Friday, September 24, 1999
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5 Chhota Rajan gang
members held |
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 Betiya, Bihar: Union Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani addressing an election meeting at Betiya Raj Maidan for his party candidate on Thursday. — PTI photo
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Cong allegations wild:
BJP Priyanka puts BJP in the dock Cong destabilised my govt:
Vajpayee Sonia claims evidence on sugar
scam NCP questions exit poll’s
credibility CBI sets up cell to deal with
special crimes Third front distant reality:
Indrajit |
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5 Chhota Rajan gang
members held NEW DELHI, Sept 23 — Five members of the dreaded Mumbai-based Chhota Rajan gang, who were in the Capital to set up base, were nabbed by the Delhi Police. The gangsters, Farid Tayyab Tanashah, Rajesh Namdev Kamle, alias Raja, Nayan Singh Bist, Karan Bahadur Ram and Prem Chand Thakur were arrested from Vikaspuri in West Delhi yesterday. They had been in the Capital for 11 months, the Commissioner of Delhi Police, Mr Ajai Raj Sharma, said. The police seized three revolvers, one pistol, 28 cartridges, some sensitive documents, two cellular phones, five Sim cards and Rs 1 lakh in cash from their possession. The gangsters had a list of their rivals of Mumbai whom they were planning to kill. The Commissioner of Police said the Chhota Rajan gang had a plan to make the Capital its base for three purposes — for distribution of money received from extortion among the associates in northern India, to make the Capital a hideout and a safe launching pad for conducting operations in Mumbai and it was to be used as a base for procuring arms and ammunitions from borders of north-eastern India and sending them to their associates all over the country. During interrogation, Farid Tayyab Tanashah disclosed he had come in contact with Rajender Sada Shiv Nikhalje, alias Chhota Rajan alias Seth in 1984. Before 1992 the Chhota Rajan gang was a part of the Dawood Ibrahim gang. In 1993 Chhota Rajan had separated from the Dawood gang after the Mumbai bomb blast. At the instance of Chhota Rajan, Farid had shot dead Mangesh Apradh who belonged to the Abdul Ganju gang. He was also involved in extortion and murder cases in Mumbai. He also masterminded the killing of Sunil Sawant Sautya an associate of Dawood Ibrahim in Dubai. Thereafter, Farid was directed by Chhota Rajan to set up base in Delhi. Rajesh Namdev Kamle joined the Arun Gawali gang in 1989 and in 1996 he joined the Chhota Rajan gang. The other gangsters had joined the gang recently. Prem Chand Thakur claims
to be a sepoy of 31 Assam Rifles and at present he is
posted at Assam. He was allegedly used by the Chhota
Rajan gang for purchasing arms and ammunitions from
north-eastern India, the Commissioner of Police said. |
SC notices to hazardous industries NEW DELHI, Sept 23 (PTI) — The Supreme Court has issued notices to over 1000 hazardous industries in Delhi asking them to show-cause why contempt proceedings be not initiated against them for not surrendering to Delhi Development Authority their excess land for environmental usage as ordered earlier. The court had in 1997 asked these industries to shift out of the Capital as they were identified as major pollutants and were asked to surrender excess land for them to be used by authorities to raise greenery and parks on it. The notices were issued by a Division Bench comprising Justice G.B. Patanaik and Justice Santosh Hegde on an application filed by environmental activist M.C. Mehta alleging that the court’s May 10, 1997 orders were violated by these industries as none of them have surrendered land. Mehta said though the police have filed reports regarding closure of some of these industries, DDA and Delhi Government have not filed any report about taking possession of the land vacated by the industries and the utilisation of the same as per the court order. The apex court had fixed
different percentages of land to be surrendered by
various categories of industries which were ordered to
shift out and had said in the interest of people’s
life it was imperative that the land surrendered be
utilised and developed for greening and environmental
purposes. |
HC moved on Cauvery CHENNAI, Sept 23 (PTI) — The Madras High Court was today moved to direct Karnataka to implement the Cauvery tribunal’s interim award and immediately release water to Tamil Nadu to save the standing crops and also direct the Centre to dismiss the Karnataka Government for non-implementation of the award. In a writ petition, a city advocate, Mr R. Karuppan, said the Karnataka Government’s failure to implement the award had given rise to fears about threats to national integration. Once the Supreme Court had categorically held that the interim award was binding on the state, it had no option but to implement it scrupulously, he added. The Karnataka Government’s conduct, “a repetition of its approach in the past, has aggravated the situation and revived the cause of action under Articles 356 and 365 of the Constitution”, Mr Karuppan, who had in the past waged successful legal battles for resolving the dispute, claimed. Alleging that the Tamil Nadu Government had neglected the Cauvery issue, the petitioner said he was approaching the court apprehending that politicians might “barter away the state’s interests for gaining political power”. Therefore, he sought a directive to the Centre to exercise its obligations under Article 356 against Karnataka and direct the immediate implementation of the tribunal’s interim award. BANGALORE, (UNI): Karnataka Chief Minister J.H. Patel on Thursday announced that the state would abide by the suggestion of the monitoring committee of the Cauvery River Authority meeting in New Delhi on Friday and reiterated that the state was not averse to releasing water to save the kuruvai crop in Tamil Nadu if it rained in the coming days. He