Daily Times India

New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS) Special courts should be set up to fast-track terrorism cases involving youth from Azamgarh, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has suggested after his “fact finding” visit to the Uttar Pradesh district.

Singh, who went to Azamgarh last week, told reporters here Monday that he would be submitting his report to party president Sonia Gandhi in the next two days.

“We want a free, fair and speedy trial,” he said.

Singh indicated his report will be based on papers and petitions given to him by the parents of youths arrested on terrorism charges.

Singh’s visit had generated some controversy over his remarks on the 2008 Batla House shootout in Delhi.

Azamgarh had been in the news for the arrest of local youth on charges of involvement in terror.

Lucknow, Feb 8 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh police Monday claimed to have neutralized a major Maoist group in the state with the arrest of eight “active members” of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist in Kanpur district and two People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) activists on Sunday.

State Director General of Police Karamveer Singh told a press conference here Monday: “With the arrest of as many as 10 Maoist leaders from different parts of the state over the past 24 hours, we have pushed their terror network at least 10 years behind.”

He described the operation as a “result of two years of sustained tracking of the Maoist group.”

Eight top Maoists were arrested by the state’s Special Task Force (STF) from Kanpur on Monday while two were taken into custody from Gorakhpur and Allahabad on Sunday. Those arrested on Sunday were People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) state secretary Seema Azad and her husband Vishwa Vijay, was also a PUCL activist.

Even as PUCL leaders took strong offence to the arrest of the couple, terming the STF action as a “frame-up”, the state police chief claimed, “This group of Maoists had plans to unleash major violence and make strikes at different places in UP and Uttarakhand, where they were also planning a heavy anti-India propaganda blitz.”

According to him, “The arrested persons were in Kanpur to get seditious literature printed.” He said, “We have enough evidence to establish that this particular group had been involved in repeated strikes in different places in Bihar, including killing of special armed guards in Raniganj and Gaya, besides murder of a railway employee at Jha-jha railway station.”

Describing the arrested people as activists of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), Karamveer Singh alleged, “There was enough reason to believe that they were plotting against the state.”

He also suspected the arrested people had nexus with Maoists engaged in anti-India campaign in Nepal. “We will also be probing their connections with Maoists in Nepal.”

The arrested were identified as 51-year-old Balraj alias Baccha Prasad, a resident of Chapra district (Bihar) who was an alleged member of the banned outfit’s Central Committee and its Politburo, Chintan alias Banshi Dhar Singh (64) hailing from Champaran, Bihar, Naveen Prasad Singh, 54, a resident of Patna, who was also a member of Bihar zonal committee and convenor of Tactical United Front of CPI (Maoist).

Among the others were Ambareesh (40), resident of Banka, Bihar, who was a member of the Uttar Pradesh State Organising Committee, Deepak (24), resident of Samastipur, Kripa Shankar (35) hailing from Kushinagar, besides Shiv Raj Singh (66) and Rajendra Kumar (33), based in Uttarakhand.

While Balraj was described as a science graduate, Chintan holds a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and was regarded as the organisation’s think-tank.

Police said they have seized seditious literature, CDs, pen drive, Rs.8.16 lakh in cash from the arrested persons.

When the DGP’s attention was drawn to PUCL’s protest against the arrests, he shot back, “Those sympathizing with the arrested persons and trying to label them as social workers ought to realize that they are running the risk of associating with anti-nationals.”

Retired IPS officer S.R. Darapuri, who was state vice president of PUCL, proposes to lead a protest demonstration against the arrests in Lucknow on Feb 13.

Expressing shock at the arrest of PUCL activists Seema Azad and her husband Vishwa Vijay, he asserted, “Possessing Maoist literature is no crime. Cops have been targeting human rights activists and branding them as Maoists; we will oppose such oppression tooth and nail,” Darapuri told IANS.

