Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: IND34080 Country: India Date: 2 December 2008

Keywords: India – – BJP – Anand Pal Singh – Manjeet Singh

This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein.

Questions 1. Can you see what information you can find on Anand Pal Singh and his brother Manjit (or Manjeet) Singh?

RESPONSE

1. Can you see what information you can find on Anand Pal Singh and his brother Manjit (or Manjeet) Singh?

A number of news reports and a Rajasthan High Court judgement provide information which suggests that Anand Pal (or Anandpal) Singh and his brother Manjit (or Manjeet) Singh were involved in a shooting incident in June 2006 in which five members of the Jat community in Didwana (Deedwana) in Rajasthan were injured, two of whom subsequently died. Articles reporting on the June 2006 incident include allegations that the perpetrators had links with local Ministers in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Two articles were found which mention Anand Pal by name. Anand Pal Singh is described in a 29 July 2006 article as “the main murder accused”. He and his brother are described as wanted criminals in the two articles found. According to these articles Manjit Singh was arrested in Uttar Pradesh in July 2006. A Rajasthan High Court judgement in November 2007 dismisses a petition by Manjit (Manjeet) Singh against his conviction. The judgement provides background on the incident. Anandpal Singh’s alleged role is described here, but no information was found on whether he was arrested and charged. He is not included as one of the six petitioners in the High Court judgement. Apart from reports on the Didwana incident, no other information was found on Anand Pal or Manjit Singh in English-language sources (articles mentioning Anand Pal and Manjit Singh: ‘Former Ranji player nabbed by STF’ 2006, Times of India, 30 July – Attachment 1; ‘Two arrested for Didwana murder’ 2006, OneIndia, 29 July http://news.oneindia.in/2006/07/29/two-arrested-for-didwana-murder-1154145120.html – Accessed 27 November 2008 – Attachment 2; for articles describing the Didwana incident and alleged links between the accused and BJP politicians, see: Sebastian, S. 2006, ‘Fissures surface in Jat-BJP ties in Rajasthan’, The Hindu, 21 July http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/21/stories/2006072112180500.htm – Accessed 27 November 2008 – Attachment 3; ‘Rajputs demand CBI probe into firing case’ 2006, The Hindu, 4 July – Attachment 4; for the High Court judgement, see: Manjeet Singh v. State of Rajasthan – CRLR Case No. 1173 of 2007 [2007] RD-RJ 5652 (30 November 2007), Indian Courts website http://courtnic.nic.in/jodh/judfile.asp?ID=CRLR&nID=1173&yID=2007&doj=11/30/2007 – Accessed 27 November 2008 – Attachment 5).

Articles mentioning Anand Pal (and Manjit Singh) A 30 July 2006 Times of India article reports on the arrest in Uttar Pradesh of Manjit Singh, a “wanted criminal”. The article also mentions his brother, Anand Pal, who is described as “a listed criminal of Rajasthan”. The article states that Anand Pal is “into the hawala business” (money laundering). The full article follows:

A former Ranji Trophy player from Rajasthan and his aide were arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) here on Friday morning following a tip from Rajasthan that the two were wanted criminals carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 each announced by the . The two have been on the run for the last three years.

Senior superintendent of police (STF) SK Bhagat said on a request of Rajasthan police that two of their wanted criminals were hiding in UP, the STF took to extensive verification of phone calls being made out of UP.

Shortlisting the cellphone numbers one after the other, the sleuths zeroed in on two suspects and finally tracked them down near HAL crossing in Ghazipur police circle of the state capital on Friday morning.

The two were Manjit Singh and Sanjay Pandey of in Rajasthan. The STF team that executed the operation included SP Vijay Bhushan and deputy SP Shahab Rasheed Khan.

During interrogation, Sanjay Pandey revealed he was state level cricketer and even represented the state in Ranji Trophy and other state level trophies in 1996 and 1997. He was also president of Nagaur University Students Union (NUSU) during his student days.

Sanjay said it was during his days in student politics that he came in contact with Anand Pal – a listed criminal of Rajasthan who was into hawala business. Soon Sanjay joined Anand and came close to his younger brother Manjit Singh and the two have been together since then.

Giving crime history details of the accused, Shahab said Sanjay Pandey has eight criminal cases registered against him while Manjit Singh has a total of 13 cases. The cases include those of murder, dacoity, robbery and assault lodged with Nagaur and Jhunjhunu district police (‘Former Ranji player nabbed by STF’ 2006, Times of India, 30 July – Attachment 1).

