Suryanelli rape case: Court rejects girl's plea against PJ Kurien

IDUKKI (KERALA): In a relief to Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, a local court on Saturday rejected a plea by the victim in the Suryanelli gangrape case for a reprobe into the alleged involvement of the Congress leader, holding there was no new ground for a fresh investigation.

The victim had filed a petition for a fresh probe into Kurien's alleged involvement in the light of the recent claim by Dharmarajan, one of the accused in the 1996 gangrape case and the only person to be convicted.

The First Class Judicial Magistrate at nearby Peerumade while rejecting the girl's petition held there was no new ground for a re-investigation since the points raised in the plea had already been enquired into by police and no evidence found against Kurien.

The petitioner sought a reprobe based on the recent claim by Dharmarajan, accused no. 3 in the case, that Kurien, who was a Union minister in 1996, had allegedly molested the girl at a guest house at Peerumade.

Dharmarajan suddenly appeared last month on a Malayalam television channel after absconding for several years and levelled the charge against Kurien. He was later tracked down and arrested by Kerala police in Karnataka.

The victim had recently lodged a complaint with police at Chingavanam in Kottayam seeking an inquiry into Kurien's role on the basis of Dharmarajan's allegation. The police, however, held that a case could be registered only after examining the legal grounds for taking such a course. The victim later moved the court.

The Suryanelli case has been in focus again after the Supreme Court in January quashed the Kerala High Court order acquitting 35 accused in the case while sentencing Dharmarajan alone to five years imprisonment and ordered a retrial.

After the apex court order, the girl pressed her charge against Kurien and sought a reprobe.

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Prepared for arrest on return: Yasin Malik

ISLAMABAD: JKLF chief YasinMalik, who created flutters in India by sharing dais with 26/11 mastermind HafizSaeed in Pakistan, said on Friday he is prepared for confiscation of his passport or his arrest on returning home next week.

"I will be flying back to Delhi from Lahore on the regular PIA flight on March 9," Malik said.

Asked about calls for the revocation of his passport after Saeed joined him at a protest in Islamabad against the hanging of Afzal Guru, Malik said: "It is their wish if they wish to confiscate my passport or to arrest me. Jail is my second home".

Saeed, blamed by India for masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks, had briefly participated in the protest organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) in Islamabad on February 10.

After photographs appeared in the media of Saeed and Malik, demands were made by political parties for the cancellation of Malik's passport.

"The government needs to come out clean with an action plan. They must arrest, forfeit his passport and take action against Malik and tell the nation. This is a monumental mistake on the part of the home ministry and we will raise at all forums available," BJP had said.

Reports in the Indian media said Malik's activities in Pakistan could cost him the freedom to travel abroad.

Authorities could also decide not to reissue a passport to him.

Malik visits Pakistan several times a year to meet his wife and his young daughter.

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Left pulls off emphatic win in Tripura sweeping 50 of 60 seats

AGARTALA: The Left Front on Thursday retained power in Tripura for the fifth consecutive time, sweeping 50 of the 60 seats and leaving the Congress badly bruised with just 10 seats.

Hundreds of Left activists, mainly from the Communist Party of India-Marxist CPI(M), celebrated across the state as election results left the Congress in gloom.

The CPI(M) bagged 49 seats while the Communist Party of India (CPI) won one seat.

It was the best result for the Left since 1978, when it won a record 56 seats. It increased its 2008 tally by one seat.

"This is a verdict in favour of development, peace and stability besides good governance," a beaming chief minister Manik Sarkar said.

"People voted and supported the Left Front for taking up development work and for curbing militancy," Sarkar added.

Sarkar, 64, who retained his Dhanpur seat in west Tripura, is the only political leader to be chief minister for a record fourth term in Tripura, a Marxist bastion. It was Sarkar's sixth electoral win.

While the Congress managed to retain its 2008 tally of 10 seats, its ally the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) drew blank. It had won one seat five years ago.

The Trinamool Congress, which fielded 22 candidates in 2008, did not contest this time to prevent a split in non-Left votes. But even that did not help the Congress.

The Left Front wrested four seats from the Congress-INPT-NCT (Nationalist Conference of Tripura) coalition. The Congress snatched three seats from the Left.

"Left Front candidates have increased their winning margin in most seats," an Election Commission official said.

The 49 seats of CPI(M) is three more than what it got in 2008. The CPI won one seat and lost another.