was addressing newspersons after an emergency meeting of a Cabinet sub-committee at a corporate hospital here where he was convalescing. The monitoring committee was meeting to consider Tamil Nadu’s demand for 25 TMC of water to save the kuruvai crop. Mr Patel said he was prepared to attend a meeting on the issue if the Prime Minister decided to convene one. Categorically denying that he had made a commitment to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to release water, Mr Patel said he had only informed him that the state was also facing distress and would consider the request if the water position improved. Both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu should share the distress and surplus, he added. He wanted Mr Karunanidhi to send a few ministers to study the situation in the state. Chief Secretary B.K. Bhattacharya, who attended the meeting, later left for New Delhi to participate in Friday’s meeting. Mr Patel, who has been hospitalised for jaundice, looked weak and sat through the meeting which lasted nearly an hour. The meeting was attended by senior ministers including Mr K.N. Nage Gowda (Irrigation), Mr C. Byre Gowda (Agriculture), Mr P.G.R. Sindhia (Home), Mr M.P. Prakash (Rural Development) and Mr B. Somashekar (Revenue). The Chief Minister
welcomed the monitoring committee meeting and alleged
that some people were resorting to cheap popularity on
the issue. The meeting was a first step to solve the
dispute. |
Cong allegations wild: BJP NEW DELHI, Sept 23 — Look at Dr Manmohan Singh before making allegations against the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Bharatiya Janata Party told the Congress on its claim that Mr Vajpayee had been allotted a flat by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) a few years ago. Reacting to the latest allegation of the Congress that Mr Vajpayee as an MP had been allotted a flat by the DDA a few years ago, Mr Naidu said the criteria applied for the Prime Minister was the same as that for the former Finance Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and other Congress leaders. Moreover, Mr Naidu pointed out that the flat was allotted to Mr Vajpayee by a Congress government. The BJP spokesman, Mr M.Venkaiah Naidu, claimed there was panic in the Congress camp after the exit polls results and said the wild allegations levelled by the Congress against the Prime Minister was a result of this. Mr Naidu, said many of the allegations, including Mr Vajpayee’s role in the freedom movement, had been clarified time and again and yet the Congress continued to rake these for every election. Mr Naidu said the BJP did not consider the Congress as its main opponent in Uttar Pradesh and the contest there was with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The Congress figured a poor third, he added. The BJP spokesman said there was need for the Congress to get educated about its opponent and in this regard showed copies of an interview the Congress candidate from Lucknow, Dr Karan Singh, had given to a magazine in June this year. The interview quotes Dr Karan Singh as saying that the Congress was to blame for instability at the Centre and thrusting costly elections on the country. He is also quoted as saying that if Europe could have a Christian Democratic Party then India could also have a Hindu democratic party. Mr Naidu also circulated photographs of Dr Karan Singh addressing the Hindu conferend his association with leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The spokesman said the
Congress should do some introspection based on the view
of its own candidate in Lucknow and stop hurling abuses
at the BJP. |
Priyanka puts BJP in the dock SULTANPUR, Sept 23 (PTI) — Mrs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has lodged a complaint with the Electoral Officer (EO) here alleging that the BJP plans to disrupt the Congress campaign and intimidate party workers in the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency from where here mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi is contesting. Priyanka, who met the Sultanpur District Magistrate and Electoral Officer, Mr Anurag Srivastav, at his residence here last night, also complained that the BJP planned to indulge in rigging and booth-capturing in the polling, scheduled here for October 3. She brought to the notice of the EO a reported incident in which a team of women Congress workers led by zila panchayat member Raj Kumari was beaten up allegedly by BJP workers in a village near Gauriganj in Amethi. Party workers have lodged an FIR in Gauriganj police station in this connection. During her 90-minute meeting with the EO, Priyanka sought urgent steps by the administration to ensure a free and fair poll. Priyanka, who was
accompanied by her husband Mr Robert Vadra, also met top
police officials and sought police protection for
Congress workers. |
Cong destabilised my govt: Vajpayee BARAUT, (UP), Sept 23 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today squarely blamed the Congress for destabilising his government at the Centre in its “lust for power” and said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was a firm group while the Congress did not have any such tie-up. Addressing an election meeting here, where Agriculture Minister Sompal is involved in a four-cornered contest involving among others Mr Ajit Singh of the Lok Dal-Congress alliance, Mr Vajpayee said the Congress had never played a constructive role as opposition unlike the BJP and was only “hankering after power.” It was this “thirst for power” that made the Congress bring down three governments in the past two years and forced elections on the country. Paying homage to Kargil martyrs from this constituency. He said it was under the BJP-led government that the country had emerged victorious both on the field of battle and diplomacy. He said while his government was making rapid strides in agriculture and economy, the Congress could not bear to see his government consolidating its position and, therefore, “hatched a conspiracy” to bring about its downfall. Mr Vajpayee said it was time the people should defeat “the machinations” of the Congress and ensured that the NDA got a clear verdict. To the demand by Mr Sompal for a CBI inquiry into the murder of a fruit-seller here yesterday, he assured that the government would look into the matter. Earlier, Mr Sompal made