A 29 July 2006 article also reports on the arrest of Manjit Singh in relation to the Didwana (or Deedwana) murder case (the following articles provide further details). The article describes Manjit as the “brother of the main murder accused Anand Pal Singh”. The article states:

Two people were arrested in Lucknow in connection with double murder case in Didwana.

The police had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 each for their arrest. The murders of Jivan Ram Godara and Harphool Ram Jat in Didwana had created tension in the town. Moreover the Jat community has been sitting on dharna demanding the immediate arrest of the culprits, ever since the murders took place earlier this month.

Additional director general of police (Crime) A K Jain said the joint operation of Nagaur police and Uttar Pradesh police resulted in the arrest of Manjit Singh and his accomplice Sanjay Pandey in Lucknow late night on Thursday.

Mr Jain said Singh and Pandey had fled to Nepal and then Maharajganj Gonda Balrampur and several other places. The police had information that these two would come to Uttar Pradesh. A team led by Additional Police Superintendent Arsad Ali left for Lucknow and conducted several raids at different places.

Manjit Singh (30) is, a resident of Jaswantgarh district in Nagaur and brother of the main murder accused Anand Pal Singh. Two cases of murder and a case of illegal possession of arms is lodged against Singh While Pandey (25), a resident of district in Nagaur has several cases of dacoity lodged against him (‘Two arrested for Didwana murder’ 2006, OneIndia, 29 July http://news.oneindia.in/2006/07/29/two-arrested-for-didwana-murder- 1154145120.html – Accessed 27 November 2008 – Attachment 2).

Other articles describing the Didwana incident Although it does not name the accused, a 21 July 2006 article in The Hindu refers to the murders of the two Jats in Deedwana, the alleged lack of action on arresting the accused, and problems between the Jat community and the BJP in Rajasthan. The article reports allegations by a Jat leader that there may be a “nexus between three Ministers in the Raje Government from Nagaur district and the accused”:

The Jat community’s honeymoon with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan appears to have ended in the wake of the recent murders of its leaders in Sikar and Nagaur and the general resentment over the community being sidelined by the State Government. The twin murders in Deedwana town in Nagaur district have once again placed the old caste rivals, the Rajputs and Jats, in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation making the balancing act between the two warring communities difficult for the Vasundhara Raje Government.

Govt. warned

At a well-attended public meeting in Deedwana earlier this week addressed by leaders from the Congress, the BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Jat Mahasabha warned the State Government against any further delay in arresting the killers of Jeevanram Godara and another person in June. The Mahasabha, which earlier had announced a siege in Deedwana on July 8, finally held it on July 18.

… Rajasthan Jat Mahasabha president Rajaram Meel, who lately has been speaking aloud against the State Government, hinted at the alleged nexus between three Ministers in the Raje Government from Nagaur district and the accused (Sebastian, S. 2006, ‘Fissures surface in Jat-BJP ties in Rajasthan’, The Hindu, 21 July http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/21/stories/2006072112180500.htm – Accessed 27 November 2008 – Attachment 3).

A 4 July 2006 article reports on conflict between the Rajput and Jat communities in Rajasthan resulting from the murders. The article states: The Rajasthan Government’s action of suspending two police officers and registration of FIR in a firing incident in Didwana this past week -- in which two Jat youths were killed in broad daylight -- has led to resentment among Rajputs, who have accused the Government of showing bias and demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter. Leaders of the Rajput Sabha, who had earlier decided to hold a massive rally outside the Secretariat here on Tuesday to protest against the Government’s action, deferred their plan till July 20 following talks with Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore and Parliamentary Secretary Bhawani Singh Rajawat here on Monday.

The Rajput leaders, while calling for a CBI inquiry into the incident and withdrawal of police officers’ suspension, have alleged that the police probe into the matter had turned into a witch-hunt against the community, as most of the 16 persons named in the FIR are Rajputs.

Mr. Kataria, who had initially described the firing incident as a gang-war, on Monday said the probe into the incident would be completed within the next 15 days. “While no culprit will be spared, we will ensure that no innocent person is falsely implicated,” he said.

However, the agitation of Rajputs with the charge that the State Government acted under pressure from Jats threatens to blow up into a Jat-Rajput confrontation unless the Government succeeds in placating both the sides. Rajputs in all districts being mobilised to assemble in huge numbers in the rally have now been told to “wait and watch”.

Monday’s negotiations with the president of Rajput Sabha, Narendra Singh Rajawat, MLA Devi Singh Bhati and former MLA Udai Singh Rathore were held after the failure of talks with the Government’s representatives.