The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Forward Bloc lost the two and one seats they contested.

Finance minister Badal Chowdhury posted the highest winning margin of 12,450 votes.

Assembly speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath, commerce minister Jitendra Chowdhury, school education minister Tapan Chakraborty, information minister Anil Sarkar and tribal welfare minister Aghore Debbarma won by huge margins.

Teacher-turned-politician Anil Sarkar, 75, who is also a poet and writer, was re-elected on CPI(M) ticket from Pratapgarh in western Tripura for a record ninth time.

Congress leader Ratan Lal Nath won from Mohanpur for the fifth time while state Congress president Sudip Roy Barman retained his Agartala seat for the fourth time.

Former Tripura assembly speaker Jitendra Sarkar, who this time contested on Congress ticket, wrested Barjala seat from the CPI(M). He won by 254 votes.

CPI(M) candidate Ratan Das wrested Ramnagar after a gap of 25 years. He defeated former state Congress chief Surajit Datta by just 15 votes.

"This is a great victory for the Left Front. Good governance is one of the key factors," CPI-M spokesperson Gautam Das told IANS.

Notable Congress losers included former chief minister Samir Ranjan Barma, party leader Subal Bhowmik and INPT president and former militant leader Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl.

Tripura made history when a record 93.57 percent of the 2.3 million voters exercised their franchise February 14. There were 249 candidates.

The Left has ruled Tripura since 1978 barring one term (1988-93).

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Helicopter scam: I feel ashamed, taxpayers' money can't be wasted, Antony says

NEW DELHI: Defence minister AK Antony has said that the culprits in the VVIP helicopter scam will be punished and any company found guilty in the deal will be blacklisted.

Responding to the debate on the chopper deal in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Antony said, "I feel ashamed of this scam.

"It's a matter of shame for us every time a scam is reported," Antony said, adding that I want to find the truth and punish the guilty.

The defence minister said that taxpayers' money can't be wasted and claimed that procedures were followed at all levels in the deal.

He stressed the need to get to the root of the scam.

Earlier, initiating a debate in the upper House, the BJP accused the government of delaying the probe into the VVIP helicopter deal and demanded that the money trail be traced so that those who received kickbacks could be punished.

BJP member Prakash Javadekar alleged that Rs 400 crore had been paid in kickbacks for the deal.

He said the country wants to know who "the family", referred to in documents of Italian investigators, was.

Javadekar said alleged middlemen including Guido Ralph Haschke, Karlo Valentino Ferdinando Gerosa and Christian Michel had received money in the deal; part of the money was sent to India through circuitous channels.

He said Italy had started a probe on how "corruption took place", though it was a country which benefited from the Rs 3,600-crore deal for the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland.

Attacking the United Progressive Alliance government, Javadekar accused it of not acting on the voluminous documents on the deal prepared by Italian investigators.

He said the documents of the investigators twice mentioned "the family".

The CBI had on Monday registered a preliminary enquiry against 11 people, including former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi, and four companies, in the purchase of VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland.

Besides Tyagi, the inquiry names his cousins Sanjeev alias 'Julie' Tyagi, Docsa Tyagi, Sandeep Tyagi, advocate Gautam Khaitan, formerly associated with Aeromatrix, and the company's CEO, Praveen Bakshi.

Others named in the inquiry include Orsi, Bruno Spagnolini, CEO of AgustaWestland -- a Britain-based subsidiary of Finmeccanica -- and alleged middlemen Guido Ralph Haschke, Karlo Valentino, Ferdinando Gerosa, and Christian Michel.

The firms named are Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland, IDS Infotech Ltd. (India) and Aeromatrix India.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and defence ministry team last week went to Italy to collect documents concerning alleged kickbacks paid to clinch the deal.

The government had on February 15 initiated action for cancellation of the contract for procurement and issued a formal show cause notice to AgustaWestland seeking cancellation of contract.

Two days earlier, it put on hold further payments to the company.

The contract for purchase of 12 AW101 helicopters for the use of VVIPs was signed in 2010.
(Inputs from IANS)

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Suryanelli rape: Govt defends Kurien in Rajya Sabha

NEW DELHI: Government on Tuesday defended Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, who has been under attack in connection with the Suryanelli rape issue, with parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath saying that police inquiries and courts have cleared him of all charges.

