Rane threatens to quit, launches tirade against Deshmukh

Mumbai (DNS): Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane on Tuesday threatened to quit Vilasrao Deshmukh-led coalition government and launched a fresh attack on the latter's style of functioning alleging "it is serving the interests of one man"।

"This government is not for the common man but to serve the interests of one man", Rane, at loggerheads with the Chief Minister, told reporters at Mantralaya, leaving no doubt for guessing who the 'one man' he was referring to।

The immediate provocation for Rane's tirade against Deshmukh is apparently the approval of land allotment for Videocon group's Rs 8,000 crore Liquid Crystal Display panel manufacturing project in the state by the state cabinet on Tuesday।

In the cabinet meeting, Rane was apparently involved in a verbal duel with Deshmukh, saying the land for the project is being given at a far lesser price than the market price।

"I will meet Congress high command soon and offer to resign from this government which is not doing anything for the common man but working to further interests of industrialists," Rane, who in his three years in the Congress has failed to unseat Deshmukh from the CM's post, said।

Both Deshmukh and Videocon Chairman V N Dhoot hail from Marathwada region and Rane is expected to highlight their 'nexus' when he meets the party leadership.

Violence rages in Jammu, 2 cops lynched, 48 injured

Jammu/Srinagar, Aug 5 (DNS) Two policemen were today lynched in Jorian in Jammu and Kashmir as violence flared up on the Amarnath issue with protesters torching police posts and vehicles and uprooting 1।5 kms of railway track in the Jammu region, leaving 51 injured.

In Srinagar, another five persons were injured in clashes between police and stone-pelting agitators who were protesting against the call to blockade Jammu-Srinagar highway given by Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti and the killing of a youth।

The two policemen were lynched after police opened fire in the border area of Jorian where protesters burnt down a police post, a Gypsy vehicle and a tehsildar's office। As many as 29 persons including 13 cops were injured in the violence, forcing authorities to call out the army.

In Akhnoor town, protesters, demanding removal of Governor N N Vohra, set fire to a police post and a tent housing security personnel। Police there had earlier fired teargas shells and resorted to cane charge.

Curfew was imposed in Kathua after police and protesters fought pitched battles in which 18 persons including 5 cops were injured, official reports reaching Jammu said। The agitators set fire to a railway police post and a municipal office in Kathua.

Protesters uprooted 1.5 kms of railway track and stopped an army special train in Gagwal area in Samba district where at least four persons were injured in police-protester clashes.

Ahmedabad police gets 7 sketches of blast accused

Ahmedabad, Aug 5 (DNS) The city crime branch has obtained sketches of seven people who might be involved in the Jaipur bomb explosions in an effort to gather leads in the Ahmedabad serial blasts on July 26, a senior police official said today।

"We have obtained seven sketches of suspects who could be involved in Jaipur bomb blasts। We are studying them for any link with Ahmedabad serial blasts," Joint Commissioner of Police Ashish Bhatia said.

The sketches will be studied by our experts and if needed, might be shown to the eye-witnesses, he said।

The crime branch has already prepared three sketches of possible suspects who could have planted bombs in the city।

Meanwhile, the city police conducted combing operations in various parts of the city yesterday।

Several teams from different police stations searched over 3,000 vehicles, 110 hotels and guest houses, 30 public gardens, various farm houses and 42 religious places। They also questioned 155 persons.

The Surat police is also questioning various suspects to get more information।

"We are still investigating the cases। There are some leads which may suggest involvement of local SIMI workers. We are still looking for concrete evidence in the cases," an official of Surat city police said.

Bomb squads have defused 24 explosive devices recovered from various places in the diamond city over the past one week.

Kabul bombing will not deter India: PM

New Delhi, Aug 4 (DNS) Terming the Kabul embassy bombing as an attack on Indo-Afghan friendship, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today declared that it will not deter New Delhi from continuing its reconstruction of the war-torn country and announced a fresh assistance worth 450 mn USD for it। After his talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai against the "backdrop of serious threat posed by terrorism to security and stability of Afghanistan, India and the region", Singh said the two leaders agreed to fight the menace "unitedly and with firm determination". Addressing mediapersons along with Karzai, Singh said the two leaders decided that they will not allow terrorism to stand in the way of the boosting the friendly relations between their countries.

