 |
|
Air surveillance used for the first time to nab Veerappan
Rampura Forest (Karnataka), Sept 9 (ANI): Indian Air Force helicopters and air surveillance teams of the National Security Guards were pressed into action for the first time on Monday to hunt for notorious forest brigand Veerappan. This is the first time in 15 years that air surveillance is being carried out to nab the dreaded bandit, currently in news for the kidnapping of a former South Indian minister, H. Nagappa. M-8 helicopters have been fitted with sophisticated gadgets and infra-red cameras. Over 3,000 men are now involved in combing the vast jungles bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where the bandit is supposed to be in hiding. The Additional Director General of Police of the Special Task Force, Kempaiah said the federal government's help was vital in nabbing the forest bandit. "The federal government has been kind enough to provide us with lot of logisitics, right from providing NSG (National Security Guards) and paramilitary forces like CRPF, even Indian Air Force has been pressed in and we are making use of all this," said Kempaiah. He said the foremost objective of the operation was the safe return of Nagappa. Veerappan, wanted for 120 murders and smuggling of sandalwood and ivory worth millions of dollars, has threatened to behead his hostage if his demands were not met, but gave no details in an audio cassette recording soon after the kidnap at Kamagere, 110 miles south of Bangalore. The bandit, famous for his long, twirling moustache, has sought the release of his jailed sympathisers, who include ethnic Tamil extremists but has given no names. Veerappan hit world headlines two years ago when he kidnapped a regional movie icon, Rajkumar, and released him after 108 days.(ANI) Human rights activists demand release of detenus in Kashmir
Srinagar, Sept 9 (ANI): Activists of Human Rights Watch took to streets of Srinagar on Monday protesting against alleged human rights violations. About 50 slogan-shouting protesters accused the state government's law enforcement agencies of detaining their relatives since 1990. As the demonstration turned violent, the activists were arrested by the police. Around 5,000 people have been reported missing in Jammu and Kashmir for over a decade now. The government estimates the number to be around 3,200. According to the government, most of the missing youth have crossed over to Pakistan for armed training. In the past, human rights activists have voiced concern over what they say are large number of cutodial killings, sham arrests and rape by police and armed forces of the state.(ANI) Five Rajouri Hindus gunned down by militants
Go
to top Rajouri (J-K), Sept 9 (ANI): In escalating violence in Kashmir region ahead of state elections next week, suspected Muslim militants gunned down at least five people in the border district of Rajouri on Sunday. The rebels, who have threatened to kill anyone involved in the election as nuclear-armed India and Pakistan confront each other over disputed Kashmir, barged into houses in a remote village in Rajouri district late on Sunday, killing five people, including three female and two men. "The incident occurred at around 8.30 p.m. Two militants barged in a village home and shot at about five-six people. The injured were shifted to Jammu for medical attention. The dead include 3 female and 2 men," said S.S. Bijral, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Rajouri. He added the victims, who were all Hindus, had refused to move out of the area after a guerrilla attack in a nearby village last month in which eight Muslims had died. Voting begins in Rajouri on September 16 as well as in several other parts of Jammu and Kashmir where India is struggling to quell a nearly 13-year-old separatist revolt. The election, being staggered to allow security forces to ensure a peaceful vote, will end in October. India, which considers the whole of Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir an integral part of the country, is banking on the vote to boost the legitimacy of its rule in the region. Also on Sunday night militants attacked a police patrol in the Kashmir Valley, killing three policemen, a police spokesman said. One of the rebels was also killed in the attack in Budgam, which will go to the polls later this month. More than 260 people, mostly rebels, have been killed in Kashmir since New Delhi announced the vote in early August. Militants also struck in another remote village near Reasi, killing three people including a soldier, police said. Both Kashmir's main separatist alliance and Pakistan have rejected the election, saying it cannot be a substitute for 1948- 49 U.N. resolutions calling for a plebiscite to decide the territory's future. India says the vote in Kashmir will be a key test of Islamabad's commitment to end rebel incursions into the territory from Pakistan and what it calls cross-border terrorism. Close to one million troops have been deployed along the India- Pakistan border since December when parliament was attacked by what New Delhi said were Pakistan-based guerrilla groups operating in Kashmir. Pakistan says no infiltration is taking place across the Line of Control running through Kashmir, and accuses New Delhi of dragging its feet over ending the military deployment on the border and resuming talks.(ANI)