"A section of media and some political members have sought to drag Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Kurien in a rape case. It has emphatically been stated that he has never been accused in the Suryanelli rape case," Nath said making a statement the Rajya Sabha.

When the minister rose to defend Kurien, CPI(M) members staged a walkout, with its senior leader Sitaram Yechury saying Kurien should defend himself. "Let him (Kurien) come and defend. We cannot accept the executive defend the officer of legislature and undermine the sanctity of the Constitution," Yechury said.

Nath insisted that he was making statement upon direction by the Chair. He narrated the sequence of events related to the 17-year- old Suryanelli rape case since the time FIR was filed and how several police enquiries and judicial processes "acquitted" Kurien of all charges.

Kurien, a senior Congress leader from Kerala, has been under attack, particularly from Left parties after the victim demanded recently that he be made an accused in the case.

Kurien recently met Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari as also Congress president Sonia Gandhi to explain his position. He also wrote a letter to all Rajya Sabha members on the eve of the start of the Budget Session on February 21, insisting that there was no case against him and allegations against him were false.

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Gun-toting Congress strongman Radadiya, son quit party; to join BJP

GANDHINAGAR: In a major blow to Congress in Gujarat, influential leader Vitthal Radadiya, who was embroiled in a gun-toting controversy, and his son Jayesh, on Monday resigned as MLAs and are set to join BJP. Accompanied by his son, Radadiya visited the legislative assembly and submitted their resignations to speaker Vaju Vala.

They later drove to Ahmedabad, where the state Congress headquarters is located, and put it their papers. A former MP, Radadiya, is a strong Leuva Patel community leader from Saurashtra. He was at the centre of a controversy when he was caught brandishing a gun at a toll plaza in Karzan in Vadodara district after being asked to show his identity card.

"I have tendered my resignation to protest negative policies of the Congress against the state of Gujarat. The Congress culture is of favoritism," Radadiya said after submitting his resignation as MLA. "I have submitted my resignation from the Congress and also as an MLA so that I can join BJP," he said in reply to a question and showered praise on chief minister Narendra Modi.

"Modi has brought Gujarat to new heights of development and he is the prime ministerial candidate of BJP," he said. Vitthal Radadiya, who had resigned as MP and decided to continue as MLA after the recent state assembly elections, was upset over not being made leader of the opposition, the post which went to party veteran and former chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela. Radadiya, is a powerful figure in state's co-operative sector and has strong support base among farmers of Saurashtra.

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PM greets Jayalalithaa on 65th birthday

CHENNAI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday greeted Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on her 65th birthday.

A statement issued by the state government here said the prime minister greeted Jayalalithaa over the phone on her birthday.

Tamil Nadu governor K Rosaiah, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj of the BJP, Communist Party of India national secretary D Raja, many MPs, members of the Tamil Nadu assembly, industrialists and others also greeted Jayalalithaa.

At the AIADMK party headquarters here, senior leaders, state ministers and others were present when a cake weighing 65 kg was cut and distributed.

Across the state, AIADMK leaders and cadres celebrated Jayalalithaa's birthday. The chief minister is also the general secretary of the AIADMK.

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Won't tolerate any tampering with Ram Setu: BJP

NEW DELHI: BJP today warned the government against going ahead with the Sethusamudram project, saying the sentiments of crores of Hindus are attached to the issue and it will not tolerate any tampering with the Ram Setu.

"We would like to warn the government on the Ram Setu issue. It is ignoring the recommendations of the R K Pachauri Committee report and going ahead with the project. This is an issue related to Hindu sentiments and beliefs," party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.

The principal opposition party demanded scrapping of the project.

The Pachauri Committee, which submitted its report to the Supreme Court, has said the Sethusamudram shipping channel project is not viable on economic and ecological grounds.

Government has rejected the report and maintained that it intends to pursue the project which will cut through the Adam's Bridge, popularly known as Ram Setu.

"BJP and the nation will not tolerate any tampering with the Ram Setu. Why is cutting through it the only solution?" Prasad asked.

Asked about the government's contention that over Rs 800 crore has already been spent on the project, the BJP leader said it is not a question of what amount was spent but why this expenditure was incurred in the first place.

"Without the Ram Setu you cannot think of the Ramayana," Prasad said, adding that sentiments of crores of Hindu are attached to the issue.

