Internal Security Watch

[Paul]

New Delhi: The citizens’ organisation, Muslims for Secular Democracy (MSD), has asked Union Minister for Minorities A. R. Antulay to resign for insinuating the hand of Hindutva elements and their alleged police sympathisers in the killing of Hemant Karkare, who headed the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra. In a statement, MSD office-bearers Javed Akhtar, Sajid Rashid and Javed Anand said they were horrified by Mr. Antulay’s “irresponsible and outrageous” comments.

Javed Anand is Teesta setalvad's husband

[ramana]

I think he is the son of a former TV chef also.

[JE Menon]

FTR, Shabana Azmi also ridiculed him publicly...

But I hear now Digvijay Singh and a couple of other congresswallahs are swinging his way...

[Singha]

digvijay is trying hard to take over as the new mulla yadav of the political space.

[vijayk]

Dawood prepares for secret birthday party

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Dawo ... 867797.cms

Even as the Indian government continues to put pressure on Islamabad to hand over Dawood Ibrahim to it, the don gets ready to celebrate
his 53rd birthday on December 26 at an undisclosed location, probably outside Pakistan.

When an Indian politician had to receive a kickback worth crores in an international business deal, he sought the help of Dawood, who took the services of this arms dealer to facilitate the funds transfer, a source told TOI on Saturday. A secret meeting was held at Geneva
last year, which was attended by Dawood-who has several passports issued by the Pakistani government-the politician and the arms-dealer where the money transaction was worked out. "The Centre has report of this meeting, but it is not acting on it,'' an official said.

Usually, an array of Indian businessmen, including some builders, are invited to Dawood's birthday bashes at Karachi, which are lavish affairs attended by senior ISI officers. In previous years, the Indian businessmen land in Dubai from where "arrangements'' are made to ferry them to Karachi. However, this time, with all eyes on the underworld don, thanks to his probable role in the November 26 terror attack on Mumbai, Dawood has shifted his party venue to a secret place, a source said. There is increasing evidence that funds for the terror strike were sent by the D gang-which is under the thumb of the ISI- from two accounts in London, a source said.

Indian security agencies are reportedly keeping tabs on the movements of known business partners of Dawood in Mumbai, including a gutkha baron and a top builder, to find out if they are going to Dubai en route to the secret birthday bash. "However, all these efforts add up to nothing as the government is not at all inclined to crack down on Dawood's financial empire in India despite us gathering all kinds of information about it,'' a security official said.

[KarthikSan]

Sorry for not responding earlier. Been occupied with work. ssmitra and vera_k...thank you very much for the response. I have nothing against AID or any other NGO personally. But these organizations consider the A Roy types as their role models and will repeat their worthless uttering like our DDM. Just wanted to learn a bit more about these NGO's and dig a little deeper into what they are behind the facade. I never participated in AID although my grad school has a huge chapter. I don't necessarily agree with their views on the Sardar Sarovar dam and other infra projects. What they offer as an alternative is unsustainable IMO. Any other experts at BR have opinions on the roles of NGOs in undermining internal security of the country?

[manish singh]

http://www.vigilonline.com/index.php?op ... Itemid=109

[Singha]

India Today


Assam militants bomb railway track, narrow escape for Rajdhani Express
IANS
Guwahati, December 24, 2008


A major disaster was averted on Wednesday when a powerful explosion missed the super-fast Rajdhani Express from New Delhi by a couple of minutes, although the blast damaged a portion of a railway track in Assam, officials said.

A police spokesman said the blast took place at around 1 a.m. near Khatkhati village in the eastern Karbi Anglong district, about 300 km from Assam's main city of Guwahati.

"The Rajdhani Express had just crossed Khatkhati when the explosion took place. Probably it was a remote controlled device and those who triggered the blast failed to execute, thereby averting a tragedy," a police official said by telephone from Diphu, the district headquarters of Karbi Anglong.

A railway spokesman said a stretch of the track was damaged in the blast.

"We shall be able to resume normal train service soon as repair work is going on," the railway official said.

The Rajdhani Express was bound for Tinsukia in eastern Assam from New Delhi and was carrying about 700 people.

"Definitely the target was the Rajdhani Express as the blast took place two minutes after the train passed the explosion site," the police official said.

Police blamed the All Adivasi National Liberation Front (AANLA), a rebel group fighting for a separate homeland for the tea plantation workers community in Assam.

"The blast was probably in retaliation to the arrest of five top AANLA leaders, including their chief, from Jharkhand recently," the official said.

The five arrested include Mangra Oraon, the outfit's self-styled commander-in-chief. They have been brought to Assam and remanded to police custody. The five AANLA rebels were accused of triggering a blast on the Rajdhani Express in December 2007 in which five people were killed in Karbi Anglong.

[Rishi]

X-Post

http://specials.rediff.com/news/2008/de ... letter.pdf

HM's letter to CMs

OCR transcript follows:

December 17, 2008

Dear Chief Minister,

This is my first letter to you and other Chief Ministers. Regrettably, it is on a matter that has caused great anguish among the people of India and continues to engage the attention of every one. It is on the threats emanattng from terrorists to India and the Indian people.

2. I know that you will, as I do, take this matter with utmost seriousness. We have undertaken a thorough review of the security systems that are in place with special reference to Intelligence gathering, Intelligence sharing and prevention of terrorist attacks such as the one that took place in Mumbai on November 26, 2006. The people expect uS to ensure the security of India and the security of the lives of the Indian people. Nothing less will do.

3. Shortly, we propose to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers/Home Ministers of the States/Unlon Territories to discuss issues relating to the preparedness of the Nation to prevent terrorist attacks. The Prime Minister has indicatad that the meeting may be
held on Tuesday, January 6, 2009. Hence, I request you, in advance, to rearrange your programmes so that you will be in Deihl, without fail, to participate in the most important meeting at the beginning of the new year.

4. Meanwhile, there are some steps that I would urge you to kindly take immedlately. There is, in my view, no need to lose time discussing the matters that I have listed below which, I believe, are generally regarded as imperative and which should be implemented by all State/UT Governments forthwith. In fact, there is no time to
lose and, therefore, I sincerely hope that you will implement the following suggested measures before you attend the meeting on January 6, 2009.

5. The suggested measures are:

(i) The State/UT Government shall, with Immediate effect, establish a 24 x 7 control room to be manned by a young and energetic officer of the rank of DySP/SP in each shIft. The control room should be linked by computer (for e-mail), telephone, mobile telephone (for sms) and fax to the offices of the Collector and SP at the district headquarters. The control room should be the centre to receive and disseminate intelligence/Information pertaining to terrorism and other forms of org~nlzed violence;

(ii) The State Intelligence Wing must have an Analysis Group that will receive, collate, analyze, link up with previous Inputs and dissemInate Intelligence inputs. This Analvsis Group should work in two shifts totailng 16 hours.

(iii) Both the Control Room and the Analysis Group of the State Intelligence Wing should forward the Intelligence inputs and information to the Central Govemment on a real tIme basis. For the present, the Inputs and information may be sent to the Intelligence Bureau.

(iv) The Chief Minister and the Home Minister should Invariably, take a meeting every morning with the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, DGP, DG/IG Intelligence and Commissioner of Police (of the State capital) to review the secUrity situation and Issue suitable gUidance;

(v) The Chief Minister and/or the Home Minister should take a meeting !It each district headquarters over a period of OM to two months (depending upon the number of districts In the State) with the District Collector, IG, DIG and SP concerned to review the security situation in the district and issue sUitable guidance. Such meetings" should be held at least three or four times in a year;

(vi)The State capital and all other major cities/towns, especially cities with municipal corporations, should be rid of;

(a) mafia gangs operating In the city/town;
(b) extortion gangs;
(c) land sharks; and
(d) loan sharks.

The DGP/CoP/SP concerned should draw up a plan to identify these gangs/sharks and send a clear message to them that they should leave the city/town immediately. The police know how to carry out thiS task. After a few days, a determined drive should be launched to apprehend the leaders of the gangs under the National Security Act, Goonda Act, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act or similar enactments.

(vii)Tha State Government should immediately identify major establishments, Installations and symbolic or iconic structures etc., and conduct a thorough review of the security arrangements there. A small team of commandos should be posltiol1ed at eac~ of these places round the clock. The Central Government 15 Willing to offer assistance to train and eqUip such commandos. The State Government may draw up two
programmes - one a short module for a limited number of commandos and the second a longer 'module for a larger number of commandos - and forward them to the Ministry of Home Affairs for drawing up the training schedule.