Replying to questions on the arrest of Seema, who was also the editor of a monthly magazine ‘Dastak’, that was involved in raising issues relating to the rights of tribals and Dalits in and around Allahabad-Mirzapur region, the state police chief asserted, “The arrests were made after prolonged investigation, which clearly revealed their involvement in anti-national activities.”

Lucknow, Feb 8 (IANS) Ten children were among 18 people killed when a tractor-trolley in which they were travelling skidded off the road and fell into a deep, water-filled ditch in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district Monday night, police said.

Fourteen people were also injured in the accident that occurred in Pisawan town in Sitapur district, some 80 km from Lucknow.

District police chief Amitabh Yash told IANS on telephone: “It appears that the accident occurred while the driver of the tractor-trolley tried to overtake a vehicle. In the process, the tractor-trolley lost control and fell into a water-filled ditch along the road.”

“Of the 18 killed, 10 are children while the remaining are women,” Circle Officer M.P. Singh said.

The injured have been admitted to a hospital in Sitapur.

Kolkata, Feb 8 (IANS) Steel maker JSW Steel Ltd will complete the first phase of its project in West Bengal’s Salboni in three years, its managing director Sajjan Jindal said here Monday.

“We plan to start work in another six months for the steel project in Salboni, provided we are given adequate security, which the chief minister (Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee) assured me today (Monday). We propose to complete the first phase in three years,” Jindal told reporters emerging from a meeting with Bhattacharjee at the state secretariat Writers’ Buildings.

The company is constructing a 10 million tonne steel plant in the state for an investment of Rs.350-billion (over $7 billion) at Salboni in West Midnapore district.

The first phase will have a capacity of three million tonnes. JSW would be investing Rs.12,000 crore, Jindal said.

JSW Steel, which in November tied up with Japanese steel giant JFE Steel Corp for technology sharing for the Salboni project, may sell as much as 40 percent in the arm, JSW Steel Bengal, to the Japanese partner, Jindal said.

“We are working on how much JFE would pick up in the project; in all likelihood they would start with 26 percent initially and go up to 40 percent eventually,” Jindal said.

The signing of the deal with JFE was closely followed by a visit of a JFE team to Salboni.

Kolkata, Feb 8 (IANS) The joint security forces Monday raided a camp used by banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) leader Kishanji in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, but the rebel leader yet again managed to escape.

Acting on a tip-off, the forces raided two Maoist camps in the Pirakata jungles, and found Kishanji’s hideout in one of them, District Superintendent of Police Manoj Verma, who led the raiding party, said.

“Kishanji had set up base there. But he fled before we could reach him. Or maybe he had fled a couple of days earlier,” Verma told IANS.

Kishanji has so far eluded the police five times in the last few months.

“We found that bullets were being made there. There were a lot of landmine-making materials like gunpowder,” Verma said.

He said that Prashanta Mahato, a front-ranking Maoist leader and the main accused in the abduction of Sankarail police station officer-in-charge Atindranath Dutta, has been arrested from his jungle hideout.

In a daring daylight raid, about 40 Leftwing extremists stormed the Sankrail police station last October, killing two policemen and abducting the officer-in-charge Dutta. He was freed after two days in captivity.

Gandhinagar, Feb 8 (IANS) The Gujarat High Court Monday sought an explanation from the state government on its changed stand over paying compensation for mosques destroyed or demolished during the 2002 communal riots.

A division bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhyay and Justice Anant Dave sought the state government response by March 2 on a public interest lawsuit of the Islamic Relief Committee Gujarat, which had sought compensation from the government for repair and reconstruction of damaged religious structures.

The state government had accepted the 2003 report of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which had recommended payment of the compensation, but later changed its stand and said that it will not be paying compensation following a policy decision on the matter.

As many as 535 religious structures were destroyed or damaged during the riots in Gujarat, and the Islamic Relief Committee approached the higher judiciary for relief.

New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Monday gave a 10-day breather to Blueline bus operators who were issued a notice by the state government to phase out the bus service.

