Ex-MLA: gave money to suspected IM terrorists unknowingly
NEW DELHI, Mar 11 (Agencies): A former Azamgarh MLA today said two suspected Indian

Mujahideen terrorists allegedly involved in Delhi serial blasts had met him at his residence and

sought monetary help soon after they escaped from Batla House following an encounter.
Abdus Salam of Congress claimed Junaid alias Haris, whom he knew, came to his flat in Saba

Apartments in Noida Sector 44 at around 4:30 pm on September 19, 2008 along with another

person but he was not aware that they were involved in the blasts or the gun battle at Batla

House in south Delhi.
Salam gave around Rs 1,500 to Junaid and another person whom the former MLA did not

meet earlier. Salam said he remembers that Junaid told him that his name was Pappu.
Suspected IM terrorist Shahzad, police sources had earlier said, told his interrogators after

his arrest on February 1 that he and Junaid had gone to the house of a former MLA from

whom they got some money for travelling. Police had not named the politician.
Sources had said Shahzad had taken the names of three politicians, including one from

Mumbai, who gave them money.
"They met me sometime between 4 and 4:30 pm on September 19, 2008. I knew Haris

(Junaid) as he is the nephew of my friend. He used to call me uncle. He came with another

person I could not recognise. Police say he is Shahzad," Salam told PTI.
According to the Congress leader, Junaid told him that they needed money to go home. "I

gave them Rs 1,400-1,500," he said.
Salam claimed that three days after the Batla House encounter, he saw the picture of Junaid

in newspapers with police claiming that he is on the run in connection with the serial blasts

case.
Asked whether he informed police about Junaid taking money from him, Salam said, he did not

do so.
"I did not inform police but I called his father and told him that he had taken money from him. I

also asked him to make his son surrender before police," Salam claimed.

Actual debate on women's bill during adjournments
NEW DELHI, Mar 11 (Agencies): Unable to make their point over Women's Reservation Bill

during the business hours, proponents and opponents of the legislation today used the

adjournment periods in Lok Sabha to convince each other about their views.
As the Lok Sabha was adjourned at 11.40 AM for 20 minutes following uproar by members of

SP, RJD and JD-U, who are opposed to the bill, hectic activities were witnessed in the House.
Members from various parties were seen approaching those of others to convince them about

their points of view on the bill that has already been passed by the Rajya Sabha and is to be

introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Clusters of members, cutting across party lines, were seen holding consultations.
RJD Chief Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav walked up to

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, apparently to persuade her not to press the bill.
Gandhi was joined by Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee and they together tried to

convince the opponents to give up their resistance.
"Aap inki baat suniye (listen to him)," Gandhi was heard telling Prasad and Yadav while

pointing towards Mukherjee.
Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee, whose party did not participate in voting in

Rajya Sabha in protest against the bill, also joined them and was significantly seen as acting

as a mediator.
She goaded Prasad to tell his point of view to Gandhi.
Later, JD(U) Chief Sharad Yadav also joined the parleys and told Gandhi about his

reservations against the bill.
Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, whose party is for the reservation of women in Lok

Sabha and state assemblies, was seen talking to RJD and SP members, apparently asking

them not to oppose the measure and allow the House to function.
At this, RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh lost his cool and accused BJP of acting as a

"broker for the government".
"Yeh Rajya Sabha me pass karwa ke aaye hai...Kya sarkar ki dalali ke liye vipaksh hai (they

have come here after getting the bill passed in Rajya Sabha...Is the opposition here as a

broker of the government?" he said.
He asked loudly whether convincing the parties opposed to the bill was job of BJP or that of

the government.
Singh expressed anguish over the fact that seven members of Rajya Sabha were still under

suspension.
Soon afterwards, Swaraj and other senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Ananth Kumar and

Gopinath Munde huddled around NDA Working Chairman L K Advani to discuss the issue. BJP

Chief Whip Ramesh Bais, who is reportedly against the bill, watched from a distance.
Advani, along with Rajnath Singh, later tried to convince JD(U) member Rajiv Ranjan Singh

"Lallan" and others about the bill. Later Advani walked out of the House alone.
When the House re-assembled at 12 PM, it was adjourned within minutes following uproar

again.
After the adjournment, Yogi Adityanath, another BJP member opposed to the bill, was seen

going towards Mulayam and some discussions ensued. He then talked to RJD and SP leaders

before joining his party members.

