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The Times of , New Delhi INDIA Saturday,August 30, 2003 9

AP RDX for Mumbai blasts Tripura is the came from Nepal: IB most violent Agartala: Beleaguered by TIMES NEWS NETWORK be hiding, these officials claimed. No ar- decades-old insurgency, Tripu- rests have been made so far. ra has achieved the dubious Mumbai: The RDX explosive used in Senior police officers are tightlipped. distinction of being the most Monday’s twin blasts here was smuggled Apparently, senior IB officers, who have violent state in the country. into India from Nepal, according to in- some vital clues, have asked the Mumbai According to the National telligence bureau (IB) officials. crime branch to refrain from giving Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of ‘‘speculative stories’’ to the media. figures for 1998-2000, the tiny Pakistan allegedly used one of its agents More than 20 persons have been de- North-Eastern state’s ‘‘share in to smuggle in the explosives from Nepal tained for interrogation in Mumbai, violent crimes’’ is highest at to a month ago. Thane and Pune. Joint police commis- 36.7 per cent of the total The police suspect a huge quantity of sioner (crime) Satyapal Singh, who will crimes, as against the national RDX was brought in, of which five kg head the anti-terrorist squad, average of 13.5. was used in the blasts at Mumbadevi and said, ‘‘Even if we have the ATS, it can While three other states Gateway of India. never be fool-proof. Terrorism is a global from the region — Nagaland, A police team from Mumbai has al- phenomenon, with money being spon- Meghalaya and Assam — fol- ready reached Bihar to search for a man sored from one country, the conspiracy low close, Arunachal Pradesh, who is believed to have received the RDX hatched in another, training provided to Manipur and Sikkim are other consignment and brought it to Mumbai terrorists in a third country and blast ex- states where the crime record by road. This suspect is part of the ecuted in a fourth. Unless there is proper is above the national average. group that executed the blasts, the offi- co-ordination and exchange of informa- According to the NCRB, ‘‘vi- cials said. tion between countries and several olent crimes’’ include murder, ‘‘He, along with a couple and a child, investigative agencies, we simply cannot attempt to murder, culpable were travelling in the taxi which explod- counter the threats posed by terrorists homicide not amounting to ed at the Gateway of India,’’ a senior of- and miscreants.’’ murder, dowry deaths, kidnap- ficer said. He stated that the Lashkar-e-Taiba had ping and abduction, dacoity, The debriefing of the taxi driver, Shiv a unit in Saudi Arabia that funded ter- riot and arson and acts affect- Narayan Pandey, revealed the suspects rorist operations in Mumbai. Some of ing property, public safety and Participants of a boat race paddle traditional boats in the Brahmaputra in Suwalkuchi village, about 50 km west of Guwahati, conversed in fluent Urdu. The three did- the suspects hiding in Saudi Arabia in- women (rape). on Friday. The annual competition commemorates the death anniversary of 16th century saint Shankar Dev. n’t know the city’s roads and were seeing clude Tahir Ali alias Janab and C A M The NCRB said, ‘‘During the tourist spots for the first Bashir, both aides of Dr Jalees Ansari 2000, the percentage share of Panja garlands Mamata: time, Pandey reportedly told the investi- who is in an Ajmer jail. violent crimes reported in the Ajit Panja cemented his return gating team. ‘‘We are on high alert, especially dur- country was 13.5 per cent of ISI trying to enter A tearful to the Trinamul Congress on The police suspect the three are from ing the Ganesh festival,’’ Singh said. ‘‘We the total IPC crimes reported. Thursday by welcoming party outside Mumbai. A team has also been have held meetings with the Ganesh During 1998 and 1999, it was supremo Mamata Banerjee at a sent to Gujarat, where a fourth accom- mandals and other citizens’ groups, seek- 14.3 per cent and 13.5 per cent farewell to public meeting in Kolkata with plice, believed to have taken part in the ing their co-operation in keeping tabs on respectively.’’ TNN the Armed forces Pak friends a thick garland.of marigold. TNN explosion at Mumbadevi, is suspected to abandoned bags.’’ By Nirmalya Banerjee officers, who would divulge By Pramod Panwar TIMES NEWS NETWORK the information unsuspect- TIMES NEWS NETWORK ingly. Kolkata: Eastern command Some of these calls, he Palanpur: Bitter-sweet general officer commanding- said, had been traced even to tears streamed down the in-chief J S Varma agrees Lahore, Karachi and Dubai. cheeks of five Hindu with intelligence reports that As a precaution, the Eastern boys from Pakistan, in- Pakistan’s ISI is working on a command authorities were mates of the remand long-term plan of getting ISI now changing telephone home here, when they operatives recruited in three numbers frequently and talked about going back wings of the armed forces. making P&T telephone num- home on Thursday. In an interview with TNN, These boys – Premji (14), Lieutenant General Varma ber unlisted ones, making it difficult for ISI operators to Sonu (16), Ramji (15), said reports suggested that Chhagan (14) and Kisan ISI operatives were gaining get them. The intelligence agency (14) – were released by a entry into the country, ob- juvenile court after be- taining fake ration cards to had its bases in Bangladesh as well as the Terai region of ing arrested over a year prove their citizenship and ago for illegally crossing then trying to get enlisted in Nepal. The changing demo- graphic pattern on the Indo- the border. the armed forces. They are happy they As a preventive measures, Bangla border had helped in its functioning. are going