The Prime Minister noted that Karzai's visit was taking place at a "critical juncture" in India, Afghanistan and the region. "The attack on our embassy in Kabul on July 7 has tragically shown that terrorism has no barriers and is not bound by restraints," Singh said. "It was an attack on the friendship between India and Afghanistan," he said. Condemning the embassy attack in Kabul as well as the serial bombings in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, Karzai said Afghanistan and India face the same challenge of terrorism and "cold-blooded murderous activities". He said the two countries as also the world at large have "no option but to be united in the fight against terrorism" as it is "our moral responsibility as human beings to protect" the people.

2 more killed, Centre rushes top officials to Jammu

New Delhi, Aug 4 (DNS) The Centre today rushed Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh to violence-hit Jammu, which continued to be tense over the Amarnath land row that claimed two more lives today।

During their visit, Gupta and Singh interacted with officials of the Jammu and Kashmir government and Army and took on the spot assessment of the volatile situation in the state which is witnessing unrest over the land controversy, sources said।

The decision to send two top officials came after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to his residence late last night upon his return from Colombo।

Patil also convened a meeting at his residence today during which the government reviewed the situation in the sensitive border state, currently under Governor's rule।

The steps being taken by the local authorities also figured in the meeting which also decided to provide all assistant required by the state government.

High Court refuses permission to abort 26-week foetus

Mumbai, Aug 4 (DNS) The Bombay High Court today refused permission to abort a 26-week foetus with a serious heart defect after rejecting the mother's plea to terminate the pregnancy in a case torn between trauma and ethical issues।

Dismissing an application by Niketa Mehta, the court observed that medical experts did not express any "categorical opinion that if the child is born it would suffer from serious handicaps।" Considering the defects as they are today, experts are not sure whether cardiac surgery will be required at or after birth, court said.

The court noted that even if the couple had approached before 20 weeks it would not have been possible to allow abortion, as the medical opinion was contrary।

Mehta also sought an amendment to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy(MTP) Act so that pregnancy can be terminated even after 20 weeks if doctors believe that the child, if born, will have serious abnormalities, so as to render it handicapped। As per the 37-year-old abortion control laws, a pregnancy can be terminated after 20 weeks only if there was a fatal risk to the mother and not the foetus.

But a division bench of Justice R M S Khandeparkar and Amjad Sayed observed that they could not alter the provision।

"It is the job of the legislature to help you alter the provision। We cannot legislate the provision," Justice Khandeparkar observed.

Additional Solicitor General Rajinder Raghuvansh said the court felt that existing laws did not permit Niketa to abort the child. Niketa's lawyer Amit Kharkanis said the Mehta family was "disappointed" but no decision has been taken to approach the Supreme Court.

Gujarat NGO worker alleges cops targeting him

Ahmedabad: Yusuf Shaikh is the convener of a committee formed to monitor the condition of the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots were been internally displaced।

For the past three days, the police have been summoning him for questioning। One of the lines of investigation is a youth who spent time in relief camps after their homes were burnt down, could have provided support in the terror plots at Ahmedabad and Surat.

Shaikh alleges the police is almost treating social activists as suspects। "The police have sought every little detail of me and my family, and all people that I know. They have been harassing me," he says.

Activists agree। "Its almost as if it's a crime to be born in a community. The police has been questioning even innocent people,” says social activist, Dushyantbhai.

Human rights activists working in Gujarat say this amounts to victimisation and harassment।

"It is absolutely unacceptable। Not only are they harassing and picking up people and very senior people. Also,Amit Shah, a minister, has given an interview saying NGOs are responsible for terrorism because they are bringing money from outside and that money is used in terrorist attacks,” says Shabnam Hashmi, Convener of Anhad.

According to sources, the police are looking to question over 100 persons, all riot victims, who are presently not available at their addresses, and attempts are being made to track them down by questioning NGO workers।

"It's a virtual 360 degree investigation। We are looking at all possible angles in the investigation. We need to examine every possible link,” says Additional Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad, H P Singh.

For the police, a possible revenge angle is just another line of investigation, but for riot victims, it could be like adding insult to injury.