SC to hear AP govt's plea on quota for Muslims on mar 22
NEW DELHI, Mar 11 (Agencies): The Supreme Court today decided to hear on March 22, the

petition filed by Andhra Pradesh government challenging the verdict of the High Court striking

down a state law providing four per cent reservation in educational institutions and jobs to the

Muslim community.
A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court had by a majority

judgement of 5:2 held that the law providing 4 per cent reservation to backward class Muslims

in the state was "unsustainable" and violative of Article 14, 15(1) and 16 (2) of the

Constitution.
Attorney General G E Vahanvati mentioned the appeal on behalf of Andhra Pradesh

government before a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and sought an urgent

hearing saying the issue is important and requires some arguments.
However, his submission was opposed by senior advocate Ravi Shankar Prasad who said

there was no need for urgent hearing on the appeal as the state government has envisaged

reservation for Muslims on religious basis.
Prasad, who is also a BJP spokesman, was appearing for some of the people on whose

petition the High Court had passed the judgement holding the Andhra Pradesh Reservation in

favour of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of Muslims Act, 2007 unsustainable.
On the other hand, Vahanvati said there was urgency in the matter as the High Court has

struck down the entire law providing reservations for Muslims.
Counting this, Prasad said "religion based reservation has no place in the Constitution".
The High Court, while setting aside the state Act, had also quashed a subsequent 2007

government order allocating 4 per cent reservation to Muslim groups in educational institutions

and jobs.
The state had moved a bill in the Assembly on the basis of a report submitted to it by Andhra

Pradesh Commission for Backward Classes (APBC). The bill was later passed by the

Assembly.
The report had recommended that the socially and educationally backward should be

adequately represented in the state.
The government order was issued on July 7, 2007 providing for the quota to Muslim groups.
The High Court held that the recommendation made by the APBC was unsustainable as it

failed to evolve and spell out proper and relevant criteria for identification of social and

educational backwardness or social backwardness and inadequate representation in public

employment among classes or persons belonging to Muslim community.
It said the data was not collected properly by the APBC for determining the social and

educational backwardness of the Muslims in the state.
The High Court said the Commission relied on data collected and observations made by

Anthropological Survey of India which was meant to make an anthropological profile of Indian

population and has no relevance to the affirmative action or reservation under Article 15(4)

and 16 (4) of the Constitution which enables a state to make law on reservation.

Switzerland ready to assist India on black money issue
NEW DELHI, Mar 11 (Agencies): Switzerland has changed its attitude on tax havens and is

ready to give assistance to India on the issue of black money stashed in its banks, a former

lawmaker has said.
"Under international pressure, Switzerland has changed its attitude concerning tax havens and

is ready to give assistance in this regard to India," said Rudolf Strahm, a former MP who held

the post of Federal Price Regulator till recently.
India and Switzerland are currently renegotiating the bilateral double taxation treaty, which

would help the Indian authorities to seek details of Indians who have secret Swiss bank

accounts.
While there is no official figure on the huge amounts of unaccounted money kept in Swiss

banks, a petition moved by former Law Minister Ram Jethmalani and others claims that the

amount involved is around Rs 70 lakh crore.
The Swiss government has already signed about 20 bilateral agreements with 20 countries on

double taxation, Strahm said.
"There is a process of change of attitude in Switzerland concerning this capital from abroad,"