Decision on Ayodhya notification soon: Mayawati Go to top Lucknow, Sept. 9 (ANI): The UP government would take a decision - - before the deadline of September 23 expires -- on the reply to be filed in the Supreme Court about the issuance of a fresh notification in the Ayodhya case, Chief Minister Mayawati said on Monday. This would follow after "due consideration" is given to it, she told newspersons. Mayawati denied that the BJP, coalition partner of the BSP, was exerting pressure in this connection. She made it clear that the subject would not be discussed in the Coordination Committee meeting of the ruling alliance. The Chief Minister also decried the opposition Samajwadi Party for trying to "link" the BSP's proposed 'Maha Rally' on September 28 with the issuance of notification by harping on the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, who is one of the accused in the Ayodhya case. The rally is being organised in protest against the SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's statement that described the Ambedkar Park as a place for "cheap recreation," she claimed. (ANI)
85 security men killed in Maoist attack on Nepal district hq
Kathmandu, Sept. 9 (ANI): The Maoist insurgents in Nepal has struck again, this time attacking security posts in district headquarters of Sandhikhark, killing 85 security personnel and injuring 22. It is reorted that 2000 rebels virtually seized the area and set ablaze various government offices. Out of 200 army men and police personnel stationed in the district headquarters in Sandhikhark, 300 km west of here, 85 security men were killed during the gunbattle overnight that lasted for several hours, according to Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Bala Bahadur said. However, no detailed information on casuality was available as the communication link betweem Kathmandu amd Sandhikhark has been broken. The rebels chanted pro-Maoist slogans, exploded bombs at various government installations including district police office, army barracks and district administration office, and looted cash and valuables from local banks, according to official sources. (ANI)
The legend of Masood lives on Go to top Kabul, Sept 9 (ANI): Thousands of Afghans gathered in Kabul's sports stadium on Monday to witness the unveiling of a huge portrait of legendary resistance leader Ahmad Shah Masood to mark the first anniversary of his death. The anniversary marked by a huge gathering of Masood's followers was attended by Masood's 13-year-old son, Ahmad Masood. A year ago on Monday Masood, who led the Northern Alliance which held out against the hardline Islamic regime, was blown up by suspected al Qaeda members posing as journalists. He was 48. Masood Khalili, who was with Masood when he died, survived the explosion that killed the Northern Alliance leader. "So then I started loudly praying, and then I felt a very weak hand on my chest, maybe he is like this, and I told myself, oh oh, the Commander is dying, and that's it," Khalili said, recalling the day Masood was killed. Masood also fought against the Soviet invasion of the 1980s and is a hero to his ethnic Tajik kin, who formed the bulk of the Alliance and took many of the key positions in the post-Taliban transitional government. His appeal is less strong among the Pashtun, Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, from which the Taliban drew its support. People in Kabul also remember Masood's part in the civil war of the early 1990s when he led one of the factions battling for control of the city.The widespread destruction wrought during that bitter internecine fighting can still be seen today. The sports stadium where Masood's portrait was unveiled was once used by the Taliban for public executions. Afghan police and international peacekeepers searched people entering the arena, as Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim, formerly Masood's intelligence chief, looked on with other cabinet ministers. "I was his friend for 23 years, I want to offer my condoleances to the people of Afghanistan who are today grieving on the first anniversary of the assassination of the Great Masood," Fahim said. Security was tight after last week's assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai and a car bomb attack in the capital. Karzai, who narrowly escaped with his life when a gunman opened fire in the southern city of Kandahar on Thursday, is on his way to New York to join world leaders marking the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Hours before the assassination attempt, a huge car bomb ripped through a crowded Kabul street killing up to 26 people and injuring 150. Both attacks have been blamed on remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and the al Qaeda network it sheltered. In the Panjsher Valley, unarmed soldiers lined the winding dirt track which runs north towards Masood's shrine, set high on a hill amid the stunning mountain peaks which he made his fortress. The burned and rusting hulks of Soviet tanks and armoured personnel carriers are testament to the bravery and guile of his men, who would sweep down from the hills and ambush their prey. In villages along the road from Kabul to Bazarak, Masood's picturesque birthplace, tents were erected and animals slaughtered to give as gifts to the poor. In the southeastern city of Khost, fighting between rival factions died down on Monday, according to officials. More than 15 people were reported killed and more than 51 wounded on Sunday in clashes between men loyal to a renegade warlord and those supporting the governor of Khost.(ANI) |