Ram Setu is the mythical bridge on which Lord Ram and his army crossed the sea to invade Ravan's kingdom.

BJP has always been opposed to the Sethusamudram project which envisages dredging of a shipping channel, proposed to be 30 m wide, 12 m deep and 167 km long, across the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka.

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Two gets life term in Saccha Khera gangrape and suicide case

ROTHAK: Five months after the rape and suicide case of a minor girl in Saccha Khera village of Jind district evoked outrage across the state and the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi also visited the family to assure speedy justice, a Jind district court sentenced the two accused to life imprisonment on Friday.

The trial against fifth accused, who is a minor, is pending in a juvenile court while two other accused including a woman who were facing conspiracy charges were acquitted in the case. According to information, the additional district and sessions judge RN Bharti had convicted two youths - Pradeep Kumar and Sandeep Kumar- guilty in the case on February 18 and announced the jail term today.

The police had booked five persons identified as Pradeep, 24, his brother Manoj, 28, Manoj's wife Meena, 25, Sandeep, 24, and another minor youth on the charges of gangrape and abatement to suicide of the minor girl in the same village. The victim as well as all the accused belong to scheduled caste. The prosecution stated that the girl was gangraped by two neighbouring youths - Pradeep and minor accused, on October 6 while three other accused had helped them in the crime. On getting out of the clutches of the accused, the victim rushed to her house and set herself ablaze and suffered about 80 % burn injuries.

She recorded her statement in the Jind civil hospital in front of the magistrate and was later referred to the PGIMS at Rohtak in critical condition.

The victim succumbed to the burn injuries at Rohtak the same day. The ADJ however had acquitted Manoj and his wife Meena in the case for lack of evidence. Three days after the incident, the Congress president Sonia Gandhi accompanied by Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda visited the family of victim and assured that justice would be done to them and the accused would be brought to book soon. With a spate of rape cases being reported across the state, Gandhi's visit put the state government under pressure to act swiftly after which series of steps were taken for ensuring safety of women.

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Rahul talks of 'aligning' talent as he prepares for 2014 polls

NEW DELHI: Amid talk of possible changes in Congress in the run up to LokSabha polls next year, Rahul Gandhi today said there was "tremendous talent" which needed to be aligned and he was "very excited" about the exercise.

"As I am speaking to all the people in the Congress party, I am finding a tremendous talent there. And it is just a question of aligning it and getting on with it," he told reporters outside Parliament House.

He was reacting to a question on whether there are any changes on the cards in the AICC and about his ongoing meeting with the party's central leaders and those from the states.

The Congress leader said he was "checking from them what they are feeling" and also "just familiarising" himself.

"I am meeting all the people. Checking from them what they are feeling. I am talking to them. I am trying to understand what they would like. I am quite excited about it," he said, adding, "I am just familiarising myself a little bit."

Gandhi was appointed as Congress vice president during its 'chintan shivir' in Jaipur on January 19. He formally took over his position in the AICC on January 23.

Soon after he had interactions with party general secretaries and secretaries, spread over three days, followed by meeting with chief ministers, state unit chiefs and legislative party leaders where they had "free and frank" discussions on the various issues plaguing the outfit.

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Violence marks countrywide strike, millions stay away from work

NEW DELHI: Sporadic violence broke out on Wednesday as labour unions began a two-day strike to protest rising prices and government policies to open the economy.

Millions of factory and bank employees stayed away from work and public transport was shut down in most big cities after major trade unions called the countrywide strike.

A labour leader was fatally crushed when he tried to stop buses from leaving a terminal in Ambala.

Workers armed with iron rods smashed factory windows and set a fire truck and several cars on fire in Noida.

Factory owners said police did not come to their aid despite frantic calls to them.

"The windows of many factories in Noida were broken. We called the police but they were delayed, and meanwhile the damage was done," said Pankaj Shah, a factory owner.

In New Delhi, buses and the subway system were crowded as few taxis and autorickshaws plied the streets. Banks were shuttered, but most shops were open.

Trade unions oppose government policies to open the retail, banking and aviation sectors to foreign investors in an effort to jumpstart India's sputtering economy.

labour unions affiliated with the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, the two main communist parties, and even the ruling Congress party-led trade union are demanding that the government roll back its economic reforms, which they say harm workers' interests.

The unions have issued 10 demands, including raising the minimum wage for all workers to 10,000 rupees a month, controlling prices and providing social security for all workers.