Strahm, a former MP of ruling Social Democratic Party who is on a visit to India, told PTI.
Strahm said the Swiss government has declared that it will give official assistance to

countries on the issue of tax evasions.
"We are prepared for discussions with other countries on the issue. It is upto those countries

to negotiate with the Swiss government," Strahm said.
Asked about black money in Swiss banks from this country, he said India too can enter into an

agreement with Switzerland on double taxation.
"I think the tax havens in Switzerland will change and will be corrected. In the last two years,

we have very strong philosophy inside the government towards the question of tax evasions,"

he said.
Strahm is on 11-day visit to India during which he proposes to highlight the advantages of the

vocational education and training programmes in Switzerland which have immensely helped

meeting its industry requirements.
He said the Gujarat government has evinced interest in adopting such vocational education

model which combines education and practical training.

Militancy on decline in northeast: Home Ministry
SHILLONG, Mar 11 (Agencies): Militancy-related incidents has seen a decline in the

Northeast this year, the Home Ministry said today.
The number of terror incidents have come down to 1,297 in 2009 from 1,561 in 2008,

according to a Ministry of Home Affairs statement.
The number of security forces killed in 2009 is 42 as against 46 in 2008, it said.
As many as 264 civilians were killed in 2009 as against 466 in 2008, while the number of

extremists killed also saw a drop from 640 to 571 during the same period.
About 2,162 extremists were arrested in the region in 2009. From January 2009 to January

31 this year, the total number of terror-related incidents were 85.
Two security personnel, 12 civilians and 31 extremists were killed during this period, the

statement said.
As many as 149 extremists were arrested during the first month of this year, it said.
There are over 20 active militant groups in the region. A majority of them are in Manipur and

Assam.
Significantly, over the last one-and-a-half year, members of two prominent Assam-based

militant outfits Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) and Karbi Longri National Liberation Front

(KLNLF) have surrendered en masse.
Almost the entire top leadership of ULFA, except for its elusive 'military chief' Paresh Barua

have been netted by the security forces, the statement said.

Only about 4000 villages have electricity in Jharkhand
RANCHI, Mar 11 (Agencies): Only about 4000 out of the 32,615 villages in Jharkhand have

electricity while work in over thousand villages will be completed by 2011, the state assembly

was informed today.
"We have asked the NTPC to complete work within a time-frame (in its area of work). We

have also entrusted the State Electricity Board with completing electrification work in 1,244

villages by 2010/11," Deputy Chief Minister, Raghuvar Das, who holds energy portfolio, said.
Replying to a bunch of queries on electrification during question hour, Das said the

government was committed to electrify all the villages in the state.
"For 50 years there is no electricity in most of the villages. With an aim to provide electricity

to all the villages, we have earmarked a new Atal Jyoti Electrification Scheme in the 2010/11

budget," he added.
Taking strong exception to Das's oblique reference that the villages had been in dark during

Congress period for over five decades in undivided Bihar, the leader of the opposition, R P

Singh (Congress) reminded him how Jharkhand had been benefiting from power plants in

Bokaro, Tenughat, Patratu and Maithon set up by previous Congress regimes.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the new budget had the provision for joint ventures to increase

power generation and transmission.
Das faced criticism when Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch MLA Bandhu Tirkey informed the

house that a blind school in Ranchi city had no power supply for the last sixteen months.
Taking a serious note, Speaker C P Singh directed the government to initiate steps in

restoring electricity to the school.