a frontal attack on the Congress president Sonia Gandhi,
saying her party was unable to find a leader among itself
and had to seek the help of a “foreigner” to
come to power. |
Sonia claims evidence on sugar scam BHUBANESWAR, Sept 23 (PTI) — The Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi today alleged that the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s statements on ‘sugar scam’ were incorrect and claimed there were “documentary evidences” to prove that India had imported the commodity from Pakistan till June. “There are documentary evidences to show that the imports continued till June”, she told reporters at the airport here before leaving for campaigning in the four Lok Sabha constituencies in Orissa. “The statement of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee that government agencies did not import a grain of sugar after February 25 is not correct,” she claimed. Replying to a question about the Giridhar Gamang government’s failure to nab fugitive Dara Singh, the prime suspect behind the killing of an Australian missionary Graham Staines and a Muslim trader, she said it was a very “serious matter” and the state government was “trying its best” to arrest the man (Dara). “I had a long discussion with the Chief Minister last night”, she said, adding Mr Gamang had told her that he had made repeated requests for additional assistance to arrest the fugitive but the Centre had not responded. “Had the Central
forces joined hands with the Orissa police it would have
helped the state government in nabbing Dara Singh,”
she said. |
NCP questions exit
poll’s credibility NEW DELHI, Sept 23 — The Nationalist Congress Party said the conflicting results of the recent exit poll had put a question mark on the credibility of the organisations which conducted them. “There is a sharp divergence in results and it is a matter of concern. The exit poll including those conducted for Doordarshan and the NDTV seemed to be lacking in maturity”, the NCP spokesman, Mr Devendra Dwivedi said today. Mr Dwivedi asked the television networks and the agencies which had conducted the exit poll to come out with detailed explanation on the methodology, the technique employed and the infrastructure used by them to collect the data. He said both Doordarshan
and the NDTV owe it to their reputation to come forward
with this information and said it was necessary since
exit poll should be a source of information and not a
source of amusement. |
CBI sets up cell to deal
with special crimes NEW DELHI, Sept 23 — The Central Bureau of Investigation has set up a criminal intelligence cell to counter special crimes like abductions. The cell, which will be headed by a Joint Director will collect all-India information on gangs specialising in abductions and create a centralised data bank which can be accessed by police of all states, the bureau spokesman, Mr S.M. Khan, said today. The CBI has written letters to Directors-General of Police of all states/ union territories, asking them to provide information on gangs operating in their areas. The information will be on gangs which specialise in abducting of minors for begging, girls and women for prostitution and for ransom. The CBI has also asked various states police to identify a nodal officer in each state to provide easy access to data while at the central level the cell will computerise the data. The cell was set up in
pursuance of a Delhi High Court directive to the CBI in
May this year to do the needful. |
Third front distant reality: Indrajit MIDNAPORE, Sept 23 (PTI) — Veteran CPI leader Indrajit Gupta today said it was too early to predict whether a third front could be formed at the initiative of the Left parties after the coming poll. “At present, only the leftists are talking of a third front. The other parties have not reacted positively to it so far,” he said in an interview here. He described “exit polls” as a “big fraud” when asked to comment on the projections of pollsters that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was likley to emerge victorious in the coming poll. “I would like to know the data on which it is based,” he said. Mr Indrajit Gupta said the country was likely to get another coalition government, as the poll would throw up a hung Parliament, with no single party securing a majority. Asked to comment on the stability of such a dispensation, he said “I think coalition governments can be stable provided they are based on a common minimum programme.” “But the coalition
should not be dependent on outside support, and the
parPties in government must have majority on their
own,” Mr Indrajit Gupta, who is in the fray from the
prestigious Midnapore Lok Sabha constituency, said. |
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| CJ cautions against
police torture NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, on Wednesday cautioned against the custodial torture and the use of third degree methods by the police and said if government functionaries became law breakers, it would breed contempt for law and lead to anarchy. “Increasing incidence of torture and death in custody has assumed such an alarming proportions that it is affecting the credibility of the rule of law and criminal justice system,” he said inaugurating an International Symposium on Torture: “A Challenge to the Health, Legal and other Professions”. — PTI India
controls Turtuk: Mishra Don’t
summon editors: Purulia accused Morphine worth
Rs 35 lakh seized 44 arrested for
rioting PCO opened at
Nathu la Champaner an
endangered site |
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