home and sad the recruitment centres had because they will asked the police to be more The Army had tightened up security along the Indo- have to part with six- vigilant in checking the year-old Palanpur records of applicants. ‘‘We Bhutan border, so that mili- tant groups from the North- girl Rasi, who tied rakhi are largely dependent on the on their wrists earlier police in this regard,’’ Varma east could not cross over to the Himalayan kingdom. Pro- this month. said. ‘‘I always wanted to The efforts of the ISI, visions going into Bhutan were being checked thor- return home. But now though, were restricted to the the thought of leaving oughly, so that the militant process of recruitment of nani ben behind makes camps were denied food and jawans, he said. The norms of me sad,’’ says Premji. medicines. recruitment in the officer He was picked up by the Despite warnings from the cadres were too stringent BSF about a year-and-a- Bhutan government that the and the vigilance too strict half ago when he militants must wind up their for such attempts to succeed. strayed into Indian ter- ISI agents were also trying camps in the Bhutanese ter- ritory while chasing to gain classified informa- ritory, about 17 such camps goats. The other boys tion, particularly about were still functioning inside also met with the same movement of Army forma- Bhutan, he said. Among fate. They anxiously tions, mainly through ran- them, eight belonged to the awaited their return to dom phone calls. ‘‘One would United liberation front of their homeland. Rasi call up, posing as a senior Asom (Ulfa), seven to the Na- brought happiness in Army officer, and ask for lo- tional democratic front of their lives when she tied cations of formations.’’ Bodoland (NDFB) and two to rakhi on their wrists The calls were usually di- the Kamtapur liberation or- this year. rected to non-commissioned ganisation (KLO). Sadhu stops ‘Gangaajal’ flow By Dipak Mishra Bhardwaj, adding the petition has been TIMES NEWS NETWORK filed at Sadhu ’s behest. A section of film distributors said the Patna: Noted film director Prakash Jha’s film’s Sadhu Yadav bore no resemblance new production, Gangaajal, was not al- with the real-life leader. Prakash Jha him- lowed to be screened here on Friday by self said over the phone from Delhi: ‘‘Ob- supporters of chief minister ’s controversial brother, Anirudh Prasad, viously,they (protesters) have not seen the alias Sadhu Yadav. They alleged Jha was film. I hope they watch it first.’’ If they did, defaming the ruling party, the RJD, and he said, everything would become clear. Sadhu Yadav, by naming the villain of the Even as long queues were witnessed for film after him. obtaining tickets for the first show at According to sources, film distributors Veena, the theatre owners decided not to have been warned against screening of the screen the film, leaving cinema-goers fum- film in Bihar. Sadhu Yadav himself is cur- ing. ‘‘I have heard the hall owners have rently in Singapore on holiday. been threatened with dire consequences if The film was released nationally on Fri- they dare to screen the film,’’ said Ravi day and was to be shown at Veena and Ap- Pandey,a post-graduate student. sara cinema halls here. But the agitated Later, the cinema hall manager said the followers of Sadhu Yadav tore down film will be screened only when the con- posters of the film. troversy ends. The owner of Apsara cine- Later, Sadhu Yadav’s supporters filed a ma hall, Santosh Kumar, also decided not petition in the Patna High Court, seeking a to screen the film at the last moment, ban on the screening of the film. ‘‘Sadhu though he claimed non-receipt of the film’s Yadav’s name has deliberately been used to print to be the reason. He denied any tarnish his image,’’ said advocate Rajesh threat by Sadhu’s followers. Heated world: Is this freak weather or climate change? TIMES NEWS NETWORK conference and the detailing left 30,000 eels dead in of extreme weather events, the river. New Delhi: Was the Andhra juxtaposed with the available Pachauri, who is leaving heat wave or the hot weather science on climate change, for an IPCC meet in Europe which has sapped Europe, indicated the link he was try- on Saturday, says that in the just a freak weather event or ing to make as part of the fourth report, they hope to fo- a sign of climate change? ‘‘broader overview’’. cus on regional assessments R K Pachauri, chairman of The 1990s were the hottest while trying to quantify the the inter-governmental panel decade in recorded history risks better and keep a focus on climate change (IPCC), and extreme weather events on adaptation and mitigation hedges his bets. are said to have doubled in of the effects of climate He, however, admits that it the last 10 years. change. should be regarded as ‘‘a This year’s tally: A 27-day For instance, said the man warning bell’’ which should heat wave in AP, against who is also heading an AP spur greater research and in- the usual of seven days, committee on how to tackle vestigation. which left 1,664 people dead; heat waves, putting in place Now busy working out the a heat wave in France (11,000 early warning systems or scope of IPCC’s fourth as- people have died this year providing basic information sessment report, supposed to though the French govern- on what to do if someone has be completed by 2007, ment hasn’t directly made a heat stroke. Pachauri said on Friday that the link); the highest Or, exploring possible al- they would try to see how to recorded temperature in ternative employment for a ‘‘get a fix’’ on extreme weath- Britain, 37.9 degrees Celsius; rickshaw-puller who cannot er events. and a high of 40 degrees afford to stop work during a But the timing of his news near the Rhine, which hot summer.

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