With Rajputs claiming that the young of the community were being made scapegoats, the police have formed a special investigating team, headed by Inspector-General of Police, to probe into the case. Despite the accused having been named in the FIR, no arrest has been made so far.

Five members of Jat community were injured in indiscriminate firing by a group of assailants who arrived in main market at Didwana in Nagaur district on Tuesday last. They were rushed to Sawai Man Singh Hospital where two of them succumbed (‘Rajputs demand CBI probe into firing case’ 2006, The Hindu, 4 July – Attachment 4).

A 30 June 2006 article in The Hindu describes the incident (occurring a few days earlier on 27 June 2006). The article does not name the accused, but states that “Nagaur police station in-charge has been transferred amid allegations by relatives of the victims that the assailants had ‘good relations’ with two Ministers”:

Tension over the death of two Jat youths in a broad daylight firing incident at Didwana in Nagaur district of Rajasthan on Tuesday subsided with their bodies being handed over to the next of kin after post-mortem at Sawai Man Singh Hospital here on Thursday. Two police officers have been suspended in this regard.

Five youngsters of the Jat community were injured in indiscriminate firing by a group of assailants who arrived in the main market in Didwana in a jeep. The injured were rushed to SMS Hospital here, where two of them -- Jeevan Ram and Harphool -- died late on Tuesday night.

With the State Government describing the firing incident as gang war, the relatives of the deceased refused to take the bodies back home and demanded compensation and action against police officers for their alleged negligence. The involvement of Rajasthan Jat Mahasabha in the agitation heightened tension. While the initial rounds of talks of Jat leaders with Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria and other Government representatives failed, Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot, B.D. Kalla and several MLAs visited the injured in the hospital. Tension prevailed in Didwana on Wednesday with the people of the town observing a complete bandh. Many leaders of the Jat community left for Jaipur to stage a dharna at SMS Hospital.

The agitationists, led by Jat Mahasabha president Rajaram Meel, agreed to receive the bodies of the deceased on Thursday after the State Government announced suspension of Didwana Deputy Superintendent of Police, Laxmandas Swami, and the officer in-charge of the police station, Rafiq Ahmed, on charges of dereliction of duty.

The Home Minister, Mr. Kataria, also announced that the Divisional Commissioner would probe the firing incident. However, no decision has been taken on the demand for compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs for the next of kin of each deceased.

The Nagaur police station in-charge has been transferred amid allegations by relatives of the victims that the assailants had ‘good relations’ with two Ministers (‘Tension over death of Jat youths subsides’ 2006, The Hindu, 30 June http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/30/stories/2006063010320500.htm – Accessed 27 November 2008 – Attachment 6).

Another 30 June 2006 article also reports on the incident:

Senior Congress leader and AICC General Secretary Ashok Gehlot today expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in Rajasthan and said the state of affairs there was similar to that in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Gehlot said until two and a half years ago, Rajasthan was rated among the states having good law and order situation, but now things had changed completely with cases of murders, loots, rapes and abductions for ransom being the order of the day.

The former chief minister of Rajasthan said in a statement issued here that the State Government’s action of opening liquor shops in various by-lanes had resulted in the liquor mafias fighting with each other. There was no fear of law and the common man, including poor, farmers, dalits and women, was living in terror.

He said the incident that took place at Deedwana was the latest instance of “jungle raj”. Earlier there had been incidents of murders of four Gurjars at village Balwanta of Ajmer, massacre of four tribals in Sirohi district and broadday light murder in Seekar apart from incidents at Pali, Dhaulpur, Alwar, Jaipur, , Sriganga Nagar, Churu and Jhujhnu (‘Rajasthan as bad as UP, Bihar in law and order : Gehlot’ 2006, OneIndia, 30 June http://news.oneindia.in/2006/06/30/rajasthan-as-bad-as-up-bihar-in-law-and-order--gehlot- 1151674824.html – Accessed 27 November 2008 – Attachment 7).

