Internal Security Watch

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 May 2010 04:57

Fake passport industry thrives in Gulf with links in Kerala

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 27 May 2010 05:01

Tanaji wrote:
"There is a difference between the Atal Bihari Vajpayee [ Images ] government and the Manmohan Singh [ Images ] government. During our (NDA's) regime, attackers (terrorists) knew that either they will be caught or be killed," BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Yes sir... Jaswant Singh and Loh Purush Advani sure showed them at Kandahar... Mullah Omar is still quaking in his boots I hear at the mention of Jaswant Singh's name

You mean compared to Mr. Shivraj Patil

Tanaji · Post by **Tanaji** » 27 May 2010 20:55

^^^

Shivraj Patil was in Kandahar giving an escort? I did not know... I thought the honor went to Jaswant Singh...

Political affiliations aside, the reason I posted the link was to point out the sheer hypocrisy of the BJP spokesman when he makes those statements. The idea that BJP is "more resolute" and "stands up" to terrorists is a myth that its spokesmen assiduously try to cultivate. All Indian political parties are equally bereft of foresight, vision and testicular fortitude to stand up to terrorists due to vote bank politics.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 27 May 2010 21:20

Tanaji wrote:
Political affiliations aside, the reason I posted the link was to point out the sheer hypocrisy of the BJP spokesman when he makes those statements. The idea that BJP is "more resolute" and "stands up" to terrorists is a myth that its spokesmen assiduously try to cultivate. All Indian political parties are equally bereft of foresight, vision and testicular fortitude to stand up to terrorists due to vote bank politics.

You have to think bigger. If the nuke test was done way before in the early 90s and strong measures were taken earlier wrt terrorist in the 90s such incidents would have been avoided. After the test and parakram there is a change in the terrorist attacks.

Chandragupta · Post by **Chandragupta** » 27 May 2010 21:21

Tanaji wrote:^^^

Shivraj Patil was in Kandahar giving an escort? I did not know... I thought the honor went to Jaswant Singh...

Political affiliations aside, the reason I posted the link was to point out the sheer hypocrisy of the BJP spokesman when he makes those statements. The idea that BJP is "more resolute" and "stands up" to terrorists is a myth that its spokesmen assiduously try to cultivate. All Indian political parties are equally bereft of foresight, vision and testicular fortitude to stand up to terrorists due to vote bank politics.

Tanaji, please, that's just plain absurd act of equal equal onlee. Kandahar was tragic, but it deserves a subjective look. There was little room to maneuver for the BJP given the domestic pressure that was on the government. I am not trying to dig out excuses on their behalf but I'd cut them some slack. Least of all, not compare them with this government that believes that the answer to all of India's problems can be solved with bigger & bulkier dossiers, inventing 'Hindu Terror' and by not hanging Afzal Guru.

lsunil · Post by **lsunil** » 27 May 2010 21:54

Im not a big fan of the BJP but what do these BJP haters want?

~50 years of congress rule and 5 years of BJP rule. What the fu@k do they expect?

negi · Post by **negi** » 27 May 2010 21:55

This is sheer baki logic at its best for it fails to account for 180 or so innocent civilian lives at stake in Kandhaar (terrorist hub of the world where even Unkil does not have things under control) . Seriously is it so difficult to appreciate the challenges of a hostage situation ?

sum · Post by **sum** » 27 May 2010 22:01

I distinctly remember TV visuals of many Congress netas holding Dharnas outside then PM and other minister's houses with relatives of the hijacked passengers demanding immediate release of the hostages by acceding to whatever demands the hijackers had!!

Please don't tell me that a non-NDA govt would have sent in the NSG/SF/SG/Marcos/<Insert unit here> to get the hostages rescued!!!!

Tanaji · Post by **Tanaji** » 27 May 2010 22:42

Im not a big fan of the BJP but what do these BJP haters want?

Ah, only on BRF, can one get branded a BJP hater, a Nazi and a Hindu fundamentalist...

Please don't tell me that a non-NDA govt would have sent in the NSG/SF/SG/Marcos/<Insert unit here> to get the hostages rescued!!!!

The point is not what other governments would have done. BJP has consistently said (even before it took power) that it would never negotiate with terrorists. The "Loh Purush" tag was accorded to Advani by their followers based on standing up to terrorists tag, probably to evoke memories of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. At the tine BJP used to regularly take Congress to task over the Rubaiyya Saeed episode and claim they would never negotiate.. When the time came however, they showed a remarkable divergence from what they said. Even now, the BJP spokesman (shamelessly) says:

During our (NDA's) regime, attackers (terrorists) knew that either they will be caught or be killed

Yes, Kandahar was a difficult, in some sense an impossible situation. But the true character or a party or a leader is revealed in such situations isn't it? JFK's handling of Cuban missile crisis is lauded precisely because he stood true to his policy in an extremely difficult position.