Trade unions say the government's recent moves to open the supermarket sector will hurt millions of small store owners who will not be able to compete against multinational retailers.

Bank employees oppose the government's decision to allow big companies to enter the banking sector and a policy to privatize state-run banks.

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Govt to appeal against Gwalior court order blocking sites critical of IIPM

NEW DELHI: The government will appeal against Gwalior district court order asking it to block website pages on internet publishing defamatory material about ArindamChaudhuri-ledIIPM institute.

"Minister ( Kapil Sibal) has asked the department of electronics and information technology (DEITY) to appeal against Gwalior court order. The order was passed without DEITY made party to it. No notice was issued and the order came to us directly without giving us an opportunity to respond. We will ask court to vacate the order and appeal against the order," an IT ministry source said.

The department of electronics and information technology will appeal to the Gwalior court to vacate this order in the next hearing on February 28, the source said.

The court order asked director general of Indian Computer Emergency Response Team to block 78 web pages including that of University Grants Commission (UGC).

This was after the parties in the case--Google India, Google Inc and website firm Weebly Inc--did not comply with the order, the source said.

UGC in its public notice cautioning the students had said that it does not recognise (IIPM) and that it is not entitled to award degrees.

"The order is on civil matter not under Information Technology Act. It was issued to us on January 29. We waited till February 14 but parties in the case against whom the order was passed neither complied with it nor appealed against it. DEITY was left with no option but to comply with the order," the source said.

Google India had participated in the process through its lawyer and the first notice in the case was received by its representative on May 19, 2012, the source added.

No immediate comments were received from Google and Weebly.

The list of web pages blocked also included news items on websites of leading media houses on the IIPM.

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Let Parliament decide on Afzal Guru's body, Manmohan says

NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: Let Parliament discuss whether the body of Afzal Guru should be taken to Jammu and Kashmir as demanded by his family, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday. Afzal Guru was hanged and buried in Tihar Jail on February 9 for his role in the 2001 attack on Parliament.

"Let Parliament discuss whether the body should be brought back or not," Manmohan Singh said.

Life returns to normal in valley

Life returned to normal in Srinagar and other major towns of the Kashmir valley Monday after seven days of curfew and two days of separatist-sponsored shutdown following the February 9 execution Afzal Guru.

Shops, banks, post offices, business establishments and government offices were open in the Jammu and Kashmir summer capital, while public transport was plying normally.

Students attended tuitions and coaching classes in the morning, as the city's educational institutions have been closed for winter vacations.

Railway officials said train services in Jammu and Kashmir would resume by afternoon.

The curfew, imposed after the execution of Afzal Guru at Delhi's Tihar Jail, was lifted in the entire Kashmir valley Saturday. However, life remained paralysed for the next two days owing to a total shutdown called by Syed Ali Geelani, chairman of the hardline Hurriyat group.

Three people died across the region during clashes with the security forces in the aftermath of Guru's hanging.

Meanwhile, rumours continue to do the rounds in north Kashmir's Baramulla district and Srinagar city about the possibility of Afzal Guru's body being returned to the family for last rites. However, there has been no official confirmation on this so far.

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Yeddurappa's political outfit seeks coconut as party symbol

MANGALORE: The Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) headed by former CM BS Yeddyurappa has moved the election commission to allocate the coconut as its party symbol, V Dhananjay Kumar, senior KJP leader said. The state election commission has recognised KJP as a regional political party and has been allocated serial number 47 as mentioned in a special Gazette published on February 15. The party has also move the ECI to recognise it as a regional political party, he added.

Announcing the name of social worker and educationist Kallekkar Guthu Ravindra Shetty as the president of Dakshina Kannada district unit of the party here on Sunday, Dhananjay said Ravindra hailing from Bunt community is the president of Rathna Education Trust that manages the Vidya Rathna English Medium School at Deralakate. He heads a 45-member core committee of office bearers that will manage party affairs in Dakshina Kannada.

Dhananjay said the party has given preference to people of all taluks in the district and religions to take care of socio-regional-religious balance while constituting the district unit. The party with its thrust on attracting the youth towards it has also chosen Kiran Shetty to head its youth wing, Jyothika Jain as the chief of its women's wing, and Hameed Kudroli to head the minority wing and these units will work on directions from the district unit.