Punjab: 20,000 youths try to migrate illegally each year
CHANDIGARH, Mar 11 (Agencies): High unemployment rate is forcing over 20,000 youths

from Punjab to migrate to other countries by using illegal channels every year and the trend

has spread to neighbouring states too, according to a study by United Nations Office on Drugs

and Crime (UNODC).
The study notes that Delhi has emerged as an important centre for smuggling of migrants from

northern India.
The irregular migration has not only spread to new areas of Punjab but also to neighbouring

states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the study by K C Saha-

former consultant of UNODC- that was released here today says.
Unscrupulous agents were now operating from more prosperous areas of Delhi and even from

five star hotels. "It is easy to operate from big city as it helps them (agents) to maintain their

anonymity and carry on activities clandestinely," the report says.
While UK and Belgium remain the favourite destination , the study says the irregular migrants

have attempted to go to 57 countries including Germany, Austria, Spain, Belgium, France,

Italy, Greece in the past.
However, now countries like Africa, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are emerging as new transit

countries for migration to Western Europe.
"Earlier, Russia and Ukraine used to be transit countries but now other countries like Central

Asia are replacing them to move into European countries," Saha said in 'Smuggling of

Migrants from India to Europe and in particular to UK: A study on Punjab and Haryana'.
Amongst its key recommendations, it sought an independent legislation to check human

smuggling as police and judicial system are constrained in dealing with these cases under

existing legal provisions.
It has also recommended formation of specialised counter-smuggling law enforcement units at

national and state level to sternly deal with illegal migration of people to other countries.
The modus operandi of agents to "smuggle migrants" abroad has been substitution of Indian

passports, photo substitution in Indian and foreign passports, use of forged visas and forged

residence permits.
Saha said that forged visas of as many as 41 countries including Greece, France, Spain and

UK had been used to send people abroad.
The phenomenon of irregular migration is more prevalent in Punjab's several districts like

Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur, it says.
"Earlier, irregular migration was restricted to a few caste groups like Jat Sikhs and Lubana

Sikhs in Punjab but now it has spread to other castes which has really triggered proliferation

of agents to facilitate illegal migration in the state," it says.
With illegal migration no more being a stigma among families, the social structure in a village

of Punjab, which was traditionally based on landholding and caste, has now transformed to a

distinction between families having members in other countries and those which do not, points

out study,
"Potential irregular migrants consider other successful migrants from their neighbourhood as

their role models," says Saha while adding high unemployment rate in Punjab was the major

reason for illegal migration.

No regular pay scale for contractual posts: CAT
NEW DELHI, Mar 11 (Agencies): The subsequent merger of a contractual post into a regular

establishment of a government department will not entitle an employee to claim a regular pay

scale, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has held.
The Tribunal was hearing a matter of an ex-armyman Jai Ram Solanki, appointed on

contractual basis, who demanded the regular pay scale associated with Office Superintendent

after the regular establishment of MCD took over the post in 2001.
"The appointment was purely on contractual basis for a particular project with certain

stipulations which included payment of a fixed remuneration. Thus, claim for a regular pay

scale would not be tenable. Again, even the subsequent merger of the post in the regular

establishment of the MCD would not give him any such right," it said.
However, the Tribunal directed the MCD to consider Solanki's 2005 representations which

was filed with it requesting for revision of the consolidated salary on the principles of fairness

and equity.
Solanki was appointed for a special World Bank-aided project on contractual basis by the

MCD on a fixed remuneration of Rs 5,000 per month. The remuneration for the post was later

enhanced to Rs 8,000 in 1998.

NBW issued against 'Godman' in abduction case
GHAZIABAD, Mar 11 (Agencies): A non-bailable warrant has been issued by the district court

here against a 40-year-old self-styled godman Anoop Kumar Sahai who had allegedly

abducted his 28-year-old cousin from Raj Nagar here.
The district court yesterday issued the non-bailable warrant against the godman and directed

to police to produce him before the court after arresting him.
The godman had allegedly kidnapped Priyanka Srivastava, a MBA student, on February 15.

On a complaint filed by the girl's mother Sudha Srivastava, a case of kidnapping has been

registered against the godman, who is at large after the missing of the girl.
The police conducted raids at his houses in Ghaziabad and Gorakhpur and an ashram in

Rishikesh but there are no clues about his whereabouts.
It is suspected that he might have fled abroad and notices in this regard have been sent to

airport authorities in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, SSP Raghubir Lal said, adding a

look-out notice has also been issued against him.
If the godman does not surrender, his properties will be attached, the SSP said.