I distinctly remember TV visuals of many Congress netas holding Dharnas outside then PM and other minister's houses with relatives of the hijacked passengers demanding immediate release of the hostages by acceding to whatever demands the hijackers had!

Isnt that part and parcel of Indian politics? Are BJP leaders babes in the woods to not realize that such pressure points will always happen and exist? Or does the BJP's "standing up to terrorists" maxim only hold true when there are no such dharnas?

Just because one criticizes the BJP, doesnt make me a BJP hater. I would not have voted for them in the past (not in the last election though, I didnt vote Congress either). What one must realize that at least on this issue, there is no difference between Congress and BJP. One doesnt talk about Congress, because vote bank politics and politics of convenience is to be expected from them. Its BJP that claims its different at every given opportunity and I am just pointing out that when push came to shove, they showed that they were no different than Congress in rolling over and acquiescing to terrorist demands.

Chandragupta · Post by **Chandragupta** » 27 May 2010 23:16

Tanaji, comparing Saeed's kidnapping with the hijacking that had almost 200 lives at stake are not exactly comparable you would agree. You should read the account of what was happening outside the Parliament and PMO during those days, chest beating women, angry relatives, further fuelled by journos and commies, ordering the GoI to bring their people back, give Kashmir and half of India if need be, but bring them back. There was little to nothing that could be done after the plane had taken off from Amritsar, not that attempts were not made to prevent that from happening.

If they had tried to play smart and attempted a military operation in what someone rightly tagged as the hub of terrorism, and it had gone wrong, can you imagine what hell would have broken loose back in the country. BJP made their share of mistakes but by equating the two, you are just playing into the hands of the Kaangress lovers in the media who love to give the same argument to do an equal equal, to beat BJP with the stick that is meant for Congress.

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 27 May 2010 23:39

Prem wrote:Top Image retained for India's 2011 census project
AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Top Image Systems Ltd., /quotes/comstock/15*!tisa/quotes/nls/tisa (TISA 0.94, +0.15, +18.73%) the Tel Aviv producer of document-recognition solutions, was retained by India's Office of the Registrar General to collect and process the data from the 2011 census. Terms weren't disclosed. Top Image said that India's census is the largest such project in the world. The five-year project has two parts: housing and home listing as well as identifying and counting individuals. Top Image said that its eFlow solution would be employed to process the census forms. India's population exceeds 1.1 billion. Top Image said in a Wednesday statement that it expected to complete the first phase by September 2010 and to begin the second phase in February 2011. The company said that the India project is in line with TISA's strategic effort to pursue census projects worldwide and that it had recently won such contracts in Belarus and Vietnam.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/top-im ... 2010-05-26

Goi might as well sell info to EJ directly and earn some money. call the Project Vibhishan.

Yes, this is a major security concern.

But what can you expect when Sonia loyalists themselves are leading mobs to free Maoist king-pins from jail? But the BJP also has elements that are just as evil.

Only hope is to raise awareness amongst the people.

Tanaji · Post by **Tanaji** » 28 May 2010 00:00

Tanaji, comparing Saeed's kidnapping with the hijacking that had almost 200 lives at stake are not exactly comparable you would agree.

No sir, I am not equating the two. All I am saying that if one claims that "We stand up to terrorists" or "Terrorists are afraid of NDA" (paraphrasing), one has to show evidence of such talk when in power. I deliberately gave the example of JFK earlier who was faced with a difficult scenario as well... If you dont stand and deliver on your own plank when the chips are down, when will you?

No one will ask this question of the Congress because one knows the answer. But when someone says "We are different" and behaves exactly the same way, don't we have the right to question them?

Khair, lets move on... we are getting OT and discussing politics, I dont want adminullah's hellfire on my musharraf...

