Jalna city, Parbhani and Purna towns in the Marathwada region as situation in these violence-hit areas showed “remarkable” improvement, police sources said here.

Curfew was clamped at these places following an outbreak of violence after twin bomb blasts inside the places of worship at Jalna and Purna that left at least 18 persons injured yesterday.

Some of the injured were shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital here from Jalna while others were being treated at the Purna Government Hospital in Parbhani district, they said.

All injured were stated to be out of danger.

Talking to UNI, Parbhani District Collector Madhukar Chaudhary said curfew was relaxed at Parbhani city and Purna town since 8 am. However, curfew was likely to be reclamped in Purna from 10 am following a request by the police authorities, he said.

Though the situation at Purna and Parbhani had improved, curfew would be reclamped as a precautionary measure, he said.

The police had arrested two persons late last night in connection with the attacks on the offices of newspapers at Parbhani, the sources said.

The police had arrested at least 60 persons at Jalna in connection with stone-pelting and incidents of violence.

After the blasts, stone-pelting incidents were reported in Nanded and Beed. Security has been tightened in entire Marathwada.

Two companies of anti-riot Rapid Action Force and additional companies of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), which were sent from Mumbai yesterday, were assisting the local police in maintaining law and order, sources added. — UNI

New Delhi, August 28
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s completion of hundred days in office tomorrow has proved to be nothing short of baptism by fire.

Ever since he was sworn in under rather unusual circumstances on May 22, Dr Singh has been in the throes of some crisis or the other. Beginning with the competing claims of alliance partners and Congress aspirants for ministerial berths to the never-ending confrontation with a belligerent opposition, it has been one roller-coaster ride.

Initially regarded as a tentative and hesitant Prime Minister, Dr Singh managed to recover sufficient ground by the time he reached the 100-day landmark. The single act of refusing an opposition memorandum on the Finance Bill in his chamber after it decided not to debate the Budget in Parliament, has proved to be a great morale-booster.

While a shell-shocked opposition was quick to rap him for his “unbecoming and rude beahviour”, his principled stand has won him laurels from the public. In one stroke, Dr Singh sent out a message to the opposition as well as the more ambitious detractors in the Congress that he is no pushover or a puppet as everybody was quick to dub him.

Although this incident has given Dr Singh the necessary confidence, the actual turning point came after his Republic Day address from the Red Fort.

“The Manmnohan Singh before and the Manmohan Singh after the August 15 speech were two different persons,” remarked a colleague. Described as the defining moment, his aides maintain Dr Singh has been in far greater control following country-wide appreciation of his first political speech and the realisation that it made an impact on the people.

It has not been as easy ride for Dr Singh so far. Except in 1991, never before has a freshly elected government gone straight into a Budget session. Athough he invested a lot of time and energy in the framing of the Budget proposals, this effort came to nought as the entire Budget session was a virtual washed-out.

In addition, the government has been on its toes dealing with the controversy over “tainted” ministers, the Shibu Soren episode, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s unilateral abrogation of water-sharing accords, the fast-deteriorating situation in Manipur and more recently, the Uma Bharati episode,the Veer Savarkar issue and spiralling inflation.

Relations between the government and opposition have hit an all-time low in these 100 days. Parliament has been continuously disrupted during this time and a record of sorts was set when an adamant opposition did not allow the Prime Minister to introduce his council of ministers or give his reply to the debate on the President’s address.

The Vajpayee government had managed to escape flak on mundane issues like prices, floods and drought in its first 100 days since all public attention was focussed on the Pokhran nuclear tests.

The Manmohan Singh-led government, however, has no such escape clause. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister and his team have been attending to the urgent problem of inflation, which they admit was in the offing but its impact was not communicated to the people. Dr Singh personally has been devoting a lot of time to improving governance, monitoring the implementation of the CMP and confabulating exhaustively with the state governments.

New Delhi, August 28
Unhappy with the Congress leadership, former president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) Ranjit Deshmukh is learnt to be hobnobbing with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

This news has created a flutter in Congress circles and AICC General Secretary Margaret Alva and other state leaders are learnt to have contacted the disgruntled leader to dissuade him from leaving the party.

Congress sources said his departure, although still a matter of speculation, could do immense damage to the party in Maharashtra. The recent Lok Sabha elections revealed that the BSP has managed to erode the Congress’ support base among the Dalits.

This was particularly so in the Vidharbha region where the Congress suffered huge losses with BSP garnering 3 to 5 per cent vote share here. Although the Congresss-NCP combine had an alliance with the various RPI factions, it was clearly not sufficient to take on Mayawati’s growing clout. Mr Deshmukh enjoys some following in this region and in case he does join hands with the BSP, he could become a rallying point for Congress rebels and ensure the defeat of the party’s official candidates.

New Delhi, August 28
The National Commission for Women (NCW) today observed that the court-room killing of Akku Yadav, an accused in several cases of murder, robbery, dacoity and extortion, should be viewed as the rarest of the rare case. Five women had been arrested on murder charge.

About 500 women from Kasturba Nagar Basti of Jari Patka area in Nagpur city lynched and killed Akku Yadav by pelting him with stones and throwing chilly powder in his eyes.

NCW chairperson Poornima Advani said the women of the basti had been suffering the atrocities of Akku Yadav and his accomplices for 10 years. She said the police had failed in its duty of providing inhabitants of the basti protection from criminals and the women were therefore justified in their taking justice in their own hands. The commission which plans to submit its findings to the court is of the view that the Judiciary view the case against these women with leniency as they had exercised their right of private defence to protect their families and their children.

Dr Advani said that Sections 96 and 97 of the Indian Penal Code provide for a right to private defence. It extends to protecting one’s neighbour. Section 100 has six clauses. It gives a person the right to even kill the assailant. This comes under the general exemption clause.

The NCW has recommended that charges against the five arrested women be withdrawn as they had taken the desperate step in an attempt to lead a life of dignity.

Meanwhile, in view of forensic evidence reportedly lending credence to allegations of rape of Manorama Devi, who died allegedly in the custody of 17th Assam Rifles, the National Commission for Women has decided to investigate the incident.

NCW chairperson Poornima Advani told reporters here that the dates of the visit would be decided on Monday.