Suspension of RS members likely to be revoked
NEW DELHI, Mar 11 (Agencies): A solution is expected on the issue of suspension of seven

Rajya Sabha members by evening.
An assurance to this effect was given today by Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal in

the Lok Sabha after RJD member Raghuvansh Prasad Singh vociferously protested against

the members being kept out of the Upper House.
"What about the seven members who have been thrown out of the Rajya Sabha," Singh asked

soon after Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee made a statement that an agreement had

been reached on the smooth functioning of the Lok Sabha.
"They are on hunger strike," said Shailendra Kumar (SP).
This prompted Bansal to assure the Lok Sabha that the matter was under discussion between

the suspended members and the government.
"I am hopeful a solution will be arrived at by evening," Bansal said.
Earlier, agitating members disrupted the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha over this issue.
Subhash Yadav (RJD), Sabir Ali (LJP), Veerpal Singh Yadav, Nand Kishore Yadav, Amir Alam

Khan and Kamal Akhtar (all SP), and Ejaz Ali (unattached) were suspended from the House for

the remaining part of the Budget session for their unruly behaviour in the Upper House when

the Women's Reservation Bill was moved for discussion.

Cong withdraws Sadhu Yadav's suspension
PATNA, Mar 11 (Agencies): The Bihar Congress today formally withdrew the suspension of

Anirudh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav, against whom the action was taken for reportedly

criticising the Women's Reservation Bill, following intervention by party leader Jagdish Tytler.
"We have withdrawn Yadav's suspension after his explanation on his reported stand on

Women's Reservation Bill has been found to be satisfactory," Bihar Pradesh Congress

Committee chief Anil Sharma said.
Sharma had yesterday suspended Sadhu, brother-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Yadav, from the

party for reportedly speaking against the Women's Reservation Bill, but his statement did not

not find favour with AICC general secretary in-charge of state affairs, Jagdish Tytler.
"He (Sadhu) does not stand suspended as announced by BPCC president Anil Sharma earlier

in the day," Tytler had said yesterday, adding that Yadav had personally explained his position

to him stating that he believed in the policies and programmes of the Congress.

Police needs to keep up criminals on technology: PC
NEW DELHI, Mar 11 (Agencies): Home Minister P Chidambaram today advocated a robust

real time decision support system to track down terrorists and organised criminals who have

developed various channels of communication with the help of technology.
"The terrorists and organised criminals have developed overt and covert technologies

including Information Communication Technology. This has made the job of law and order

professionals far more challenging than ever before," he said addressing the Silver Jubilee

function of National Crime Record Bureau.
The Home Minister said the country needs solutions that can offer robust, real-time and

validated decision support systems for the police leadership to evolve remedial and pro-active

strategies.
"The sheer magnitude of crime in a federal polity of our geographical size makes this task a

really challenging one," he said.
Chidambaram said the challenges posed by criminality in general and other more serious

manifestations of crime in particular like terrorism, insurgency, left wing extremism,

trans-national crimes, drugs and arms trafficking, cyber crimes tend to establish that war

against the Indian state is being fought more in the hinterland than on the borders.
"Today, we are fighting our battles on individual pitches. We need to connect, coordinate and

supplement our efforts both at micro and macro levels," he said.