(viii) In major towns, important private establishments with large footfalls may also be identified and asked to ensure that proper access control and surveillance related security equlpments are Installed by the owners In a tIme bound manner.

6. I request you to kindly take steps to Implement the above measures expeditiously.

7. I look forwand to receiving you at the Chief Ministers Conrerence on Tuesday, January 6, 2009.

With warm regards,
Yours sincerely,
{P Chidambaram}

[vsudhir]

Huge response to Orissa recruitment drive to combat Maoists (Chindu)

Bhubaneswar (IANS): Officials in Orissa's troubled Kandhamal district wanted to recruit 500 residents to combat Maoists. They received over 3,000 applications.

In five Orissa districts - Malkangiri, Koraput, Gajapati, Rayagada and Kandhamal - the state government is recruiting 2,000 special police officers (SPOs) to fight Maoist rebels.

"We have (received) tremendous response in Kandhamal district," district superintendent of police S. Praveen Kumar told IANS by phone.

Kandhamal district, about 200 km from here, witnessed widespread communal violence after the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram Aug 23.

At least 38 people were killed in the state and thousands of people forced to flee their homes after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs. About 8,000 people are still living in government-run relief camps in the district. Maoists had claimed responsibility for the killing.

Aha!

Blowback or what? Kandhamal and surrounding districts have seen through the Maoist-EJ nexus and are speaking with their actions on where they stand on this issue. Bravo!

[Anabhaya]

Poverty and unemployment sounds equally plausible.

[vsudhir]

Poverty and unemployment sounds equally plausible.

Fair enough.

But then why not the majority kandhas do a Pana on the Panas in Kandhamal? Why not join the Maoists and the EJs and merrily take money from both all the while claiming whatever privileges the state grants to the tribals?

[Gerard]

Naxalites beat police ‘informer’ to death

Naxalites dragged a woman from her home and beat her to death — in the presence of other villagers — late last night.

[putnanja]

Chhota Shakeel back to flexing muscles in Mumbai

Chhota Shakeel back to flexing muscles in Mumbai
1 Jan 2009, 0010 hrs IST, S Balakrishnan, TNN

MUMBAI: When South Africa pulled off a historic series win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday, it was not just the Aussie hubris which was
dented. It now turns out that several people who had betted on Ponting and his men also lost heavily.

Despite the Aussies recent 2-0 loss to India and their unconvincing form of late, several heavy bettors had put money on them to beat South Africa. However, with South Africa defying the odds to win the series, bookies are having serious trouble coughing up the money to those who called right. One of those who ran up huge losses, Chhote Miyan of Arab Gali, has refused to pay Rs 25 crore to several bettors and other bookies like Hitesh Samrat.

When pressure mounted on him to clear the dues, Chhote Miyan ran to Chhota Shakeel, the principal lieutenant of Dawood Ibrahim. Sources in the police said Shakeel, who is based in Karachi, called up several big-time bettors and Samrat and asked them not to ask for money from Chhote Miyan.

Betting syndicates are worried about the adverse fallout on an operation which has expectation of `fair play' as its mainstay. Those who take wagers are not required to back up their bids by real cash, but are trusted to pay up after losing.

"The entire betting world is based on trust. If Chhote Miyan refuses to honour his commitments then it will give a big jolt to the betting industry," a bettor said.

The episode is yet another confirmation that Shakeel, after lying low, is back in action. For the past few weeks, Shakeel has been calling up big builders and asking them to cough up large sums. Even as the government has been repeatedly urging Pakistan to hand over Dawood following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, his gang has been becoming stronger in the metropolis.

Recently, two of Shakeel's men were arrested which only confirmed the re-emergence of this gang. With Arun Gawli behind bars and Chhota Rajan ensconced abroad, the D gang is having a free run in the city's underworld. Its smuggling operations in the docks are continuing unhindered.

Meanwhile, matka gambling has revived in a big way after the exit of R R Patil from the government. When he was deputy chief minister in charge of home portfolio, he had crushed matka gambling with a vengeance. He got allegedly top matka operators like Pappu Savla and the Bhagat family behind bars and thus delivered a body blow to this form of gambling. But after his exit, the operators are back in business.

Main matka and Worli matka, which are operated by Savla and Bhagat, are back after Patil's exit. Illicit liquor is also more easily available than during Patil's tenure. The recent liquor tragedy at Alibag is a pointer to the revival of illicit distillation, a police official said.

[Rishi]

http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/09jan02/news1.htm#4

Mathur takes over as IB Director

NEW DELHI, Jan 1:Rajiv Mathur today took over as the new Director of the Intelligence Bureau.

Mathur, a 1972 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, who has served in the Intelligence Bureau for nearly three decades which included 15 years in Washington, took over at the helm of the IB from P C Haldar, who retired as its Director on December 31.

The name of Mathur, who was earlier Special Director in the IB, was cleared by the Appointments’ Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in early December.

Considered an expert hand in dealing with North-east insurgencies, Mathur’s appointment comes at a time when Intelligence agencies in the country have come under sharp criticism for its repeated failures to stop terror strikes from across the border.

He is expected to streamline the reforms in the country’s Intelligence machinery to meet the challenges due to the changed tactics of elements inimical to the country.

The 59-year-old Mathur will be holding the post for two years or until fresh orders from the Government. (PTI)

[sum]

ULFA splits
A coup by our agencies?

[Philip]

I'm posting this here because the situation in Goa is rapidly getting out of hand.Goa is no longer the paradise that it once was,but has become a cesspool of local and international mafia groups.The repeated scandals involving the antics of Goan politicians and their children is a national disgrace.The state should come under President's rule and amassive clean-up operation is needed in this very sensitive state ,both politically and strategically.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 25197.html

Last seen in Goa: The Death of Stephen Bennett

The police in Goa called it suicide. But Stephen Bennett's sister believes that thugs controlled by local drugs gangs murdered her brother. David Orr reports from India on a violent crime and botched cover-up that shames a tropical paradise

Monday, 5 January 2009

Stephen Bennett's sister believes that thugs controlled by local drugs gangs murdered her brother

On 6 December 2006, three days after he had flown out to Goa on holiday, Stephen Bennett telephoned his mother in Cheltenham. He was in a bad state. Some men had threatened to kill him, he said. He had been abducted from his beach shack the previous night, and beaten. He had just woken up in an alleyway. He thought he had been drugged. He asked his mother to tell his two children how much he loved them and to look after his pets.

The Bennett family were beside themselves with worry. On 11 December, a goatherd found his battered body hanging from a mango tree in a remote jungle village 300 miles from the tourist trail. Stephen Bennett was 40, well-travelled and had been in good spirits before leaving for India.

During his final days in Goa, Stephen made a total of nine calls to his mother and friends in the UK. He made these calls from roadside phone booths. Had he had his mobile during his final hours, his life might have been saved, but it seems to have been taken from him. Though his SIM card was in his pocket when his body was found, his phone was not. When he made the distress call from the alleyway, his mother says he sounded completely disoriented.

At one point, she heard him asking a passer-by where he was and being told he was in Panjim, Goa's state capital. When she suggested he go to the police, he said they had been involved in taking him from his beach hut.

He had only a few rupees and a credit card in his pocket. His mother told him to use the credit card to check into a decent hotel, then to get himself on a flight home.

According to his version of events in those final calls, and from what has subsequently been discovered by his family, Stephen returned to the shacks on Goa's Baga beach the next morning to collect his bag, money and passport. He had initially been staying at a hotel inland from Baga with two men from Coventry (both of whom are now believed to be back in Britain). He had first met them with one of his brothers at a football match in the UK.

Stephen had been planning to go on holiday to Tenerife, but the Coventry pair had told him they were heading to India and suggested he join them for a couple of days. They said they had been there often and could fix him up with a motorbike and somewhere cheap to stay. Stephen accepted their offer and flew out to Goa, arriving on 3 December. He met them at the Skylark bar on Baga beach, as arranged, and checked into Sodders Renton Manor, the hotel where they were staying.

The next day, Stephen called a friend in the UK to say that everything was going well – except for a row he had witnessed the previous evening between the Coventry men and some locals. The next morning, he found the Coventry pair had booked out early without leaving a message. Stephen also checked out, and went to the Skylark bar, expecting to see them there with their mates. But he was told they had gone. The barman arranged beach shack accommodation for him at Sunset Cottages, which were owned by his brother. Stephen moved into one of the huts that evening.