A Rajasthan High Court judgment also provides a brief description of the Deedwana incident. This judgment is included with this response as Attachment 5. Only Indian High Court judgments appear to be published on the internet, and the original order was not located (Manjeet Singh v. State of Rajasthan – CRLR Case No. 1173 of 2007 [2007] RD-RJ 5652 (30 November 2007), Indian Courts website http://courtnic.nic.in/jodh/judfile.asp?ID=CRLR&nID=1173&yID=2007&doj=11/30/2007 – Accessed 27 November 2008 – Attachment 5). A search of Factiva turned up only a few articles mentioning an Anand Pal Singh (or Anandpal Singh). None of these articles relates to Rajasthan, and they do not appear to be relevant. The articles are listed below in reverse chronological order:

• ‘BSP sowing seeds of discord: Aridaman’ 2008, DLA Media, 1 October – Attachment 8; • ‘Prince seeks vote for king’ 2008, DLA Media, 15 September – Attachment 9; • ‘Saplings planted in Dayalbagh’ 2008, DLA Media, 4 July – Attachment 10; • ‘Panchayat polls: Old couple eyeing another win’ 2005, Hindustan Times, 10 August – Attachment 11; • ‘76 and 78 but still raring to go’ 2005, Hindustan Times, 6 August – Attachment 12; • ‘2 students cleared of abduction, rape charges’ 2002, Times of India, 7 January – Attachment 13; • ‘Girl rescued, prostitution racket busted’ 2000, The Hindu, 23 November – Attachment 14; • ‘Rural women promise upsurge for India’ 2000, Reuters News, 3 November – Attachment 15.

A few further articles were found mentioning just an Anand Pal. None appear to relate to this incident. One possibly relevant article reports on a Mr Anand Pal who was involved in criminal activities in West Bengal and was reported to be absconding. The article is dated 27 July 2005 (‘Terror gets mobile’ 2005, The Statesman, 27 July – Attachment 16).

A search could not be conducted of local Rajasthan media. According to the list of Rajasthan newspapers found on the India edition of Paperboy.com, all 11 Rajasthan papers are Hindi- language (http://www.newspapers.co.in/state.cfm?PaperState=Rajasthan).

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources:

Google search engine http://www.google.com/ Exalead search engine http://www.exalead.com/search Pipl http://pipl.com/

Databases:

FACTIVA (news database) BACIS (DIAC Country Information database) REFINFO (IRBDC (Canada) Country Information database) ISYS (RRT Research & Information database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Reports) RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. ‘Former Ranji player nabbed by STF’ 2006, Times of India, 30 July. (FACTIVA) 2. ‘Two arrested for Didwana murder’ 2006, OneIndia, 29 July http://news.oneindia.in/2006/07/29/two-arrested-for-didwana-murder-1154145120.html – Accessed 27 November 2008.

3. Sebastian, S. 2006, ‘Fissures surface in Jat-BJP ties in Rajasthan’, The Hindu, 21 July http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/21/stories/2006072112180500.htm – Accessed 27 November 2008.

4. ‘Rajputs demand CBI probe into firing case’ 2006, The Hindu, 4 July. (FACTIVA)

5. Manjeet Singh v. State of Rajasthan – CRLR Case No. 1173 of 2007 [2007] RD-RJ 5652 (30 November 2007), Indian Courts website http://courtnic.nic.in/jodh/judfile.asp?ID=CRLR&nID=1173&yID=2007&doj=11/30/200 7 – Accessed 27 November 2008.

6. ‘Tension over death of Jat youths subsides’ 2006, The Hindu, 30 June http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/30/stories/2006063010320500.htm – Accessed 27 November 2008.

7. ‘Rajasthan as bad as UP, Bihar in law and order: Gehlot’ 2006, OneIndia, 30 June http://news.oneindia.in/2006/06/30/rajasthan-as-bad-as-up-bihar-in-law-and-order-- gehlot-1151674824.html – Accessed 27 November 2008.

8. ‘BSP sowing seeds of discord: Aridaman’ 2008, DLA Media, 1 October. (FACTIVA)

9. ‘Prince seeks vote for king’ 2008, DLA Media, 15 September. (FACTIVA)

10. ‘Saplings planted in Dayalbagh’ 2008, DLA Media, 4 July. (FACTIVA)

11. ‘Panchayat polls: Old couple eyeing another win’ 2005, Hindustan Times, 10 August. (FACTIVA)

12. ‘76 and 78 but still raring to go’ 2005, Hindustan Times, 6 August. (FACTIVA)

13. ‘2 students cleared of abduction, rape charges’ 2002, Times of India, 7 January. (FACTIVA)

14. ‘Girl rescued, prostitution racket busted’ 2000, The Hindu, 23 November. (FACTIVA)

15. ‘Rural women promise upsurge for India’ 2000, Reuters News, 3 November. (FACTIVA)

16. ‘Terror gets mobile’ 2005, The Statesman, 27 July. (FACTIVA)