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Election Commission team seizes Rs 1 crore from chopper in Nagaland

KOHIMA: An Election Commission surveillance team on Saturday seized Rs 1 crore cash from a helicopter allegedly being used by a candidate of the Nagaland Peoples Front (NPF) in the poll-bound state.

A team of EC-appointed observers seized the cash from a chopper, which was allegedly hired to ferry Nyemli Phom who is contesting the Assembly polls from a constituency in Longleng district, official sources said.

The EC team has alerted the income tax department and police officials about the development and they have dispatched their teams for the necessary action, they said.

Sources said the candidate will be asked about the sources and utility of this huge cash and after recording the statement a decision will be taken about the cash.

The EC has issued guidelines to political parties to instruct their candidates not to carry huge cash and conduct transactions through banking channels.

Polls for the 60 assembly seats in the state will be conducted on February 23.

The EC has appointed a team of "expenditure observers" in the state to keep a check on illegal money and other inducements being used for voters at the hustings.

The EC-appointed teams are also keeping a close eye on any instances of "paid news" in the run up to the polls.

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You can't always win, Finmeccanica CEO told US delegation with champagne bottle

NEW DELHI: "You cannot always win". This is the message Finmeccanica chief Giuseppe Orsi sent along with a bottle of champagne to his rivals American Sikorsky in a five star hotel in New Delhi, a day ahead of the award of the Rs 3,600 crore contract in February 2010, according to report of the Italian investigators.

Sikorsky and Italian Finmeccanica were the two companies shortlisted for the Indian contract of 12 helicopters to ferry VVIPs which ultimately was bagged by Finmeccanica.

"Orsi, found himself at a restaurant in New Delhi where (by accident) a delegation of American Sikorsky was also present ... Orsi sent a bottle of champagne with a note that says "you cannot always win" to the American table," said the report by the investigators probing the alleged scam.

After the incident, the head of the American delegation left the room annoyed by the rude behaviour of the Italian CEO.

The incident was confirmed to PTI by one of the individuals present in the hotel.

Orsi was arrested in earlier this week in connection with payment of alleged kickbacks of Rs 362 crore in the deal.

It is alleged that kickbacks were paid by middlemen hired by Finmeccanica to secure the Indian contract and they were allegedly in touch with former IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi and his three cousins for this purpose.

Tyagi has denied any wrongdoing by him and dismissed the charges as baseless.

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New generation of Kashmiris will identify with Afzal Guru: Omar Abdullah

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has said that the new generation of Kashmiris will identify with 2001 Parliament Attack accused Afzal Guru because the latter belonged to their generation, and added that every generation of Kashmiris has his or her symbol.

He said that to understand this phenomenon or feeling, there was need to have a deep knowledge of the Kashmiri history and developments.

"Kashmiris have always looked for symbols whether in the mainstream or in the separatist camp. They have always identified with people. They identified with Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, they have identified with other leaders from time to time. Make no mistake, ask the generation of separatist leadership represented by those in their 40s and 50s, they will tell you they identified with Maqbool Bhatt. I have said not every Kashmiri will identify with him, but make no mistake a new generation of Kashmiris will identify with Afzal Guru because he belongs to their generation. Maqbool Bhatt was a name, Afzal Guru is a face," said Abdullah.

Abdullah also said that he had been consistent in repeatedly stating that he had serious apprehensions about the fallout from Afzal Guru's execution, and that he made no attempt to hide this view.

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Court issues production warrant against Om Prakash Chautala in disproportionate assets case

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday sought the presence of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala in a disproportionate assets case in which he is an accused.

Special CBI judge Manu Rai Sethi issued the production warrant for Chautala for March 2 as the 78-year-old Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief was not brought to the court from jail, where he is lodged following his sentence of 10- year imprisonment in another corruption case.

"Let production warrant be issued in favour of superintendent on jail No.4 (where Chautala is lodged), Tihar directing production of accused OP Chautala for March 2," the court said.

The prosecution witnesses could not be examined today owing to Chautala's absence.

The CBI had on March 26, 2010 charged Chautala indicting him for allegedly possessing assets worth Rs 6.09 crore, far exceeding his legal income between 1993 and 2006.

Two such separate cases are also on against his sons Ajay and Abhay Chautala.

Chautala and Ajay Chautala were sentenced to 10-year imprisonment by a Delhi court on January 22 for illegally recruiting 3,206 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers in the state in 2000.