Arunachal asks centre to seek funds from world bank
ITANAGAR, Mar 11 (Agencies): Despite the Centre's reported reluctance, the Arunachal

Pradesh government has asked it to continue seeking loans from the World Bank for projects

in the border state in spite of objections from China.
Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu today said that during his recent visit to New Delhi, he came

across press reports suggesting that the Centre has decided against pressing for loans from

World Bank for various projects in Arunachal and instead mobilise internal resources for them.
"On seeing the press reports, I immediately rushed to Union Finance Minister Pranab

Mukherjee on the evening of March 8 and told him it is okay for Central financial grants for

developmental projects in Arunachal but we should also seek loans from the World Bank for

the state. Otherwise it will give a wrong message," Khandu told reporters here.
The controversy arose after External Affairs Minister S M Krishna reportedly said that if India

can find internal resources to take up those projects in Arunachal, there is no compulsion to

go to the World Bank or other funding agencies.
BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad had described Krishna's statement as a shift in the

country's foreign policy.
The issue also had an echo in the Rajya Sabha yesterday when several BJP members

including Prabhat Jha said such an attitude on the part of India would mean surrender of

sovereignty.
The state has managed an interest-free loan of Rs 300 crore from the Centre to implement the

6th pay commission recommendations for the state government employees.
"The state government has issued an order to pay the last instalment of 15 months arrears

today to keep its commitment," Khandu said.
The implementation will entail an additional burden of over Rs 1,400 crore in the current year,

including arrears.
Most of this amount was met from the upfront money the state raised from the developers of

mega-hydro power projects and other resources.
But the shortfall of Rs 317 crores will be met from the interest-free loan from the Centre,

repayable in 20 years.
Regarding revamping the PDS (Public Distribution System) in the state, the chief minister

passed the buck to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) saying that in many places essential

items are not reaching the people.
"It is now the responsibility of the FCI to reach the PDS items to people in remote areas in the

state," he added.
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had earlier criticised the state government for

agreeing to "high" rates of hill transport subsidies charged by the contractors.

CAG pulls up Assam gas company limited
GUWAHATI, Mar 11 (Agencies): The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has pulled up

the Assam Gas Company Limited (AGCL) for availing loans at higher interest for execution of

major projects despite availability of surplus funds in fixed deposits.
The company suffered a loss of Rs 2.19 crore for availing loans at higher interest though it

had surplus funds in fixed deposits which earned lower interest, a report by CAG placed in the

state Assembly during its ongoing session, said.
Similarly, due to parking of surplus funds in current accounts instead of short-term deposits,

the company suffered a loss of interest of Rs 1.34 crore.
The CAG also pulled up the company for failing to evolve a scientific and uniform method for

fixing transportation charges and its billing.
The audit findings also indicate the need for strengthening the internal audit and control

system.
The 'Performance Audit' by CAG was conducted to ascertain efficiency and economy in

natural gas procurement, working of compressor station, infrastructure development,

transportation of gas, inventory and fund management and internal control mechanisms

existing in the company.
The company has been procuring natural gas from both government sources and a private

producer but it failed to maintain efficiency and economy in gas purchase from private

producer and incurred avoidable expenditure of Rs 8.63 crore.
Low-pressure natural gas received from Oil India Limited is compressed in the compressor

station to supply as high-pressure gas to three industrial consumers.
After adding four compressors at a total cost of Rs 20.19 crore to the existing six

compressors, the actual utilisation was increased from only two to three compressors and this

indicates that the additional investment was not justified, the report pointed out.
The gas supply system to three out of six major industrial consumers was revamped at a total

cost of Rs 75.42 crore and this resulted in creation of excess capacity than the actual

requirement by incurring an avoidable infrastructure cost of Rs 20.24 crore.
The volume of gas transported during 2004-09 increased by 14 per cent whereas the

transportation charge levied during the same period showed an increase of 82 per cent.
AGCL is a wholly owned state government undertaking mainly for processing and

transportation of natural gas for industrial consumers in Assam.