"Exactly what happened next is unclear," says his sister, Amanda Bennett, from her home in Cheltenham, "but I've gained a pretty good picture from talking to local people, some of whom have been keen to help – though others have lied through their teeth.

"Looking back, I realise how innocent we all were. We thought Goa was this lovely sunny place where everyone was relaxed and life was good. We thought the people there were all lovely and honest. Now we know differently."

Goa's golden beaches have long been a magnet for budget travellers and backpackers. The sun-kissed coastline is the perfect antidote to the long European winter, and it throngs with Western tourists in December and January. Goa has other attractions, too: the living is relatively cheap, and a range of intoxicants – some legal, some not – are on offer. The police tend to turn a blind eye to the activities of foreigners. There are full-moon beach parties, bars stay open till the last customer leaves and everyone seems up for a good time. As the beach attire, tattoos and body piercings on show at every turn suggest, in Goa, anything – or almost anything – goes.

But its gilded image has become badly tarnished during the past decade, not least by the botched handling last year of the murder and rape case of British teenager Scarlett Keeling. In November, the rape of a German minor, allegedly by the son of Goa's education minister, further soiled the state's reputation. Corruption and drug dealing are rife. The local media refer to the state's legislative assembly as "the den of 40 thieves". Even as India's best-known paradise resort enjoys another booming tourist season, the Hindustan Times has declared that "fatally romanticised Goa looks rotten to the core".

The Bennett family have made several trips to Goa since Stephen's death and have talked to dozens of people – hotel staff, policemen, taxi drivers, residents, tourists, local journalists – in short, anyone who had met Stephen or who could provide an insight into life there. They have also talked to known members of the Goan underworld. "We now know there's a whole seedy underside to life in Goa that a lot of visitors don't see," says Amanda. "An unfortunate minority get caught up in it – as Stephen did. The reason I'm speaking out is because I want other tourists to be warned before they go there expecting paradise."

In its investigations, the Bennett family turned up masses of detail regarding Stephen's last days. They learnt that a number of people entered Stephen's hotel room at Baga beach, including at least one policeman, a member of the beach shack staff and a drug baron's thug who also works as a taxi driver. The Bennett family believe the local drugs mafia was involved in the crime; the gangs are well-connected and many of the low-salaried policemen are in their pay.

The gangsters – frequently with the connivance of the authorities – prey on the more vulnerable tourists, co-opting them into their web. Some tourists get involved in the drugs racket because they are themselves petty criminals; others are sucked in through naivety or blackmail.

Early on in their investigations, Indian police suggested Stephen Bennett was involved in drug dealing. But Amanda believes her brother's only connection to the drugs scene in Goa was the two men from Coventry – but that that was enough to get him killed.

"I'm pretty sure the men who attacked him gave him a drug or some cocktail of drugs," she says of her brother's final hours. "But, because of a series of factors – the time delay, the embalming of his body and probably the kind of drugs used – the toxicology test conducted on his body back in the UK didn't reveal anything. Stephen certainly thought he'd been drugged when he telephoned Mum that afternoon from Panjim, telling her the police had forced him from his room the night before and handed him over to some guys who'd threatened to kill him. I don't think he was meant to survive whatever they did to him, it was meant to look like he'd died of an overdose. Anyway, after he'd come to in the alleyway, he checked into a hotel. Opposite was a taxi stand from which, it seems, his every move was watched. We've discovered the vehicle that took Stephen back to Baga to collect his things was run by a mafia goon. The driver – and he's someone we've interviewed several times – then drove Stephen hundreds of miles out of Goa."

Stephen was persuaded by the driver that he would not be able to get on a flight at such short notice and was offered a cheap ride to Bombay with two others. Stephen accepted but, as he told his family on the phone, became increasingly suspicious of his fellow passengers.

He made his final call to his mother on 7 December from a phone booth in a town called Wadkhal, about 35 miles south of Bombay. He was agitated and said he had to get away from the men in the car.

Leaving his bag in the vehicle, he told them he was going for something to eat. Shopkeepers in Wadkhal have told the family that Stephen had a snack, bought some clothes, then went to a bus stop on the edge of town. Night was falling. Later, several people saw him being attacked by two men who hit him over the head and dragged him into a car. A number of the witnesses have admitted they were told by the police not to reveal what they had seen.

The cover-up appears to have been concerted. "The police got the number of the phone booth changed, then had it knocked down altogether," says Amanda. "But before they did so, we located the booth with the help of the British police and found the register showing Stephen's call to my mother's UK number. This proved he had been in Wadkhal – and not somewhere else as the cops maintained for a whole year. One of the first things we learnt was that the police in Goa just lie – all to protect their paymasters, the drugs mafia."

Four days after his last call, Stephen's remains were discovered in the village of Malsai. This hamlet is a collection of huts surrounded by paddy fields and jungle, 45 miles from Wadkhal and 300 miles from Goa. His body was hanging from a mango tree, a sari tied around his neck. Also around his neck was a ligature (this was later confirmed in a police document though both the ligature and the sari – vital pieces of evidence – were left at the scene by the police and later burnt by villagers). His passport was in his pocket, along with other bits and pieces. The shoes and socks he was wearing were not his.

The next day, Cheltenham police informed the Bennett family of Stephen's death. "I don't remember much about that time," says Amanda, "It was terrible, a nightmare." Initially, Indian authorities portrayed his death as a drug-induced suicide. The Goan police suggested he was a promiscuous homosexual who had gone to India for sex and drugs. They produced a train ticket which, they said, proved Stephen had been travelling by rail from Goa to Bombay. They suggested he had jumped off the train at a place called Roha and walked five miles through the jungle to the village. But none of the other passengers had seen a foreigner fitting Stephen's description, and the ticket had been bought the day of Stephen's arrival in India. It was valid for travel on 10 December – three days after his death. Eventually, the police "lost" the ticket.

A post-mortem examination in India certified that Stephen had died "an unlawful death". It revealed he had suffered a battered skull and a severe beating while alive, and also that he had been strangled with a ligature around 7 or 8 December – three days before his body was discovered hanging from the mango tree.

"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office was hopeless from the beginning," says Amanda. "They've consistently misled us and lied to us. I don't think they could be any lower, they are beyond contempt, their main concern is avoiding 'diplomatic incidents'. Surely our own government should be trying to warn its citizens of the dangers facing tourists in places like Goa?"

The Indian police announced that Stephen had been killed while trying to assault a woman in the village. They produced a woman who said Stephen had tried to rape her when she went to urinate outside during the night. She said her husband had reacted violently, rounding up five villagers who beat the intruder to death. No one could explain why Stephen might have wandered at night into this village in the middle of nowhere – a tiny hamlet rarely visited by foreigners.

Six village men were arrested, duly confessed in police custody and then retracted their statements. Malsai residents said the police had used torture to extract the confessions. The woman whose honour the men were supposed to be defending denied all knowledge of a foreigner in the village. No such person had tried to rape her, she corrected, it had all been fabrication by the police who had bullied her into thumb-printing a statement.

The family believe Stephen's body was taken to Malsai because at least two villagers had connections with the gang that killed him. The villagers have admitted it was stored in a house for three days, then strung up in the mango tree. Amanda Bennett says she was convinced from the start that her brother had been abducted and killed but it took her a long time to figure out how, who did it and why.

"Stephen was a straightforward bloke," says Amanda. "He liked travel and had been to Egypt, China, Turkey and Indonesia. He was educated – with a BA and MA. A bit of an idealist, I suppose. Stephen was a veggie and ate organic food. But he also liked wine and, yes, he'd smoke the odd joint. We've got nothing to hide – he'd received a caution in the UK for growing a cannabis plant on his windowsill. But he wasn't a druggie and didn't hang out in those circles. He enjoyed company. His main job was as a flooring designer but his passions were theatre and film. He moved between Cheltenham and Cornwall where he had a couple of kids by a former partner. He loved his children and, at the time of going to India, had a new girlfriend."

Faced with what they suspected to be a police cover-up, the family decided the only way of getting answers was by going out to India. Over the past two years, Stephen's parents, his brother Paul, Amanda and a friend of Stephen's have all made trips making inquiries into the circumstances surrounding his death, building up a network of people who keep them up to date with local information. From the outset, the same cast of Goan underworld characters kept cropping up in their investigation. The list includes the son of a prominent Goan minister (though not the same one whose son is alleged to have recently raped the young German woman).

The minister's son on the Bennetts' blacklist has also been linked to the rape and murder of the Devon schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling in the February of last year. The barman Samson D'Souza and racketeer Placido Carvalho, both of them known associates of the politician's son, were arrested for that crime, and have both since been released on bail. Meanwhile, Fiona MacKeown, Scarlett's mother, is no nearer to getting justice for her daughter.

"I've been told it was a member of the drugs mafia thugs who ordered Stephen's murder as a warning to the Coventry men who'd run off," says Amanda. "The Coventry guys had been involved in the Goan drugs business for years and owed a large sum of money – £43,000, according to information I've been given. This debt was paid by the Brits within weeks of Stephen's death and they've been told never to return to Goa. All this evidence is with the British police."

Drugs play a major role in the Goan economy. They are manufactured in Pune, near Bombay, then shipped through Goa. Tourists, wittingly or unwittingly, become involved. They are used as peddlers, traffickers, mules, in whatever way they can be useful to the local gangsters.

Stephen Bennett has never been linked to drug dealing, either in the UK or Goa. There is no evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, suggesting that his connection with the men from Coventry had anything to do with drugs. Stephen Bennett's family, however, are convinced that there is a drugs link to his death. They believe that the row he witnessed at his hotel on his first night in Goa was about drugs money. They think the Coventry pair did a runner, leaving Stephen to face the consequences.

The editor of a Goan magazine published in London, who wishes to remain nameless, says it is no accident that Stephen's body was strung up in a public, ritualistic way. It was meant to have been found, he says. It was, he reckons, the mafia's way of saying 'This is what happens if you mess with us'.

"So, if I know all this, why am I going back to Goa one more time?" asks Amanda Bennett. "There are still loose ends to tie up. The police laughed at us and called us fantasists when we first raised our suspicions. I want them to realise we know the truth. Of course, we'll never get justice in India, but there's at least the satisfaction of exposing the police and being able to reveal what happened to Stephen. And I want to thank all the people who assisted us. What I've learnt has brought me face to face with the worst of human nature – but it's also shown me the good side of humanity, how helpful, friendly and caring some people can be when you're in trouble."

Amanda Bennett is planning to return to Goa in February and complete her search for the truth behind her brother's death.

[sum]

Amazing news. I have always been impressed by his clear vision and understanding in his columns:
http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jan ... 111285.asp

Ex-IB director to assess security scenario in State
From Deepak K Upreti,DH News Service,New Delhi:
Former Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) Ajit Doval will make a first-hand assessment of security scenario in Karnataka before suggesting fresh measures for its improvement. When asked by Deccan Herald about his role as security advisor to the state government, Doval sought not to elaborate on the issue before making an assessment of the task at hand.

“I have been advising some other state governments too,” he said. Besides Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttarakhand have also been seeking Doval’s expert advise on security issues.
IB Director from 2004-05, he has received a special compliment from Laldenga of Mizo National Front who claim that Doval has won over 6 of his 7 army commanders. Leading from the front, Doval spent long periods incognito with the Mizo National Army in the Arakan in Burma and inside Chinese territory. Besides, he is understood to have spent an estimated six years in Pakistan too.
An IPS officer of 1968 batch (Kerala cadre), the ex-IB chief was actively involved in the conflicts relating to Mizo, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir. He is the first police officer in India to get Kirti Chakra.
Supposed to be one of the best minds on counter-terrorism operations, he has participated in some of the most daring operations and dramatic crisis-management-negotiations in the country for over last two decades.

Do IB officers serve in China, Burma and Pak or was all this undercover biz?

[shynee]

Prime accused in Guwahati serial blasts shot dead

GUWAHATI: ULFA leader and prime accused in the city's New Year's Day serial blasts Pranjol Deka was on Thursday shot dead by police in Assam's Halikuchi village.

Deka alias Biju Sarania alias Bhambal was a hardcore member of the ULFA's 709 battalion and was killed with one of his accomplice along the border of Kamrup and Nalbari districts, police said.

Based on a tip-off, Nalbari police cordoned off the village where the 20-year-old Deka and others had taken shelter in a house.

On being challenged, the militants fired and in the ensuing shootout Deka was killed.

The identity of Deka's accomplice was not yet known. A day after the blasts, Assam Police had released Deka's photograph as the prime accused.

Five persons were killed and over 50 others injured in three blasts at Birubari, Bhootnath and Bhangagarh areas.

[ramana]

From Pioneer, 9 Jan, 2009

Centre, coastal States at sea over maritime security

Rakesh K Singh | New Delhi

Despite the terror threat looming large over the country through the sea route, the Government failed to execute the comprehensive Coastal Security Scheme formulated in 2005 with an outlay of Rs 551 crore, to be spent in five years. Only a meagre Rs 80 crore has been released so far to strengthen maritime security of nine coastal States and four Union Territories, covering a coastline of over 7,500 km.

Under the scheme, 73 coastal police stations -- Gujarat (10), Maharashtra (12), Goa (3), Karnataka (5), Kerala (8), Tamil Nadu (12), Andhra Pradesh (6), Orissa (5), West Bengal (6), and Puducherry (1), Laskshadweep (4) and Daman and Diu (1) -- were approved. However, apparently due to lack of provision of funds, only 55 coastal police stations have been made operational; construction of buildings has been completed only in 23 such police stations; construction work is in progress in 19 police stations and work is yet to begin on 31 police stations.

The Governments of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala, Orissa and Goa would have to make special efforts for early completion of the scheme in their respective States, says a 23-page classified dossier of the Union Home Ministry, circulated to the day-long Chief Ministers' Conference on Internal Security here on Tuesday.

The vulnerability of India's coastline to infiltration by terrorists and anti-national elements and various other kinds of illegal activities has been recognised for several years now and some measures for coastal patrolling by the Coast Guards and the State police authorities were taken in the early nineties.

The threats from sea route first surfaced following the Mumbai serial blasts of 1993 when arms and ammunition, including RDX and AK series rifles, were smuggled through the sea route.

A comprehensive Coastal Security Scheme was formulated in January 2005 following recommendations of the Group of Ministers on "Reforming the National Security System". The scheme was formulated after consultations with the related agencies, including the coastal State Governments, and approved for implementation over a five-year period commencing 2005-06.

Rs 400 crore were sanctioned for non-recurring expenditure and another Rs 151 crore were allocated for recurring expenditure on fuel, maintenance and repair of vessels and training of personnel.

The scheme aims at enhancing coastal vigilance by strengthening infrastructure for patrol and surveillance of the coastal areas and is being implemented in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

In addition to the 73 coastal police stations, 97 checkposts, 58 outposts and 30 operational barracks have been approved. The police stations, according to the scheme, were required to be equipped with 204 patrol interceptor boats fitted with modern navigational and maritime equipment, 153 jeeps and 312 motorcycles for patrol and other related duties. A lump sum of Rs 10 lakh per coastal police station has also been approved for computers and related equipment.

The required trained manpower has to be made available by the coastal States/UTs before April 2009. All the coastal States and UTs have sanctioned the executive posts to be deployed with the coastal police stations. The technical posts for motorboats have also been sanctioned by all the coastal States and UTs, except Orissa and West Bengal who need to take action in this regard urgently, says the dossier.

The procurement of the 84 interceptor boats (five tonnes) and 110 such boats (12 tonnes) for the scheme is being taken care of by the Union Home Ministry through GSL, Goa, and GRSE, Kolkata. The delivery of boats was scheduled to commence in April 2009 but the timeline is being compressed after the Mumbai terror strikes and the actual delivery may begin this month, according to the dossier.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wahts a 'such' boat. I think its search boat of 12 tonne displacement.

Do the GRSE or GSL webpages have any info?

Pretty good scheme if implemented. Wonder what takes delay in such important projects?

[vsudhir]

oooh lookie lookie....

'Bangladeshis have no business to be in India without permit':Chidambaram

Indicating stricter measures to check illegal immigration from Bangladesh, Home Minister P Chidambaram has said nationals from that country have "no business" to be in India without permission.

He also said that there is "no reason" why a large number of visas are being issued to Bangladeshis every month.

Chidambaram, who has been taking a close look at the security set up in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, voiced concern over the "very ineffective" monitoring system to check whether a Bangladeshi coming to India has returned to his country after expiry of his visa or stayed on.

Noting that illegal immigration was causing "unexpected" demographic changes in Assam and West Bengal, he said, "I don't regard a Bangladeshi as a Muslim or a non-Muslim. He is a Bangladeshi. He has no business to come to India unless he has a visa. He has no business to live here unless he has a residence permit.

"He has no business to work here unless he has a work permit. He is a Bangladeshi. His religion is completely irrelevant," he said.

To a question on steps to end illegal immigration, the Home Minister said, "I am now looking into what is happening on our borders,passport control points...I think we issue a very large number of visas to Bangladeshis every month.

"There is no reason to issue so many visas. And there is very ineffective monitoring system (to check) whether the guy has gone back to Bangladesh or remained here," Chidambaram said.

Rich indeed, coming form the party that forced the notorious IMDT onto a defenceless Asom

But better late than never. Let the UPA/INC commence meaningful action which can later be taken fwd by the next sarkar. A bipartisan approach is the best guarantee something will work this time.

Hopefully the EC is listening and that the voters list in Asom for the LS polls is scrutinized extra carefully. Esp with rumors flying that newly registered BD illegals in many Dilli constituenceis swung the vote there significantly.

[sum]

Some news which our secular media sometimes forget to highlight:
http://deccanherald.com/Content/Jan1120 ... 111865.asp

Surathkal tense after student's murder
DH News Service, Surathkal:

Tension prevailed in Surathkal after a youth was brutally murdered by a group on Saturday.

The deceased has been identified as Tanzeem (21), a BCom student of Govinda Dasa College here. Another person, Rehmathulla, has suffered injuries and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

According to the police, Tanzeem and Rehmathulla were on their way to Krishnapura on a bike to purchase paint when a few car-borne miscreants assaulted the duo with lethal weapons and fled the scene. While Tanzeem was killed on the spot, Rehmathulla survived.

It is said that the miscreants had targeted Rehmathulla as he was reportedly involved in a murder case. As the news of the murder spread, a group of youth started throwing stones at shops and buses. One bus, eight shops and 11 bikes have been damaged in stone throwing. The miscreants also gheraoed a police group and journalists who went to cover the incidents.

Superintendent of Police Satish Kumar is camping at the spot. MLA U T Khader, former minister B A Moideen, leaders G A Bawa and Moideen Bawa visited the family of the deceased and consoled the kin.

Ban orders

As the miscreants started throwing stones, the district administration clamped Section 144 in and around Surathkal till January 13. The situation is under control, the police said and added that the car used by the miscreants to assault the duo has been traced. Personal enmity is said to be the reason for attack. Further investigations are on.

According to Chindu, the "student" is actually a notorious sheeter. Notice the "secular" reporting with no names mentioned anywhere :

http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/11/stories ... 410100.htm

Youth killed as gang assaults two persons in Surathkal

Staff Correspondent

Mob goes berserk as the incident takes communal colour

Police suspect it to be work of Uday Poojary’s associates

The victim has been identified as college student

MANGALORE: Two persons were waylaid and attacked by an armed gang in broad daylight in the Krishnapura area of Surathkal near here on Saturday.

The attack has led to the death of one person and resulted in grievous injuries to the other.

According to eyewitness accounts, the victims were riding a motorcycle and the assailants, travelling by a car, cornered them.

Superintendent of Police N. Sateesh Kumar said: “The attack was prompted by gang rivalry and was intended to avenge the slaying of Udaya Poojary in 2003. We suspect that the associates of Udaya Poojary carried out the attack.”

According to him, the person who died was not the one the assailants were after. “The youth is a first year B.Com. student,” Mr. Kumar said.

Confirming this version, the local Congress leader Moideen Bava said the person who survived the attack had a criminal history. Mr. Bava told The Hindu at the hospital where a post mortem analysis was being conducted that it was a regrettable incident but it had no communal touch.

Yet, the attack soon took a communal hue. Stoked by rumour mongers, a large number of people gathered at the hospital and went berserk.The mob targeted anybody they could find, including journalists and the police. {Guess which "community they belonged to? Surely they are not helping the reputation of the "community" in the eyes of the majority with such senseless violent acts in defence of a known criminal }

A bus was stoned by the mob and its passengers sustained injuries. Two rounds of caning by the police only managed to fragment the mob. Split into smaller groups, the miscreants continued to target people and property. In one incident, a group of assailants targeted a 15-year-old boy behind an abandoned building. The boy was found lying beside a bush, bleeding profusely. He was taken to the hospital by the police.

Mr. Sateesh Kumar said the boy’s condition was stable and he was out of danger. His identity was not known.

Hundreds of people were stranded at Surathkal as public transport was affected. When normality returned, following the initial outbreak, the police quickly began transporting the stranded public in their own vans and buses.

Small convoys set off towards the interior villages of Kana, Kulai and beyond with police escort. Women, children and the elderly were given priority.

Tahsildar for Mangalore Taluk Raju Moghaveera has clamped prohibitory orders in the area under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The order would be in force until January 13.

[Anindya]

Link

Wanted' financial brain of J&K separatists flees
11 Jan 2009, 1711 hrs IST, PTI


SRINAGAR: Nasir Safi Mir, alleged to be the 'financial brain' behind Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and other separatist leaders,
has managed to flee the country after getting a forged passport from a southern state even as Delhi Police claimed that they were still looking for him.

According to sources in the central security agencies, Mir against whom a non-bailable warrant was issued, had allegedly bribed some officials of a southern state and made his passport after which he took a route to Nepal and then to Europe.

From Europe he was reported to have flown to Libya before finally reaching Dubai, the sources said.

Mir, was earlier arrested by Delhi Police in February 2006 while ferrying Rs 55 lakh from a Delhi-based jeweller along with some explosives, but had jumped parole which he had got after several requests made by his family to the court citing medical problems.

The 38-year-old Dubai-based businessman, who owns carpet showroom and money exchange firms in Gulf, had been regularly reporting to the nearest police station till earlier October 2008, but after that he did not turn up neither at the police station nor on the hearing date of the court.

Mir, who was considered as a prize catch by the Delhi Police following a well-executed operation by central security agencies, was all of a sudden missing prompting the court to issue a non-bailable warrant against him.

Delhi Police had shown its inability to trace Mir, whom they had claimed was very much hiding within the country.

According to the recent technical intercepts, Mir allegedly spoke to the separatist leadership after reaching Dubai.

While trying to trace back his steps, senior officials in the security agencies found that he had been helped by some sleuths of country's external intelligence agency, a Delhi-based Kashmiri businessman and a Srinagar-based hotelier in fleeing the country.

A Union cabinet minister had also taken up the case of release of Mir with the government after Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq had put this as one of the pre-conditions for entering into a dialogue.

According to the police files, Mir was last spotted publicly with the Mirwaiz in a five star hotel in South Delhi in September 2008.

During his interrogation, Mir had allegedly told the cops that the money was meant for the Mirwaiz and also claimed to have spilled beans about huge investments made by the Hurriyat chairman in Dubai, they said.

During his custodial interrogation, Mir had alleged that the Mirwaiz had allegedly made certain investments in buying shopping spaces in Dubai besides investing in his (Mir's) money exchange business, the sources claimed.

Mir, whose father was picked up in 2001 for funding militant groups in Kashmir valley, has claimed the money was part of the payment that "some officials in Pakistan had promised to the Mirwaiz for keeping his flock together in Srinagar".

He had also claimed he used to look after the Mirwaiz's foreign trips.

[Santosh]

'Bangladeshis have no business to be in India without permit':Chidambaram

Just verbal sound bytes approved by Sonia Maino to sooth majority community. All this is an eyewash. Expect no better unless a nationalist government comes to the fore.

[sum]

While trying to trace back his steps, senior officials in the security agencies found that he had been helped by some sleuths of country's external intelligence agency, a Delhi-based Kashmiri businessman and a Srinagar-based hotelier in fleeing the country.

So,is RAW actually using him for some other op about which they didn't bother to inform the local police? Maybe, this sentence shouldn't have been printed and is a goof up like the Kolkata SIM case after 26/11?

[Aditya G]

I'm posting this here because the situation in Goa is rapidly getting out of hand.Goa is no longer the paradise that it once was,but has become a cesspool of local and international mafia groups.

During a recent visit to Goa, i observed that almost every hotel and restaurant displays their menu card in Russian. This applies to roadside corners to 5 star hotels like Holiday Inn. Many shops display rate cards and other information in Russian language.

Majority of the white people you see at parties, beaches etc do not speak English; from what I could make out it was Russian or related East european languages.

Obviously Russians are very comfortable in Goa. Recall news about them purchasing property in Goa en masse and the uproar that was created a few years back. I wonder how long before Russian mafia starts asking for hafta from Goan businesses?

[sum]

Strong words from Sri Ravishankar (of AOL fame). Never heard him speak such "hard hitting" stuff before. He must have come face to face with some friendly people of a "community" to say all this in a open forum. Disregard the traitorous JD(S) rant:

http://deccanherald.com/Content/Jan1320 ... 112236.asp

Anti-terrorism campaign for students begins in M'lore
Mangalore, DHNS:


“A man hated his neighbour and wanted to cause as much trouble to him as possible. So he brought a dog and made it go mad so that it bites the neighbour. The mad dog bit the neighbour but it tore apart its own master too.” This was the anecdote spiritual prodigy Sri Sri Ravishankar stated to bring out the state of Pakistan with regard to terrorism.

Inaugurating the ‘Anti-terrorism awareness campaign for students’ organised by Department of Higher Education as a part of Vivekananda Jayanthi celebration on Monday in Mangalore, Guruji said Pakistan once domesticated terrorism to bite India but today, it is suffering due to the same mad dog and the intention of General Zia-Ul-Haq of bleeding India with a thousand cut seems to be boomeranging on Pakistan itself.

Quoting example of Azamgarh, he said terrorist activities were going on in full swing in Azamgarh region and the local residents knew about it but never spoke out. Hence, the intelligence could get evidences on the same only decades after terrorism had rooted itself strong. Nanavati Commission too took nine years to call Godhra incident a terrorist attack. During all these nine years, the terrorists must have been laughing at us.

Minister for Higher Education Aravinda Limbavali presided over the programme and said that noticing the point that large number of well educated and talented young blood is being taken into the terror folds, this awareness campaign is being held.

JD(S) SEES COMMUNAL ANGLE

Bangalore, DHNS: The JD(S) on Monday condemned the State government’s decision to organise an awareness campaign against terrorism on the occasion of Swami Vivekananda’s birth day celebrations in colleges, alleging that it is an effort to divide students on communal lines.

Addressing reporters, the party spokesperson Y S V Datta alleged that government is misusing Vivekananda’s name to further its ‘saffron agenda.’ Vivekananda is being projected as a Hindu leader to divide students on communal lines, he charged.

The Higher Education Department is organising the awareness campaign “Wipe out terrorism, save the country” in all colleges from Monday.

The party has warned to take up an agitation if the government fails to drop the awareness campaign.

[sum]

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/stor ... 5mo=&type=

LeT’s likely targets

Naveen Ammembala
First Published : 14 Dec 2008 05:18:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 15 Dec 2008 09:03:32 AM IST

BANGALORE: Bangalore, which witnessed the IISc attack and the serial blasts, is still on the hit list of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba commanders. They are specifically eyeing the police commissioner’s office on Infantry Road and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRo) facility. The large number of foreigners who visit these locations seem to be the terrorists’ prime targets.

This, it seems, was one of LeT’s unfinished tasks. And the person tasked with the mission by Lashker was a one-eyed fugitive called Abu Akrama (23). The 5’4”, very dark complexioned, stockily built terrorist had lost one eye during explosives training. Akrama, from Maldives, was in Bangalore as a student between 2004 and 2006 and had trained in Pakistan-occupied- Kashmir (under LeT and ISI.

Akrama revealed this to Sabahuddin, the main accused in the IISc attack while Sabahuddin was hiding in Colombo and planning another attack on Bangalore with Akrama, a top official in the Anti Terrorist Cell) Bangalore told this paper.

During their stay in a Colombo hotel, Akarama had revealed about his plans to strike at the police commissioner’s office and ISROcampus in Sanjaynagar. Muzammil, an LeT commander of Rest of India region had also okayed it, sources confirmed. During his stay in Bangalore as student in Brindavan College in Boopasandra, Akrama had visited the commissioner’s office for his visa and foreigners’ registration formalities and the ISRo campus in Sanjaynagar where his college mate’s father was employed. This shocking information was confirmed by Saba’s confessions to the Bangalore police early this year. Excerpts: “….In August 2006, Muzammil told me Abu Akrama alias Rizwan alias Asham Ali, after preparing travel documents in Maldives, has reached Bangalore and settled down. He has also got admission in Brindavan College in Sanjaynagar area". “In october 2006, Muzammil told me that as Abu Akrama was well established in Bangalore, he should be given some task. He told me that he is a foreigner; he would not be able to collect weapons from Kashmir and also bring fidayeen to India. He also told me that Abu Akrama would be supplied with weapons, safely storing it, receiving militants, providing shelter for them, receiving and sending militants for action and asked me to go to Colombo to meet Akrama”.

This Akrama turd is still mssing and no one has a clue as to where he his...

[sunilUpa]

Bulletproof jackets to be tested, but no place for that yet

VARANASI: The bulletproof jackets provided to Varanasi range police would be tested by making burst fire on them with AK-47 rifles. But, it will be
done only after the availability of firing range.

DIG range, Anand Swaroop told TOI that testing of the bulletproof jackets provided to the districts in Varanasi range was proposed. But, the schedule would be finalized after the firing range of Cantonment was made available, he said adding that the firing range of rifle club was available, but burst fire of AK-47 could prove a risky affair there.

This report left me wondering...if Police do not have their own firing range to fire AK-47 in burst mode, where on earth do they train? ...Answer - They don't!

[sunilUpa]

UT police wants its only commando to catch thieves

CHANDIGARH: The city police has only one officer whose skills match those who cracked down on Taj Hotel attackers in Mumbai, yet it wants him to
catch petty thieves in a city that intelligence agencies see as a target of terrorists.

Instead, UT police wants a controversial officer, who does not have any background or training to deal with terror tactics, to lead a 40-strong quick reaction team (QRT) being created post-Mumbai terror strike.

The commando inspector, Malkit Singh, has undergone three commando courses in his career, first at Bhadhurgarh in 1995, later at Delhi for VIP security, and last and important one for commando operations in the wake of terror attacks at Nahan, organised by the Indian Army. In fact, he had been trained in rappling, helicopter dropping, etc., which the operations wing expected that he would impart to the commandos and would be an asset in its fight against terrorism.

Davinder Sharma, the man who is now saddled with the task, is just coming out of his suspension for lapses in functioning and without any specific training to deal with terror, sources said.

According to documents available with TOI, then DIG (operations) Mahabir Singh had proposed the name of Malkit for posting in the operations wing, and had, in a handwritten note sent to UT IG SK Jain, who is also chairman of the Police Establishment Board (PEB), sought Malkits posting as he is a commando trained officer, which was however rejected. We needed him there as we wanted to rejuvenate the commando wing and build a force to fight operations against terrorists, said an officer in the operations wing. It seems the UT police focus is back on catching petty criminals and not tackling terrorists, he lamented.

The PEB however approved posting of Malkit Singh as incharge police post Mauli Jagran in Manimajra police station.

Asked to comment, DIG Singh told TOI, Police officer is a police officer. He knows the trick of the job. It does not matter who is taking what post. However, in his handwritten note (copy available with TOI), the DIG had stated that the operations wing had vacancies for four inspectors, against which only one Pratap Singh is posted and Malkit might be posted along with him.

When contacted, Jain said the inspector was given a more important job, as crime rate in the area was rising and needed to be controlled. I need committed and competent officers there, hence he was posted there, he said, adding that curbing petty crime is also the job of a police officer.

So much for security.

[Avinash R]

Asked to comment, DIG Singh told TOI, Police officer is a police officer. He knows the trick of the job.

A surgeon and a general practitioner are both doctors.
So the GP should also be allowed to cut open humans and sew them back, afterall every doctor knows the tricks of the job.

[ramana]

Pioneer, 14 Ajn., 2009

FRONT PAGE | Wednesday, January 14, 2009 | Email | Print |


Delhi blasts were ‘plotted in Batla House’

Staff Reporter | New Delhi

The third chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police has reiterated the Batla House angle to the conspiracy behind the September 13 serial blasts in the Capital. Despite various political parties, including Ministers in the UPA Government, questioning the veracity of the encounter, the police have stated in one chargesheet after another that the serial blasts were plotted at L-18, Batla House, in the Jamia Nagar area of south Delhi.

Submitting the third chargesheet before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Sanjay Bansal, the police have held Zeeshan and Mohammad Sajid, the Indian Mujahideen operatives, responsible for carrying out the blast at Barakhamba Road on September 13 last year. Zeeshan, one of the key conspirators, is currently in the custody of Gujarat police. Another accused, Sajid, was killed in the shootout at L-18 Batla House on September 19. Zeeshan was arrested from Jhandewalan area on the evening of the Batla House encounter.

In the chargesheet, the Special Cell of Delhi Police referred to the disclosure of Zeeshan that he, along with Sajid, had planted the bomb inside a dustbin at Barakhamba Road. The explosion had claimed two lives and left 28 injured. The police have stated that the entire conspiracy was hatched by Amir Raza Khan, a co-founder of the Indian Mujahideen. Khan is said to have worked in close coordination with Shehzad Ahmed and Mohammed Ariz alias Junaid, who had escaped from Batla House after shooting at Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma. Appearing in the court, the Investigating Officer (IO), however, said the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL) report pertaining to the laptop, mobile phones and explosives recovered from them was pending and would be filed later.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Yadav said the other co-accused chargesheeted by the police are Mohammad Saif, Saquib Nissar, Mohammad Shakeel, Jia-ur-Rehman, Quayamuddin and Sadiq Sheikh. While the police had secured the custody of Quayamuddin from Madhya Pradesh, Sadiq was brought from Mumbai on transit remand. The police have also accused Mohammad Hakim, whose custody was secured by the police on January 4 following his arrest by the Uttar Pradesh police. A supplementary chargesheet against him would also be filed later.

The police have accused 28 persons in connection with the serial blasts, of which 16 have been arrested and 12 are absconding. Those on the run include Riyaz Batkal, Shahrukh and Mohammed Khalid, who allegedly supplied the explosives. The police also secured the non-bailable warrants for the absconders till February 16.

In the chargesheet, the police have included 78 witnesses, though it failed to find any eyewitness to the incident. The police had been intercepting the mobile phone numbers (9899284784, 9811004309 & 9899040253) that were being used by Shakeel, Atif Ameen and Saquib Nissar respectively. Of these, Atif Ameen was killed during the Batla House encounter whereas Shakeel and Nissar are in the custody of Gujarat police.

“We had been intercepting these mobile numbers, cell IDs of which traced their presence to L-18, Batla House,” Yadav said, adding that the recording of their conversation did not lead to any conclusion. He added that a team was likely to be sent to Ahmedabad on Wednesday to secure the custody of another co-accused, Mansoor Asgar Peerbhoy, who had composed and sent the e-mails after the blasts in Delhi and Ahmedabad. Peerbhoy is currently in the custody of Gujarat police.

The police have chargesheeted the accused under Sections 302, 307, 120 (B), 121, 122, 123, 323 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code (dealing with murder, attempt to murder, damaging public property and waging war against the nation). Besides, the police have invoked Sections 3, 4, & 5 of the Explosive Substance Act and Sections 16, 18, 20 & 23 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The court has marked the chargesheet for consideration on January 21. The police had filed two chargesheets last month in the serial blasts case, registered with the Karol Bagh and Greater Kailash police stations.

[ramana]

About MAC from Pioneer, 14 Jan., 2009

Please x-post in the Intel thread..

NATION | Wednesday, January 14, 2009 | Email | Print |


With MAC around, intelligence sharing gets a leg-up

Rakesh K Singh | New Delhi

With the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) functioning on a 24x7 basis from January 1 this year for countering terrorism and related threats, coordination and inputs sharing between different Central and State intelligence agencies is expected to improve qualitatively.

The Union Home Ministry, through an executive order, has made MAC a nodal body for all matters relating to gathering, analysis and sharing of intelligence pertaining to terrorism and devising strategies and tactical measures to counter it. The body functioning under the Intelligence Bureau will act as a National Centre for Counter Terrorism as advised by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission.

The Multi Agency Centre (Functions, Powers and Duties) Order, 2008 empowers it to be the centre to coordinate all activities pertaining to terrorism and terrorist threats and has begun working round the clock in shifts.

The order tasks MAC to gather, collate, store, analyse, share, disseminate and do any other thing or act that may be necessary in respect of intelligence pertaining to terrorism, terrorist threats and terrorist offences. The order also mandates MAC to develop, improve and enhance the capacity of the Government to deal with terrorism and terrorist threats. The MAC is further obliged by the order to devise strategic and tactical measures to counter terrorism, terror threats and terrorist offences.

The MAC has been authorised with the power to seek information, including documents, reports, transcripts, cyber information and information of every other kind in whatever form, from the agency furnishing or obliged to furnish such information.

The organisation will share intelligence and assessment of that intelligence with the State Governments, Union Territories and any other agency or agencies to which the inputs may be relevant and useful for purposes of dealing with terrorism. Likewise, all the agencies of State Governments and Union Territories charged with the responsibility of gathering intelligence will have to share the inputs and assessments related to terrorism and terror threats to MAC.

The Intelligence Bureau, whose Director will control and exercise general superintendence over MAC, is obliged to establish adequate means of communication and connectivity between MAC and other Central and State intelligence agencies. The executive order was issued following national outcry following the Mumbai terror attacks and recognition by the Centre of lack of coordination between different intelligence agencies.

Besides, MAC in its earlier avatar (according to the Union Home Ministry's instructions dated December 6, 2001) could not fully achieve the objectives for which it was established by the then NDA Government.

“While a database has been built, other aims of MAC have not been achieved……despite MHA's instructions….., practically no data relating to terrorist activities are received from the Central and State security forces and agencies,” says a 7-page classified office memorandum issued by Special Secretary (Internal Security) Raman Srivastava on December 31, 2008. A Group of Ministers that reviewed the intelligence systems in the aftermath of the Kargil conflict in 2001 had recommended the establishment of MAC in the IB for better handling of tasks related to counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence.

The 2001 order had mandated the MAC “to centrally process all operational and actionable intelligence and disseminate them….for real time action, develop an institutional mechanism for validation, rejection, value addition and conversion of raw intelligence into actionable intelligence.”

Interesting that the earlier MAC did not function despite orders issued on recommendation of the GOM and KRC report! Wonder why? Did other Central agencies and State govts refuse to share the info or what? Why will they share now? Which part of the GO makes it compulsory to share with MAC? And why was it not there in NDA issued GO? Was the UPA diligent in making sure that MAC was working under Patil or was he sleeping on the job there too?

Also I see no powers to arrest have been given to MAC so how will it deter and prevent terrorist acts? By calling local police?

its still not enough.

[gandharva]

AGP sacks top leader, links to Pak ISI alleged


By Our Special Correspondent

Guwahati

Jan. 14: The Opposition Asom Gana Parishad on Wednesday removed one of its general secretaries, who is an MLA, for his alleged links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

This came to light when Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said during a debate in the Assam Assembly that AGP general secretary Nurul Hussain had met some jailed ISI undertrials with the court's permission.

Mr Hussain admitted he had gone to meet the undertrials, who were from his constituency.

The AGP served a showcause notice to Mr Hussain, fearing the issue might snowball into a major controversy before the Lok Sabha poll as the party had taken a pro-BJP line and was already in the final stage of seat-sharing discussions.

"The party decided on Mr Hussain's removal after it was not satisfied with his clarification," said AGP spokesman Apurba Bhattacharya. He was removed as general secretary as well as from the party's steering and executive committees.

The Congress minister told reporters: "The AGP should stop criticising us that the Congress is weak with the ISI as their own general secretary had met them inside the jail."

The AGP had criticised the Congress and charged it with being soft towards ISI undertrials, saying that they managed to get bail as the Assam police had failed to file proper chargesheets.

The AGP has also formed a three-member committee, comprising Dr Kamala Kalita, Pabindra Deka and Sahidul Alam Choudhury, to further investigate the MLA's alleged ISI connections and to submit a report on this to party president Chandra Mohan Patowary. Dr Kalita is the committee's convenor.

http://www.asianage.com/presentation/le ... leged.aspx

[sum]

It will be a miracle if we manage to hold onto Assam in the next 20 years going by the state of affairs there!!!

[svinayak]

National Development Front is now State unit of Popular Front of India

Special Correspondent

KOZHIKODE: The National Development Front (NDF), which has been kept under close watch by the police and other security agencies for its suspected involvement in violent incidents in different parts of the State, has merged with the Popular Front of India (PFI).