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 28 May 2010 03:01

NDTV video on the Bhatkal s)umbag

Pune suspect at wedding during Blast: Family screams the UndieTv headline, it also presents as evidence a video( undated) of Abdul Samad at the wedding. In the same video the wedding card is shown which clearly indicates that the wedding festivities took place on the 5th and 6th of Feb.
To throw in some emotional quotient the video has Abdul's momma saying " mera beta aisa kuch kar nahin sakta" whereas another beta of the same momma is a proclaimed offender. The video ends by planting seeds of doubt in the secular viewers mind by stating in a round about way that the ATS is under pressure to cook up evidence

Vivasvat · Post by **Vivasvat** » 28 May 2010 04:46

Paki in India? Check out Ruhel Chisty purportedly from Udaipur in the comments section......
http://www.baltimorenews.net/story/639482

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 28 May 2010 05:57

Trains collide after blast in India, many feared dead

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64Q70Y20100528

A blast hit a passenger train and flung it into the path of a speeding goods train coming from the opposite direction in eastern India early on Friday, a railway spokesman said, adding many deaths were feared.

The incident occurred in an area known to be a stronghold of Maoist rebels, and a railway spokesman said sabotage was suspected.

A reporter of the Telegraph newspaper told Reuters from the accident site that he had counted at least 20 bodies.

"I can see at least four passenger coaches completely mangled. I am seeing many bodies crushed under the goods train," Naresh Jana told Reuters.

He described a scene of chaos and panic. "People are crying. Rescuers are struggling to save the survivors and get the bodies out."

The incident comes days after a passenger airliner crashed in southern India, killing 158 people.

The passenger train was going to Mumbai from the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in West Bengal state. The incident occurred in the state's Jhargram area.

"The blast derailed 13 coaches of the Gyaneshwari Express. These coaches then fell on the other track where a goods train rammed into some of them," Soumitra Majumdar, a railway spokesman told Reuters.

"We fear many casualties. There could be many people dead. We don't have details yet."

Majumdar said sabotage was suspected because the passenger train had been hit by a blast.

The Maoist rebels, who often attack police, government buildings and infrastructure such as railway stations, have in recent months stepped up attacks in response to a government security offensive to clear them out of their jungle bases.

The rebels blew up a bus in the mineral-rich state of Chhattisgarh this month, killing 35 people, about a month after 76 police were killed in another attack.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the insurgency as India's biggest internal security challenge.

The decades-old movement is now present in a third of the country and while they have made few inroads into cities, they have spread into rural pockets of up to 28 states and hurt potential business worth billions of dollars.

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 28 May 2010 07:20

End this blockade now

The blockade of Manipur by Naga political forces making the demand for “Nagalim” is threatening to take the two sides towards a showdown the region can well do without.

....

The lack of urgency shown by New Delhi in the matter is beyond comprehension. The blockade has crippled life in the State, creating shortages of essentials, from fuel to medicines and food items. But efforts to end it are not apparent. The people of Manipur would be justified in asking if their State's location — at the farthest end of India — has played any role in shaping New Delhi's apathy. A blockade there does not affect the rest of the country.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/28/stories ... 351200.htm

Actually people of Manipur would be even more justified in asking if their Indic religious beliefs, as opposed to the Puritan evangelical beliefs of their separatist tormentors, are what is driving the policy in New Delhi.

See also ‘Why should Manipur remain in India?’ by Tarun Vijay http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.co ... -remain-in

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 28 May 2010 07:50

Ammunition seized from Italians' hotel room in Delhi - http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/28/stories ... 621500.htm

In February, two British nationals were caught in the same hotel for aircraft spotting. They were booked under different sections of the Telegraph Act, but let off later.

ajit_tr · Post by **ajit_tr** » 28 May 2010 12:36

AHMEDABAD: An incident of stabbing was reported from the notorious Patwa Sheri area on Wednesday night as violence spread to the Kalupur on the third day. Five police personnel were injured in fresh clashes between two communities in Kalupur and the police opened 10 rounds of fire and lobbed 45 teargas shells.

Shahpur reported stone pelting incidents in the Golwaad and Bhilvaas areas, even as a sanitary worker was stabbed near Patwa Sheri in the Karanj area of the walled city late on Wednesday night.

However, the resilient public decided to get on with business and at least 80 per cent of the bazaars opened in Shahpur, Kalupur and Dariapur on Thursday. Meanwhile, the police arrested nine persons for inciting tension in the walled city.

A communal riot broke out on Monday night when a marriage procession passed by a mosque during prayer time, in Shahpur. One person died in the backlash the following day leading to more tension even as stabbing incidents were reported from Mirzapur and other areas on Wednesday.

According to Kalupur police, a communal clash started around 11.30 pm on Wednesday in Durga Mata ni pol area. According to a complaint filed by sub-inspector BK Tatania, mobs of around 500 persons attacked one another with stones, brickbats and petrol bombs.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City ... 982660.cms

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 31 May 2010 05:15

Building Secure Cities in Troubled Times

The series of conference on the theme is being organised by Security Watch India (SWI) in alliance with Indianeye security, CSARN, G4S etc in seven cities across the country. Speaking on the occasion, defence analyst Maroof Raza reasoned that terrorism is not a single person’s conflict neither a single government’s battle. “Pakistan based-terror groups act on hardline views contradictory to the Indian stand and position. As the Indian economy grows and consolidates its position - the country would continue to remain the target of terror groups,” Raza said.

During the day-long session, three practical measures were suggested to secure hotel security - deter an attack, increase everyone’s sense of security and limit the attacker’s option if the attack finally happens. The next round of conference is scheduled in Bengaluru, Chennai and Chandigarh on May 28, 29 and 31 respectively.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 31 May 2010 18:37

Earlier this month, home secretary G.K. Pillai and Pandey visited Imphal and then flew to Kohima to meet chief minister Neiphiu Rio and then Muivah. The Centre’s decision to send a team to Nagaland comes after a long wait during which Delhi tried to tire out the rebels and protesters while it helped ease supplies through Silchar and Jiribam into Manipur. The rebel outfit has now decided to shift out of Viswema. “We will be going to Pfutsero to hold consultations with the people,” said a senior NSCN (I-M) leader over phone.

http://www.morungexpress.com/regional/49608.html

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 01 Jun 2010 03:25

Suspected Naxal held in Ahmedabad

A Maoist was arrested on Monday from the old city area of Ahmedabad. The arrest of Srinivas alias Seenu alias Sagar (35) comes after about a dozen similar arrests by the state police in past four months from south Gujarat, especially from and around Surat.

According to the police, Srinivas was arrested under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for his past activities as office-bearer of the banned Peoples War Group before it merged with MCC and other groups as CPI (Maoist).

"Based on inputs from Surat we have arrested one Srinivas, a resident of Isanpur area here and working with an NGO,"Satish Sharma, JCP said.

Police added that Srinivas's wife who works for an NGO here is also suspected to be involved in Maoist activities.

According to AK Singh, IG (Surat Range) supervising the probe into Maoist activities in the State, Srinivas was sent to Ahmedabad about five years back to execute the group's urban area agenda.

The first-of-its-kind arrest from Ahmedabad has put the police here on alert.

"For a police force which so far did not have to deal with such problem the arrest has come as a big alert. Though our information is specific to this person, we have to gear up now," Sharma told HT.

Srinivas is being sent to Surat for further investigation.

This is definitely alarming. Few districts in South Gujarat near Surat are backwards and with people with low income who rely on farming of sugar cane etc etc. Same applies to North Gujarat near Rajasthan border areas where income is low and backward areas. Police in this areas need to be extra vigilant along with in cities like Ahmedabad and Surat. As people like Srinivas might come to big cities for accomodation or while in transit.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 01 Jun 2010 05:28

Gaurav_S wrote:
This is definitely alarming.

govt should launch its ngo

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 01 Jun 2010 05:45

Acharya wrote:
Gaurav_S wrote:
This is definitely alarming.
govt should launch its ngo

A group that calls itself "Govt NGO" would be priceless.

rohiths · Post by **rohiths** » 01 Jun 2010 08:53

Wherever there is a significant tribal majority there is some sort of Maoist presence there. Even in the western ghats region of Karnataka there is some Maoist presence. In some places in the western ghats there are churches for every 10 kms. It is mainly an EJ phenomenon. The flow of funds have to be curtailed.
I don't think that maoists can move beyond tribal majority regions and non-EJ regions. AP is still a worry because of the heavy EJ activities there.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 01 Jun 2010 10:02

On Langpih or Lampi, depending on who speaks for whom:

Honour constitutional boundary: Centre

Talking to newsmen in New Delhi, Chidambaram said that he had requested the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya to get the incident of police firing in Langpih probed by a sitting Gauhati High Court judge. He further said that he had requested the two chief ministers to settle all existing border disputes between the two States through talks.

http://www.sentinelassam.com/mainnews/s ... pr=1#37741

On maoists:

“I am told that a meeting of the CCS is being scheduled shortly,” Chidambaram told reporters in response to a question on whether there was any move to revisit the government’s anti-Maoist policy. The Home Minister has said that he has been given a “limited mandate” to tackle Left-wing violence.

Wonderful, so 90% of the maoist menace is the lack of consensus on how to handle shit after it has hit the fan. GoI will even for sure, evetually, as is always the case. But till it does, just ensure that your near and dear are not victims in the elephant's lethargy to get provoked.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 02 Jun 2010 05:54

Maoists Admit to Train Derailment Attack

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... 98,00.html

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 02 Jun 2010 14:15

Policing India is not an easy task: Chidambaram

"Policing a country of over 1.1 billion people is not an easy task. Policing a country in a troubled neighbourhood makes the task more difficult. And policing a country with insufficient police stations and inadequate and ill-equipped police force makes the task almost formidable," Chidambaram said in his inaugural speech at the 40th All India Police Science Congress here.

And, on top of all those listed above, the politicians politicize everything. They defeat even the good work put up under the above trying conditions by the policemen. This very same Chidambaram has often talked about Afzal Guru being number 28 in the queue. Can there be greater damage to our internal security than this absurd statement ? If it comes from a more reasonable person such as Chidambaram, we can imagine what less gifted members of the Cabinet would be saying and doing.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 02 Jun 2010 23:21

More excuses from PC.

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 02 Jun 2010 23:42

^^^^^
These days there is no feeling of shame or no fear of loss to announce. Afzal not getting hanged, multiple voices on handling naxals etc.

Here is another answer to Narayana Rao - Everything is for vote banks and power. India-interests and right-thing-to-do are all only if there is no loss/perceived loss.

INC has actually given up on educated or semi-educated classes of India and they just do not want to nurture a vote bank among middle India.

mnag · Post by **mnag** » 03 Jun 2010 10:00

very worrisome news being reported by ibnlive

J-K Police recover solar-powered missiles
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/jk-police-re ... justinhome

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Police's special operations group have recovered a cache of sophisticated missiles from a terrorist hideout in the state. The seizure of two sophisticated missiles which can be charged using solar power has sent the alarm bells ringing in the security establishment
...
Police believe that the missiles could be of either Chinese or Russian make.

It is the first time that such missiles have been recovered in the state since the sratr of terrorism in 1990

sum · Post by **sum** » 03 Jun 2010 11:51

X-post:

sum wrote:India got Samad from UAE after four IM men escaped net

India was able to get back Abdul Samad, the brother of alleged Pune blast accused Yasin Bhatkal, from Dubai after New Delhi conveyed to the UAE its serious concern over four key Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives being allowed to escape from Sharjah two months ago.

Top government sources told The Indian Express that at a security coordination meeting two months ago, New Delhi had asked UAE for help in nabbing four IM operatives suspected to be involved in the Pune attack, who were then in Sharjah. Their addresses were handed over; however, the four men escaped. India was later told that the men could not be found at the given addresses. Indian agencies believe the IM men escaped to Pakistan.

UAE cooperated with Indian agencies to mount round-the-clock surveillance on Samad for nearly a month, and ultimately virtually forced him to board Air India’s Dubai-Mangalore flight on May 24, a day before his three-month Dubai visa was to expire.

Indian intelligence operatives escorted him to Mangalore, and he was taken away by Maharashtra ATS officers who were waiting on the tarmac.

sum · Post by **sum** » 03 Jun 2010 11:53

mnag wrote:very worrisome news being reported by ibnlive

J-K Police recover solar-powered missiles
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/jk-police-re ... justinhome

I dont agree....if we go by the "Kashsoldier" series of blogs which has a incident on these rockets, these were in use a long time back but were not too preferred due to their unreliability.

Tanaji · Post by **Tanaji** » 03 Jun 2010 16:45

Er, how is a solar powered thingy a "rocket"?

sum · Post by **sum** » 03 Jun 2010 19:32

Tanaji wrote:Er, how is a solar powered thingy a "rocket"?

Its a rocket which has a activation circuit which triggers when certain amount of sunlight charges the batteries in it...

Apparently, the turds used to keep it in all sorts of places near army camps and escape in the night. Next day, the different rockets fire at different times in the direction of the base depending on the time they took to charge. This was a foolproof method of trying to cause damage with no chance of being caught.

The IA soon wizened up and found a way to counter this( just like it did for the IEDs and Fidayeen's). This method seems to have made a comeback now which the DDM has picked up...The fact that these are back shows the desperation of the pigs and lack of new ideas..

( PS: I gleaned all these inferences from the blog. This is all IMHO)

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 03 Jun 2010 20:08

The case against Kamal Nath

Pretty serious revelation from KN. Probably explains why he is untouchable, while the others are expendable.

Kamal Nath had turned up at Rakab Ganj saying that he had been sent by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 03 Jun 2010 23:01

vera_k wrote:The case against Kamal Nath

Pretty serious revelation from KN. Probably explains why he is untouchable, while the others are expendable.

Kamal Nath had turned up at Rakab Ganj saying that he had been sent by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi

If MMS has sardar's blood he is at an advantageous position to take permanent revenge on these scoundrels (alleged for being PC) and also the Gandhi family. I sincerely hope he does not take revenge on entire India which is not part of this shame on India that they committed in 1984.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 04 Jun 2010 19:32

Indian Mujahideen declared as a terrorist organization

"An order has been issued adding Indian Mujahideen and all its formations and front organisations to the list of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967," the home ministry said in a statement.

derkonig · Post by **derkonig** » 05 Jun 2010 00:02

^^^
There goes MMS's weekend, now he won't get any sleep will he.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 05 Jun 2010 04:19

ToI wrote:HYDERABAD: Passport tatkal online booking racket was busted and seven accused persons arrested by the city Task Force sleuths.

Addressing a press meet on Friday, city police commissioner A K Khan said the police started investigation after the passport authorities informed them that applicants were finding it difficult to get slots on the tatkal online booking site as it was never accessible.

The probe found that the passport office website was being hacked and online bookings blocked. The gang involved in it was selling the blocked slots for a hefty sum. In the last two months alone, as many as 3,000 applications were sold through these online slots.

The commissioner said Gorantla Lathadhar Rao, 36, a shop owner, Shaik Subhani, 34, travel agent (Akash Travels) from Narasaraopet in Guntur district, Mohd Jahangir, 45, native of Rezimental Bazar in Secunderabad, Bhooma Srihari, 56, resident of Market Street of Secunderabad, Giddala Chinna, 29, of Kummariguda, Secunderabad, Syed Valiuddin, 30, of Tolichowki, Kondreddy Penchal Reddy, 35, of Chikkadpally were arrested. All the seven are passport agents, he informed. Two other accused Khaleem and Srinivas of Hyderabad are absconding.

“These nine had formed a gang and were charging Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 from each applicant in dire need of a passport under tatkal scheme,’’ the commissioner said.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 05 Jun 2010 08:20

Nine terrorists have sought commutation of death sentence
Excerpts

Terrorism knows no religion, and as much emerges from a scrutiny of 29 mercy petitions filed by Indian death row prisoners.{And, why does she start her report like this ? She is p-secular and therefore wants to instinctively protect Islamist jihadi terrorism. Read on} . . .Afzal Guru is the only “Muslim” terrorist on the list. {See he is only one out of nine; so Islamist jihadi terrorism is minuscule} His petition is also the most recent. Rajiv Gandhi's assailants — Murugan, Santhan and Arivu — top the list with a mercy petition that dates back to 2000. {The implication here is that Murugan, Santhan & Arivu were Hindu terrorists because their names sound like Hindu names. This is how p-secs hijack half-truths to falsely add strength to their arguments and hoodwink unsuspecting people.}

Next comes Devender Pal Singh . . . The third terrorism case involves Simon, Gnanaprakash, Madaiah and Bilavendra, who were convicted of killing 22 Karnataka police personnel {They were all members of the forest brigand Veerappan and have nothing to do with religion}

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam decided only two mercy petitions . . . .President K.R. Narayanan did not clear any mercy petition {and created a backlog of 14. Narayanan & Abdul Kalam must take the blame for this mess}. . . President Pratibha Patil, who inherited a backlog of 25-odd cases, the earliest dating back to 1997, has decided only one case so far.

From this India Today report, it looks like that the Presidents do not want to appear to have sent several people to gallows and thus have a bad name. What a shame.

Sources say a key reason for the Presidents to desist from deciding on the mercy pleas is the fact that most of the pleas have recommendations from the government to retain the death sentences.

In 2005, the home ministry sent its recommendations on three mercy pleas - moved by terrorists - saying all should be hanged, a source said. . . Though the President is still to decide on them, the ministry took only one year to send in their recommendations on the pleas moved by Singh and Veerapan's associates.

With mercy pleas moving at such a slow pace, home minister P. Chidambaram had last year devised a formula - to recall oneby-one all the pending petitions at the Rashtrapati Bhavan to the ministry and reconsider the initial recommendation made by it. One file each would then be sent back to the President every month.

"We have sent four cases back to the President after reconsideration," Chidambaram said.

But only one of these cases, where the ministry changed its initial recommendation of death sentence for one Govindswamy to life imprisonment, was decided by the President.