Govt to consult all for women's bill in LS: Pranab
NEW DELHI, Mar 11 (Agencies): The stand-off over Women's Reservation Bill ended today

with government announcing that the proposed legislation would be brought in the Lok Sabha

only after consultations with all sections.
The breakthrough came after SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD leader Lalu Prasad and

JD(U) President Sharad Yadav, the three strong opponents of the bill, met Finance Minister

Pranab Mukherjee.
Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and DMK leader T R

Baalu also attended the meeting.
During the meeting, "some sort of assurance was sought on the progress of the Constitution

Amendment Bill (Women's Reservation Bill) before bringing it to the Lok Sabha. Government

will complete the process of consultations with all concerned," Mukherjee said in a statement

in the Lok Sabha after his discussions.
"I think, this assurance would assuage the feelings of all members and the business would be

conducted smoothly," he said, when the House re-assembled after two adjournments on the

issue.
The stand-off over the bill prevented normal functioning of the Lok Sabha for the last four

days as those opposed to it have been disrupting the House.
"I would like to inform members that it has been agreed to conduct smooth business of the

House for the remaining period," Mukherjee said.
"I would request colleagues to help the Chair to conduct normal business," he said.
The statement by the Leader of the House came at 2 PM after two adjournments following

uproar over the bill.
Normalcy was restored soon after and discussion on General Budget, which had got delayed

because of acrimony, was taken up.
Earlier, after his meeting with Mukherjee, Sharad Yadav said the government had assured

those opposing the bill that all sections of the House will be consulted before bringing the

measure in Lok Sabha.

Irom Sharmila re-arrested by police
IMPHAL, Mar 11 (Agencies): Civil rights activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on a

fast-unto-death for over nine years demanding withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special

Powers Act (AFSPA) from Manipur, was re-arrested late last night.
Sharmila was released on Monday night but she continued her fast at Porompat area near

here where Sharmila Kanba Lup (Save Sharmila Committee) had been launching relay hunger

strike by womenfolk over several months to press the demand raised by Sharmila.
Official sources said today that Sharmila was again taken to a room of J N Hospital at

Porompat area, converted into a jail, where she was nose fed. The last nose-feed given to

Sharmila was on Monday. She refused to take anything after her release and continued her

fast before she was re-arrested late last night.
Hospital sources said Sharmila's condition had worsened.
Sharmila began her fast from November 2, 2000 after Assam Rifles personnel killed ten

civilians at Imphal airport area in an alleged encounter.
Sharmila has been released from time to time but re-arrested within two or three days time

since she continued her fast unto death.
The charges framed against her are attempt to commit suicide, they said.

Maoists had no intention of killing Bengal CM: Dipak
KOLKATA, Mar 11 (Agencies): The Maoists had no intention of killing West Bengal Chief

Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee when they ambushed his convoy in 2008, but had hoped

that the police action which followed would turn the tribals against the administration, a top

arrested naxalite has said.
"If we had the intention to kill Bhattacharjee we could have killed him. We could have used a

directional mine to snap the high tension line to fall on his convoy," top Maoist leader

Venkateshwar Reddy alias Telugu Dipak, who was arrested on March 2 by the state CID, had

told interrogators.
A landmine exploded on the convoy of Chief Minister and two union ministers Paswan and

Jitin Prasada at Salboni in West Midnapore district on November 2, 2008.
"We wanted the police to make a mistake and crack down on the tribals, which they did. We

were successful in capitalising on it to create a base for ourselves. The attack on the chief

minister's convoy was a milestone in the Maoist movement in West Bengal."
The CID officer, who interrogated the Maoist leader, told PTI that the Lalgarh movement by

tribals which started with the blast became an issue nationwide and compelled the the central

government to rethink about Maoists.
Dipak, who is an explosive expert, had also confessed that he had learnt to make landmines

from a faction of LTTE in Tamil Nadu.
Between 1987 and 1995, Dipak was sent to Tamil Nadu by the Maoist top brass for political

grooming, the officer said.
He stayed in Tamil Nadu for two years and came in touch with the LTTE group which was

active in that region at that time and learnt the nitty-gritties of making landmines, he said.
Later Dipak developed the lethal directional landmine.
A close aide of Maoist Politburo member Kishanji alias Koteswar Rao, Dipak is a member of

the State Military Commission, West Bengal chapter, and in-charge of the armed operations in

Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand.