Bharat Rakshak

Ulfa asks fuel dealers of Assam to reduce their prices

"The ULFA is not in a real position to even regroup now. In the last few important occasions like the Republic Day and the Bihu (Assamese harvest festival in January), they simply could not do anything as they are on the run," thearmy commander said. The GOC also said the ULFA's downfall is a direct result of not just military operations, but also due to lack of support from the locals.

This brings us to the reality of so-called insurgency in the Northeast. Insurgency is an euphemism for its real face — the industry of terrorism where both state and non-state actors are stakeholders and contribute to each other’s sinister agenda. ‘Insurgency’, therefore, is a business proposition. So why should one even imagine of its solution? Will not a solution bring down the entire edifice of the industry? And the reality of all realities is that such insurgency cannot be solved because those who matter do not want a solution. The pretence on the part of both state and non-state actors, however, must continue so that they can hoodwink an already looted and tormented people: the militant says he is staging a ‘revolution’ for the masses whose cause he thinks his outfit alone must champion, while the powerful state actors say they are seriously engaged in the business of ‘conflict resolution’.

SHILLONG, March 18: A Deputy Superintendent of Police in Meghalaya has gone missing and has allegedly joined the militant Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), a police official said. Champion R Sangma was posted as assistant commandant of 2nd Meghalaya Police battalion at Goeragre in the State’s West Garo Hills district when he went missing. “We have served notice to him for being absent from duty for a very long time. His salary has been stopped,” Director General of Police SB Kakati told IANS.

“We are making inquiries about Champion. We are hearing (he has joined a militant outfit) and waiting for the report,” Kakati added. A senior Garo rebel leader claimed that Champion was now “commander-in-chief” of GNLA, whose cadres are deserters, mostly from the Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) and Liberation of Achik Elite Force (LAEF). The GNLA is under the police scanner for serving extortion notes, ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 1 crore, to petrol pump owners, coal dealers and businessmen in the coal-rich districts of Garo Hills.

Baggage intercepted at Chennai port

CHENNAI: The Chennai Port Customs on Thursday intercepted five pieces of unaccompanied baggage sent to the U.S. by an ex-serviceman and seized papers concerning the Indian Navy. Customs and Naval authorities are assessing the contents. An official said a detailed inventory could be made and the importance of the documents ascertained after verification with appropriate authorities on Friday.

Shammi Firoz who had gone to hiding in the "Gelf" took a flight to Nedumbasseri/Kochi Air Port, where the NIA folks were there with open arms

STAFF WRITER 12:1 HRS IST

Kochi, Mar 19 (PTI) National Investigating Agency (NIA), probing various terror related cases in Kerala, today arrested Shammy Firoz, a key accused in the Kozhikode twin blast case, at the International Airport near Nedumbassery.

Firoz (28) of Parappanangadi of Kozhikode district, was returning to Kochi by an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi, when the NIA personnel nabbed him and took him in custody, police said.

The NIA personnel intercepted him at the airport and whisked away to Kozhikode for interrogation in connection with a case relating to blasts in two crowded bus stations in Kozhikode district on March 3, 2006, they said.

JE Menon wrote:Don't ask for sources, but a few months ago, also in the Gelf, a smash and grab operation was executed out of the local embassy. Gent was dispatched home, where no doubt, as Sachin has delicately put it, he was accorded a "warm reception".

amdavadi wrote:^^^ If we can do that in Gelf, why cant we do that to D comp.?

JE Menon wrote:Don't ask for sources, but a few months ago, also in the Gelf, a smash and grab operation was executed out of the local embassy. Gent was dispatched home, where no doubt, as Sachin has delicately put it, he was accorded a "warm reception".

NEDUMBASSERY: In a major breakthrough in the investigation into the Kozhikode twin blasts, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) nabbed an accused in the case at Kochi international airport here in the wee hours of Friday. The accused was identified as Shammy Firoz (28) son of Saithalavi, Pulikkalath Parappanangadi. He landed in Kochi airport from Abu Dhabi by an Etihad flight at 3.30 am.

Acting on a tip-off three NIA personnel, accompanied by Shammy’s brother were waiting in the Immigration zone when he reached the airport. The Immigration personnel at the airport were on the alert as the Crime Branch had issued a lookout circular (LOC) on Shammy. The NIA intercepted him as he completed the Immigration formalities.

The Crime Branch of Kerala, which handled the case before the NIA took over, had accessed an email sent by Shammy to a relative admitting his involvement in the case. Shammy said in the communication that he was misled by Thadiyantavide Nazeer, the main conspirator in the case. He said Nazeer took him to Kozhikode on the pretext of participating in some religious function and claimed that he came to know about the plan to plant bombs only after reaching the spot.

Shammy was working in a computer firm in Abu Dhabi.

He is one of the nine accused in the case. Nazeer, Shafaz, Abdul Alim and Yusuf are already in NIA custody while K P Yusuf and Azhar are still at large. Abdul Jaleel is in the custody of the Karnataka police. Muhammad Fayiz, another accused, was killed in an encounter with security agencies.

Nazeer had entrusted Shammy to inform the RDO office and the office of a newspaper in Kozhikode about the bomb. Nazeer told the police that the bombs were planted in protest against the refusal of bail to the accused in the second Marad killings. Shammy was taken to Kozhikode where he was interrogated by SP T K Rajmohan and his team.

NEW DELHI: Condemning the “illegal abduction and detention” of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) spokesman Azad, human rights activists and writers on Friday demanded that the arrested leader be produced before a court of law.

In a joint statement, they also demanded that the Central government immediately halt its war on people, named Operation Green Hunt, and initiate dialogue with organisations concerned.

Citing information by the CPI (Maoist)'s Central Committee to poet Varavara Rao that Azad remained untraceable from March 12, they said there was a strong possibility that the spokesman was arrested near Mumbai on the day and kept in illegal custody by Andhra Pradesh police.

The signatories included writer Arundhati Roy, Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, and People's Union for Democratic Rights' Asish Gupta.

Samajwadi Party Member of Legislative Assembly Abu Asim Azmi on Saturday stirred up another controversy by meeting the family of a suspect in the ONGC [ Get Quote ] terror plot on 'humanitarian grounds' and said he was ready to face any inquiry by the police.

"I met the family of Riyaz Ali on humanitarian grounds, after a request from my party corporator in suburban Bandra. I am a people's representative and there is nothing wrong in meeting families," he said.

Azmi declined to comment when queried on whether he thought Riyaz Ali is innocent, but declared that he is ready to face any inquiry by the police.

A suspected Pakistan-linked terror plot was foiled when the police on March 13 arrested Mumbai [ Images ] residents Abdul Latif alias Guddu, 29, and Riyaz Ali alias Rehan, 23, who were allegedly planning to attack three targets, including the ONGC headquarters in the city.

Defending his meeting with Riyaz's family, Azmi said, "After the arrest of Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya [ Images ] Singh Thakur and Colonel S P Purohit, Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] leader L K Advani [ Images ] met the prime minister on the issue."

The Shiv Sena [ Images ] had also organised protests to admit the Sadhvi to the hospital while she was under arrest, Azmi pointed out, adding, "Why is only my image being maligned in media."

He is one of the nine accused in the case. Nazeer, Shafaz, Abdul Alim and Yusuf are already in NIA custody while K P Yusuf and Azhar are still at large. Abdul Jaleel is in the custody of the Karnataka police. Muhammad Fayiz, another accused, was killed in an encounter with security agencies.

In yet another development, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) resolved at three-day AIMPLB conclave at the Nadwatul Ulema University of Islamic Studies late on Friday evening to oppose any court verdict that goes against the tenets of the Islamic Shariat. Due to the latest developments, the situation in Karnataka was reported very tense and state government has ordered the fresh companies of Indian Para Military Forces to remain alert for requisition, if required.

Also overheard, not to expect much news about such uncooked stuff which is only tip of iceberg. yindoos are generally pot bellied safari/sari clad govemund aphsars onlee , so no james bond yankee yehudi style jobs, only people being persuaded to return home for R&R, after all chai biskoot is our favourite activity

Indian jihadists are often seen as backward-looking fanatics. They are, in fact, products of a modern, pluralist society.
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Data obtained by The Hindu for 10 individuals alleged to be key members of the Azamgarh jihadist cell show that just two individuals — Bashar himself and Mohammad Arif Badruddin — had spent any length of time in madrasas. Many likely received some religious education in their spare time, in common with many small-town children of all faiths, but their aspirations appear to have been decidedly middle-class. Zeeshan Ahmad, one of the suspects involved in the 2008 shootout with the Delhi Police at Batla House, was pursuing a business administration degree. His flat-mate, Mohammad Saif, a history graduate, also hoped to secure an MBA. Mohammad Zakir Sheikh was studying for a Master's degree in Psychology in Azamgarh. Sadiq Israr Sheikh, who spent two years in an Azamgarh madrasa as a child, was enrolled in a computer-educaiton course.
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Clearly, a complex matrix of factors — among them, personal friendship, kinship networks and ideology — helped build the Indian Mujahideen's networks. Madrasas or traditional Islamist affiliations were not among them. Bashar, for example, did not draw on students of the Madrasa Sheikh ul-Maududi for recruits. Nor did he seek out students at the Azamgarh seminary where he and his employer were educated, the Madrasat-ul-Islah.
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Dr. Ahmad points to the existence of what he describes as a distinct “Islamist class”. Unlike at some other seminaries, students living at Falah did not come from among the ranks of the poor. Fees, including food and incidental costs, ranged around Rs. 900 a month. Of 5,365 students, 4,300 came from cities. But class, he noted was “not just based on monthly income and an urban location but, more crucial, the specific cultural capital.” Just as cultural capital of the Jamaat-e-Islami led its leadership to make specific political choices to the crisis with which the Muslim community has been confronted, so, too, did the jihadists linked to the institutions and organisations that broke with the structured Islamist movement. Both sides drew on Islam to legitimise their position — but their choices were shaped by the challenges of politics in a modern, plural society.

“Haven't you still realised that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman”, the venomous Indian Mujahideen manifesto released to media as bombs went off across Ahmedabad read, “are not at all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by our hands.”
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Fighting the jihadists must obviously involve better policing and intelligence. But it also needs political interventions built around rights and justice — not the appeasement of religious neoconservatives and clerics, as successive Indian governments have seemed to believe.

Mohammed Shahid Bilal, the alleged mastermind in the August 2007 twin blasts in the city and the Mecca Masjid blasts in May that year, who is said to have been killed in an encounter in Pakistan, continues to remain a hero in the area where he lived.

A youth from his area, who preferred not to be identified for this report, says, "Saab jab tak Bilal tha, paani or current ka problem nahin tha. (When Bilal was alive, we did not have water or power problems)."

"He was framed by the police since he stood up to a RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) leader," alleges the young man. "The RSS leader wanted to instal a Ganapati [ Images ] pandal on wakf land and Bilal opposed this. After this they started fixing him in murder cases and later terrorism charges. He went to Pakistan to take revenge on the Indian establishment and has not returned since."

The Hyderabad police dismiss this allegation. City police officers say many young men are influenced by Lashkar propaganda. "We have evidence to prove that these men owe allegiance to the Lashkar. In 2002 the Lashkar decided to get aggressive. In October 2002, 14 men were sent to Pakistan for training. Various reasons like the liberation of Hyderabad, the demolition of the Babri Masjid [ Images ] were given to brainwash these men," the police sources say.

sum wrote: Read it all.

The amount of anti-nationalism is amazing and they are unrepentant about it!!!

NSCN-IM is rearming, indicate intelligence sources

Hindustan Times on March 21 reports that Central intelligence agencies indicated that the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) is rearming. The agencies told the Government there is a growing sense of frustration among the rank and file of the NSCN-IM. The outfit is procuring sophisticated weapons, arms and ammunition - mostly of Chinese origin - and getting clear support from a neighbouring country, said the agencies. "We've registered an FIR against some NSCN members and started the investigation. The IB report clearly points to the outfit's nefarious designs to destabilise the Northeast. We are also probing the extent of their links with China," said a senior National Investigation Agency (NIA) official. The NSCN-IM has been extorting huge sums of money from individuals and organisations involved in implementing development projects.

Meanwhile, NSCN-IM general secretary, Thuingaleng Muivah, addressing the '30th republic day' celebration of the NSCN at Camp Hebron in Dimapur on March 21, said, "Nagas will not accept Indian Constitution…no imposition on us…we'll accept only acceptable negotiated settlement and that will be worked out …", according to Nagaland Page.

Further, National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) 'prime minister' N. Kito Zhimomi addressing a press conference at a designated camp of the outfit in Khehoi near Dimapur on March 21, said that without including the issue of sovereignty the NSCN-K would never enter into talks with the Government of India.

Dhananjay Dubey, the brother of the slain civil engineer, said he was “really disappointed” with the conviction as the three were “purely innocent”. “The real culprits are still on the loose. It is simply a cover-up by the CBI. The statement of the CBI is totally false,” he said, hinting that he suspected a larger conspiracy, not the motive of robbery, to be behind the killing.

Two years after Dubey was killed, IIM graduate B. Manjunathan was gunned down allegedly by the petrol mafia in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri because he stopped dealers from selling adulterated oil. In September 2006, Raj Kumar Sharma, an irrigation department engineer, was shot dead in Basti, also in Uttar Pradesh, because he had declined to sign a fake bill.

Although the terror plot is yet to be confirmed, investigators do not rule out a Kandahar-type hijack to force the release of Indian Mujahideen extremists lodged in Kerala jails.

“Many lapses occur at airports but the government does not bother about them until something happens. Most airports have infrastructure for five stages of baggage checks but if a baggage passes the first stage – laser penetration to check for explosives – they do not bother about the four other checks,” he said. Meanwhile, another airline official said that there was nothing new about the security measures suggested in the circular issued by the regional aviation authority. “We had been following them already,” he said.

The Kerala police have identified a person, suspected of planting a crude bomb in Kingfisher flight IT-4731 at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.Unconfirmed reports said that the man had been detained.

“We suspect the involvement of outsourced employees (caterers and loaders) as nobody else – with the exception of the cabin crew – has access to the galley at the rear of the aircraft,” an airport official said. Ruling out the possibility of passengers or other airport workers being involved, he said, “Nobody else is allowed to e

During question hour, Congress legislator Lahkmen Rymbui, hailing from the affected border area, apprised the government on the sudden withdrawal of the sentry post by the BSF from Naljuri which is an area of adverse possession.
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Answering another question by Basaiawmoit, the chief minister said the state home department would explore the possibility of setting up a police outpost in Langpih, which is also a disputed area bordering West Khasi Hills and Assam. At present, only Assam has a police outpost in Langpih.

Interesting that Home Minister PC used term "Islamist terrorism" in his BBC World interview. Liked his forthrightness.

His son-in-law, ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, went into hiding for years to seek an independent Assam, but Prahlad Das doesn't agree with him and is set to contest a local council election. Mr. Das is an Independent candidate in next month's elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in Assam. His daughter Kaberi Kachari Rajkonwar is the wife of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa.

The contrast is evident -- Kaberi is a staunch advocate of sovereignty or independence, a demand for which ULFA has been waging a war since 1979. “We want independence and there is nothing wrong in our demand for sovereignty,” Ms. Kaberi says. But her father believes in the Indian Constitution -- he has just retired as a Block Development Officer in Assam.

After rebels, forces zero in on poachers

Guwahati, March 24: With militancy at a low ebb in Assam, the army and paramilitary forces have now turned their attention to prevent smuggling of forest produce and poaching, profits from which go to the coffers of rebels.

At least three battalions of Assam Rifles will be deployed towards the end of this year along the Indo-Myanmar border to check movement of militants and smuggling.

Director-general of Assam Rifles Lt Gen. K.S. Yadava told reporters here today that after the Centre had approved deployment of 26 additional Assam Rifles battalions along the Indo-Myanmar border, at least three of these battalions would be used on the border towards the end of this year.

Despite assurance from the Myanmar army, there have been no tangible results as far as action against the Northeast militants is concerned. The shortage of Assam Rifles personnel to man the Indo-Myanmar border had hampered effective vigil on the border. There are only 15 battalions of the Assam Rifles manning the Indo-Myanmar border from Arunachal Pradesh to Mizoram.

On the issue of withdrawal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Manipur, Gen. Yadava said it was up to the government to decide on matters related to its review. He, however, said as the situation in Manipur was not normal, the withdrawal of the army act would deprive the armed forces from containing law and order effectively in the trouble-prone areas of the country.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has provided sterling service to the nation . But, they have had the mandate only for border roads. It is indeed time to step up freeway construction on a war-footing, and create a quasi-military agency for internal roads development to parallel the BRO. There are quite a few needs of the hour in military development in India, and this is definitely one of them. Unfortunately, the National Highway Authority (NHA) has not been able to deliver the type of freeways that modern nations posses.

India has also been ineffective in exploiting the great potential it has in navigating its great rivers and using them for military movement. In USA, all rivers are controlled by the US Army Corps’ of Engineers, who are charged with river navigation, river discharges, construction of river ports, flood control, and river use and regulations. Developing the River Ganges for military navigation will give a fillip to the Central Command, of importance especially after strong Chinese statements on Nepal. Having multiple choices for troop, equipment, and vehicle movement from Ganganagar to Imphal, for instance, only adds to movement flexibility, essential for quickly sending resources by various routes to where the need is most. This, again, calls for the creation of a military or quasi-military agency to develop rivers for military navigation. In all likelihood, this will create an opportunity to clean up India’s rivers, and, in the bargain, give a boost to flood control measures that devastate India frequently and for which the military is often called out for rehabilitation efforts.

It is time to harness 21st century technology for military transport. If the military would like to move at 65 miles an hour from Chennai to Udhampur rather than at 30 mph or less on high-speed freeways, would it not like to move at 250 mph? Magnetically levitated (Maglev) trains do just that, and can carry heavy equipment and battle tanks to boot. Thus, Maglev trains are recommended that crisscross India. It is time for India to come up to speed with engineering applications, rather than lagging 75 years behind. Everyone should realise that real economic development is engineering development, and engineering development is military development.

Preliminary investigations by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) into the firecracker-on-plane incident indicate that the firecracker made its way to the Kingfisher flight in Thiruvananthapuram, and not at the Bengaluru International Airport.

SSridhar wrote:flight in Thiruvananthapuram, and not at the Bengaluru International Airport.

Pranav wrote:Particular emphasis was laid on women and child welfare and polio and tuberculosis eradication programmes by Ms. Gates, the spokesman said.

Naive Rakshaks may think that this is an innocuous piece of news, but take a look at this:

Pranav wrote:It is also a fact that many vaccines (including the Swine flu vaccine) contain mercury, which is strongly suspected of having caused the autism epidemic (see http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/st ... _immunity/), and also squalene, which causes auto-immune disorders.

In a recent issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, however, a team of scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health reported findings that should alleviate those concerns. The researchers, led by author Michael E. Pichichero, MD, Director of the Rochester General Research Institute, Rochester General Hospital, Rochester, NY evaluated levels of mercury in the blood of the smallest children - prematurely born and low birth weight infants after they received a dose of a childhood vaccine containing thimerosol. They found the levels of mercury were exceedingly low.

The finding supports a broad scientific consensus that the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal does not cause autism, and will likely disappoint parents who are convinced otherwise.

When asked by the Trust why Dr. Kaita felt the drug manufacturers would have contaminated the Oral Polio Vaccine, he gave three reasons: "These manufacturers or promoters of these harmful things have a secret agenda which only further research can reveal

Stan_Savljevic wrote:Azad is a big catch if confirmed, but nowhere close to catching the Ganapathi, Kishen, Kishenda, Basavraj oiseaules. Now, who is gonna be the propuh-gandoo, Nice to know that the gandoo's real name was Cherkuri Raj kumar.

One of the top most leaders of CPI-Maoist in the country Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad was alive and safe, a senior Maoist leader has said.

The clarification came three days after the CPI-M [ Images ] (Maoist) had issued a statement alleging that Azad was abducted by the intelligence wing of Andhra Pradesh police and his life was in grave danger.

Three former ground staff of Thiruvananthapuram Airport have been detained by city police at the airport in Bangalore connection with the detection of firecracker in the cargo hold of a Kingfisher Airlines flight in the Kerala capital on Sunday, police said.

The three, who had resigned only a few days before the incident, were detained on Wednesday by immigration officials at the Bengaluru International Airport while they were about to board a flight to Dubai en route to Kabul , a police official on condition of anonymity told PTI.

“Acting on an alert by Kerala police, the three hailing from Thiruvananthapuram were detained by the immigration officials at the BIA on Wednesday morning just as they were about to board a flight to Dubai,” the official said.

The Kerala police have taken into custody an employee of a private cargo firm here for his alleged involvement in placing an explosive device on a Kingfisher flight to Thiruvananthapuram March 21. The arrest is likely to be recorded later in the day.

"Right now, I will not be able to divulge the details but the case has been solved and the person who did this crime has admitted to it. The recording of the arrest and other things will take place shortly," a senior police official, who did not wish to be named, said here {Thiruvananthapuram} Sunday.

"He is not an employee of the Airports Authority of India. He works with a private firm involved in operations inside the airport," the official added.

The police have ruled out the involvement of any terrorist outfit and said that the incident was the result of personal enmity among employees of private firms.

The person in custody hails from the suburbs of the capital city.

Security has been tightened in the high seas following intelligence reports that Pakistan-based terror groups may target some oil wells and Single Point Mooring (SPM) facilities where ships offload crude oil for transportation to the mainland through pipes.

Central security agencies have asked the Navy and the Coast Guard to increase patrolling in the seas and pursue any suspicious or unidentified ship or vessel moving in Indian waters, official sources said.

The moves comes in the wake of reports of central security agencies as well as Western intelligence that Pakistan-based terror outfits especially Lashker-e-Taiba may try and target oil wells located in the high seas and may also try and hit the SPMs, mini ports located 70 to 80 nautical miles (130 to 150 km) in deep seas.

It was found that the country has dozens of such unattended SPMs where ships carrying crude oil offload it and it is sent to mainland using pipes or smaller ships.

The concerned authorities have been now asked to carry out a proper listing of SPMs and hand over the list to Coast Guards so that security is provided to them. Each SPM is built at an estimated cost of Rs 600-700 crore in all those areas where ships cannot anchor at the coast because of shallow waters.

Navy and Coast Guards have, meanwhile, intensified patrolling around the oil wells located in the high seas besides asking oil companies to keep a tight vigil.

Gerard wrote:This is CT rubbish. Or perhaps I am just naive.