The Blueline bus operators Monday approached the court asking for more time against the government’s notice.

The bus operator association submitted before Justice S. Muralidhar that the government has not followed the proper procedure for sending notices.

According to the operators, the government should have given 30-day notice but has given only 10 days.

“We know the history of Blueline buses. But the government will not take any coercive action till Feb 19,” the judge said.

Defending the notification dated Jan 29, the government stated that Blueline buses that are more than 10 years old as in June this year will not be allowed to ply on the capital’s roads.

About 264 buses which fall under this category will be removed from Delhi roads.

According to government, when the phase-out from south Delhi starts, operators running buses which are less than 10 years old will be given some of the routes on which the older, phased-out buses were operating.

The allocation will reportedly happen on a first come first serve basis. The shortfall, if any, will be met with the new low-floor DTC buses which are augmenting the fleet every month now.

Chandigarh, Feb 8 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Monday sought the intervention of union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to immediately clear the samples of “201″ variety of paddy.

In the past few weeks, samples of this variety of paddy were collected from various parts of Punjab after a spot was seen on the grain and tests are now being conducted by the health ministry.

The milling of the variety was stopped by the millers in the wake of prevailing uncertainty over its future, thus causing huge loss to the farmers.

“Badal met the union health minister at his residence in New Delhi today and apprised him about the situation. He has urged Azad to send the results to the agriculture ministry within the next 2-3 days, as the paddy was drying up rapidly in the state,” a Punjab government spokesman said here.

Badal informed Azad that in spite of severe drought, Punjab has shown record production. However, now the state is facing major problem as the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is not buying PAU 201 variety of rice, claiming the grain had more then 4 percent damage.

However, officials of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) at Ludhiana said that the spot on the rice grain was on the account of iron deposition, which in a way was good for its consumers.

Shimla, Feb 8 (IANS) Tourists were held up Monday in the picturesque resort of Manali due massive landslides on the main road linking the town to Kullu, an official said.

“Around 200 tourists were held up this (Monday) evening due to landslides near Kalath on the Manali-Kullu highway,” Sub-Divisional Magistrate Rajeshwar Goel told IANS on phone from Manali.

He said efforts were on to clear the blockade but inclement weather is hampering the road-clearing operation.

Kalath is located just 5 km from Manali towards Kullu on the Manali-Chandigarh National Highway 22.

Goel said all the tourists in Manali are safe and they would be allowed to move forward only after the way is cleared.

The weather bureau in Shimla said Manali and its nearby areas have been experiencing heavy snow since Sunday night.

“It started snowing in Manali around midnight after intermittent rain Sunday morning. So far, Manali and nearby areas have received more than three feet of snow,” said Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office in Shimla.

Manali, around 300 km from the state capital, got a huge influx of tourists due to the five-day-long winter carnival that began Sunday.

Lucknow, Feb 8 (IANS) Eight “active members” of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist were nabbed Monday in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district, police said.

The eight hail from Bihar and were arrested in Kanpur’s Naubasta town, some 90 km from Lucknow, while they were going to attend a meet convened by the CPI-Maoist.

Earlier, an official statement issued by the state’s additional director general of police said seven Maoists were arrested from Naubasta town.

“They include the notorious Balraj, who is believed to have been working for Maoists since 1978 and is accused of killing security personnel in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal,” Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal told reporters here.

Maoist literature and cash totalling Rs.8 lakh were recovered from the men.

Preliminary investigations reveal that the Maoists had planned to raise guerrillas in various Uttar Pradesh districts including Deoria, Kanpur, Kushinagar, Azamgarh and Allahabad.

Earlier Saturday, three alleged Maoists were arrested from Gorakhpur and Allahabad districts.

Among them was Balraj’s wife Hiram Munda. Besides Balraj, the seven others include Rajendra Kumar, Kripa Shanker, Chintan, Naveen Prasad, Ambreesh, Deepak and Shivraj Singh.