The PFI is an organisation launched in association with the Manitha Neeti Pasarai in Tamil Nadu and the Forum of Dignity in Karnataka, organisations that claim to fight for the interests of oppressed minority communities including Muslims.

[Avinash R]

Mastermind of 1995 Jammu serial blast arrested
16 Jan 2009, 1138 hrs IST, PTI
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indi ... 987619.cms

JAMMU: Top Hizbul militant Waseem Ahmed Malik, accused of masterminding the 1995 Republic Day blast claiming 12 lives, has been arrested from Kishtwar district.

Malik, then a self-styled Hizbul district commander, masterminded the blasts along with some other Pakistani militants led by one commander Ifran, in which 60 others were injured and the then Governor Gen K V Krishna Rao had a narrow escape.

He was arrested in connection with his involvement in the explosions at MAM stadium, Deputy Inspector General, Doda-Ramba-Kishtwar range, Himant Lohia said. He was picked up from Kishtwar town last night.

Soon after the blasts, Malik crossed over to Pakistan and stayed there for ten years and returned to Jammu and Kashmir in 2005.

Malik also called Abdu Hamza was appointed by Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin as deputy divisional commander and was operating in Chenab belt in Doda-Ramban-Gool of Jammu region and south Kashmir, police sources said.

[Avinash R]

IPS officer appointed NIA chief
http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/16/stor ... 930100.htm

Chidambaram gives free hand to Radha Vinod Raju

NEW DELHI: Radha Vinod Raju, a senior IPS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, has been appointed the first Director-General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The appointment was announced by Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday.

Mr. Chidambaram gave a free hand to Mr. Raju to put in place logistics and a core team with proven track record to begin the initial staffing of the NIA. The agency will draw personnel from the Army and police. Mr. Raju will have staff “hand picked” by him.

“He [Mr. Raju] has been requested to join immediately and quickly begin the recruitments,” Mr. Chidambaram, who recommended his name for the post, told reporters here. The first and foremost task of Mr. Raju would be setting up a core group of officers.

Asked how long it would take for the NIA to be functional, the Minister said: “We will now recruit identified officers who have a track record of doing very good work in investigation.”

Mr. Chidambaram said there was no case at present to be investigated by the NIA. The Mumbai terror attacks would not be probed by it. “The Mumbai investigation is well on track. It has made considerable progress. There is no need for transferring it to NIA.”

He said that Mr. Raju had vast experience, working in various capacities in the CBI.

Belonging to the 1975 batch of the IPS, Mr. Raju will head the NIA till January 31, 2010 or until further orders, a Home Ministry order said.

Mr. Raju is at present Special Director General of Police in Jammu and Kashmir. He moved from the CBI to the State in September last upon his promotion. At that time he was serving as Additional Director in the CBI.

He also worked as a Joint Director in the CBI, supervising investigations in a number of sensitive and high profile cases. His investigation skills helped the SIT crack the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. In Jammu and Kashmir, he kept a strict vigil on anti-corruption department and streamlined the vigilance wing of the police.

[Avinash R]

Check infiltration of Bangladeshis - Supreme Court directs Central Govt
Friday, Jan 16, 2009
http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/16/stor ... 011400.htm

Issue multi-purpose ID cards to Indian citizens in northeast: Supreme Court

Deport two crore Bangladeshi migrants staying in India: petition

Take steps to complete fencing of border with Bangladesh: Bench

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Union government to take immediate steps for issue of Multi-Purpose National Identity Cards (MPNIC) to Indian citizens in Assam and other north-eastern States. The court also asked it to prepare a National Identity Register (NIR) to check the infiltration of Bangladeshis.

A Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices P. Sathasivam and J.M. Panchal said the cards should be the basis for citizens to avail themselves of benefits such as ration card, school admission and inclusion of name in electoral rolls.

The Bench gave this interim direction on a public interest litigation petition filed by O.P. Saxena, president, All India Lawyers Forum for Civil Liberties. He sought a direction to the authorities to deport about two crore Bangladeshi migrants staying in the country.

The petitioner had highlighted the problem of migrants who had infiltrated into the country, which shares a border of over 4,000 km. with Bangladesh running across various States.

The petitioner alleged that such large-scale influx was causing social and law and order problems.

The Bench noted that the Union government, in its affidavit filed in 2006, stated that it proposed to issue the MPNIC to citizens in the border States and create an NIR to provide a credible identification system through e-governance.

“This would be a difficult task to be accomplished by the Government of India, which can initiate steps in this direction so that the problem could be solved to a reasonable extent,” the Bench said.

Earlier, during arguments, the CJI orally told Additional Solicitor-General Amarendra Saran: “You [government] issue the MPNIC and insist on this for the citizens to avail [themselves of] all the facilities. You can start this at the village level. You create a situation whereby a person not in possession of this card is not in a position to avail facility and then he won’t stay here. Now they [Bangladeshi migrants] get better facilities than normal Indian citizens. No country will allow that. If infiltrators enjoy all facilities it will be difficult to separate them.”
Land acquisition

The interim order referred to the Centre’s affidavit on fencing of the India-Bangladesh border in two phases, the first one started in 1989 was in an advanced stage but still the work could not be completed. It directed the Government of India to take urgent steps to complete the fencing to prevent infiltration; for this purpose land acquisition must be completed expeditiously.

On the petitioner’s contention that sufficient tribunals had not been set up for proper identification of Bangladeshis, the Bench directed the Centre to set up adequate tribunals, which should dispose of the pending cases expeditiously. It ordered the Centre to file a status report in eight weeks on the steps taken to identify the illegal Bangladeshis, number of tribunals set up and cases disposed of. Senior counsel Vijay Hansaria, appearing for the petitioner, alleged that infiltration was on the increase and the migrants were getting ration cards, enlisting their names in the voter list and exercising their electoral right. He wanted adequate and time-bound arrangements to be made to ensure the return of the Bangladeshi nationals.
“Hold talks”

Referring to the submission of senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing for West Bengal, that a number of Bengali-speaking people identified as Bangladeshis were kept in camps as Bangladesh was refusing to take them back, the Bench asked the Centre to hold talks with the authorities concerned and adjourned the matter for eight weeks.

[ajay_ijn]

Poor training, not weaponry let Mumbai cops down

NEW DELHI: It was not the quality of weapons but poor training of policemen that handed terrorists an advantage during the Mumbai attack, a counter-terrorism report from Stratfor, a thinktank on geopolitical intelligence has said. "In the end, the attackers outclassed the Indian police with their marksmanship far more than they outclassed them with their armaments," says the January 14 Stratfor report.

Stratfor points out that training, and not ammo should be focus. "If a police officer does not have the marksmanship to kill (or even hit) a suspect at 20 or 30 metres with aimed fire from a battle rifle, there is little chance he can control the automatic fire from an assault rifle or submachine gun effectively."

Going by media reports that the police shot at the Mumbai attackers but missed them, the report says, "The Lee-Enfield (revolvers used by the Mumbai police) is an accurate and reliable battle rifle that shoots a powerful cartridge, the .303 British which is a man stopper. Afghan sharpshooters used the Lee-Enfield with great success against the Soviets, and Taliban are still using it against coalition forces in Afghanistan."

India has never bothered with marksmanship skills among its regular cops, say senior cops in India. According to them, there isn't even an ethos for tactical operations among regular cops, let alone training. "The average policemen goes to the range only once a year. For an operation like Mumbai, you need special skills," says E N Rammohan, former DG, BSF.

Former Delhi Commissioner of Police Ved Marwah emphasises training of the marksmen within the force. "Nowadays, a recruit is out to work with barely six months of training. Untrained policeman are merely soft targets," says Marwah. Moreover, there are practically no re-training or re-orientation modules for policemen once out of training school.

The primarily role of police in thanas is an investigating one, says Rammohan. "A regular cop wouldn't even have seen a sniper rifle. The police station guys, even the armed ones, simply don't have the ethos," he says. That may explain the confusion and sluggish response in the Mumbai attack, not doubting the guts or commitment of officers who died during 26/11.

Efficiency at the street cop level is the need of the hour. "The greatest gap in capability between Indian and European or American forces is the gap at the individual street cop level," says Stratfor.

To that end, says Rammohan, every state must create its own crack squad for tactical ops by drawing recruits from the state's armed police unit. "The age of any such trained officer should not be more than 30", says Rammohan, and he should return to the general force once he has crossed that age, to be replaced by a younger recruit.