The CBI had registered three separate disproportionate assets cases against Chautalas on a complaint by Haryana Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala.

Earlier, all the three cases were being heard in different courts and were transferred to one court on CBI's plea that all cases be transferred before a single judge as their trials at three different courts will lead to inordinate delay in concluding them.

In its chargesheet, the CBI had alleged that Chautala's wealth was 189 per cent more than his income of Rs 3.22 crore during the period.

The CBI had also said that Ajay was possessing assets exceeding his legal income by 339.27 per cent. His legal income between May 1993 and May 2006 was Rs 8.17 crore. However, he acquired assets worth Rs 27.7 crore, CBI alleged.

Abhay owned assets worth over five times his income of Rs 22.89 crore as per income tax records during the 2000-2005 period. The agency claimed to have found Rs 119.69 crore worth of assets.

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Will come to Tihar only to take Afzal's body: Family

SRINAGAR: The family of Afzal Guru, who was hanged last week for his role in 2001 Parliament attack, welcomed the Centre's decision to hand over his belongings, but said they would come to Tihar only if the government agrees to hand over his body.

"They are mixing the two things, we don't understand what they mean. We can pray even from here. We want the body to be handed back, nothing less than that," Mohammad Yasin, a cousin of Afzal from Sopore told PTI after home secretary R K Singh said in Delhi that the family will be allowed to visit Afzal's grave inside Tihar jail here.

Singh also said all belongings left behind in Tihar jail by Afzal will be handed over to his family.

But Yasin said, "We welcome handing over the belongings but it should not be mixed with the issue of handing over the body. They are different.... If they are so concerned, they should hand over the body."

Yasin said they would go to Tihar only if the body is returned.

"We will go to Delhi on our own, if it comes to that. We do not want any largesse from the government. The only thing we want from them is to return Afzal's body," he said.

On Afzal's belongings, he said "they are the real treasure left now." The belongings, according to Yasin, include his writing material, religious and other books and a radio set.

"Either they tell us to come there or we can come on our own to collect the body and the belongings," said Yasin, adding the family wants to give him a "proper burial".

Yasin said the family has written a letter in this respect to Tihar jail authorities as well as deputy commissioner Baramulla.

43-year-old Afzal was hanged and buried in Tihar jail in Delhi on February 9.

Asked about Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde's statement that government can consider allowing the family to offer 'fatiha' (prayer) on Afzal's grave, Yasin said it was of no use.

"Where will we offer faitha? We want to bury him here (in Sopore)," he said.

He termed as "cruel joke" the letter received yesterday from Tihar Jail authorities informing the family about Afzal's hanging.

"The arrival of the letter yesterday was like rubbing salt into open wounds of the family...the wounds which may never heal," Yasin said.

He alleged that the leaders of the country were playing politics over the death of Afzal.

"Afzal was hanged -- rightly or wrongly, we don't want to go into that — but politicians should stop playing politics," he said.

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Railways struggling to deal with Kumbh rush as stampede toll reaches 36

ALLAHABAD: Frantic relatives mobbed officials on Monday seeking information about victims of Sunday's stampede which has claimed 36 lives even as the railways had a tough time dealing with the rush of three crore Kumbh devotees thronging the city.

There were chaotic scenes at the railway station and local hospitals here treating the 39 injured in the tragedy with relatives running from pillar to post to get information about their near and dear ones.

North Central Railway said a probe will be initiated after clearing the rush of pilgrims.

"A probe will follow once we are through with ferrying pilgrims back to the places they had arrived from", Alok Johri, general manager of the North Central Railway zone, told PTI.

CMO Allahabad Dr Prabhakar said 14 more people died during treatment, taking the death toll to 36.

The victims include 26 women, 9 men and a child. Bodies of 20 of the deceased have been identified.

Taking moral responsibility for the stampede, UP cabinet minister Muhammad Azam Khan resigned as the in charge of Kumbh Mela.

"Though the incident took place outside the Kumbh Mela premises, I take moral responsibility and resign as the in charge of the Kumbh. I am sending my resignation to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav", Khan told reporters in Lucknow.

The stampede occurred at 7pm on Sunday at platforms No 5 and 6 of Allahabad railway station where thousands of passengers, mostly Mahakumbh devotees returning after taking the holy dip at the Sangam on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, had gathered to board a train.

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