Recent Bomb Blasts in India that Shook the Country

List of major bomb blasts in the country:


Varanasi, Dec 7, 2010: Two-year-old girl killed and 25 others injured in a blast which takes place between the Dashashwamedh and Shitla ghats on the river Ganga.

Pune, Feb 13, 2010: 17 people killed and over 60 injured when a bomb rips out the famous German bakery in the city.

Mumbai, Nov 26, 2008: 166 people killed in coordinated serial explosions and indiscriminate firing across Mumbai including the crowded CST railway station and two five-star hotels -- Oberoi and Taj.

Assam, Oct 30, 2008: At least 77 killed and over 100 injured in 18 bombings across Assam.

Imphal, Oct 21, 2008: 17 killed in a powerful blast near Manipur Police Commando complex.

Malegaon, Maharashtra, Sep 29, 2008: Five people killed after a bomb kept in a motorbike goes off in a crowded market.

Modasa, Gujarat, Sep 29, 2008: One killed and several injured after a low-intensity bomb kept on a motorcycle goes off near a mosque.


New Delhi, Sep 27, 2008: Three people killed after a crude bomb is thrown in a busy market in Mehrauli.


New Delhi, Sep 13, 2008: 26 people killed in six blasts across the city.

Ahmedabad, July 26, 2008: 57 people killed after 20 synchronised blasts in less than two hours.

Leaders condemn Mumbai serial blasts

Leaders from all political parties have condemned the serial blasts that rocked congested areas of Mumbai Wednesday evening, killing at least 20 people and injuring over 100.

The blasts took place in three areas of south Mumbai - near Kabutarkhana in Dadar West, Zaveri Bazar and Opera House, the jewellery hubs of Mumbai - around 7 p.m.

Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan condemned the near-simultaneous explosions causing loss of life and injuries to innocent citizens.

Sankaranarayanan, who was in Delhi, rushed back to Mumbai on hearing the news.

In a statement issued here, he said: "The news of terrorists striking in the commercial capital of India in the rush hour of the evening today is shocking and shows the desperate levels the terrorists have
stooped."

"I convey my sympathies to the families of the victims of the blasts and wish speedy recovery to the injured," he added.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party assured of thorough investigation into the blasts and appealed to Mumbaikars to not pay heed to rumours and stay alert.

"Help will be extended to all victims in all possible manner. However, it is still early to tell the hand behind the blasts," he said.

Opposition leader Eknath Khadse of the Bharatiya Janata party condemned the attacks. "I sympathise with the relatives of those killed and injured," he said.

State president of Samajwadi Pary Abu Azmi said: "Police should be strict in investigating the bomb blasts that have killed many and injured more than 100 people," he said.

Azmi appealed to people not to make a communal issue out of the blasts and help each other and police in bringing the guilty to books.

"The blasts should not be associated with any specific religion or community. The police should also not catch hold of those who are not guilty for the crime," Azmi said.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said: "It is unfortunate and disgusting. I strongly condemn the blasts."
Former minister of state Gurudas Kamat also condemned the attacks and said that the guilty should be brought to book as soon as possible.

'Desecration' of Quran: Police, villagers clash in Moradabad

Several persons including a deputy inspector general of police were injured in a violent clash between the police and local Muslims in a village in Moradabad district near Lucknow on Wednesday.

According to reports reaching the state headquarter, the clash, which escalated into an exchange of fire in  Arahlatnagar Bagah village, followed alleged desecration of the Holy Quran by a team of cops during the course of investigation in a case of eve-teasing.

While a few persons were stated to be injured in the free-for-all that lasted nearly an hour, no death has been reported so far. According to the police, a raiding party, looking for a key accused in a case of eve-teasing, was attacked by a local resident whose son was allegedly involved in indecent behavior with some girls of the locality.

"When the police retaliated, the family members of the accused went around spreading a canard that some cop had snatched the Holy Quran from the hands of a young girl in the house and flung it away. As this information spread like wild fire, people took to the streets attacking the cops and burning down government property," the police said.

The police have flatly denied the accusations, saying that had nothing to do with the desecration of the holy book.

"Evidently, that was an alibi to save the eve-teaser", said a senior police official.

By the time additional force was rushed to the village violent mobs had burnt down a police jeep. "The situation is now under control after a contingent of the armed police has been stationed in and around the village", police said.

Thieves steal ATM with Rs760,000 in Pune

Thieves stole an automated teller machine (ATM) weighing about 800kg and containing Rs760,000 (Dh62,000) from a bank in Purna Nagar, Pune, on Monday.

This is the second such incident for the United Bank of India in Pune, its 500kg ATM containing Rs105,000 in the Kasarwadi area was also stolen by thieves in October 2009.

Investigating Officer B.D. Mohandhule told Gulf News, "Though we have informed all the banks to employ security guards at the ATM premises, no one has does so. This bank, too, did not have one."

He said the robbery must have been committed on late Monday night but discovered only at 10.30am yesterday morning.

He said thieves cut the CCTV wires and alarm systems and then the power supply to the ATM before scamping off with the machine which was not fixed to the floor. Even the CCTV was connected to the machine and not separately. "That is why the robbers would not have taken more than 30 minutes to lift the heavy machine and put it in a vehicle before absconding with the booty. So far, we have not found any clues to lead us to the thieves," he added.

The bank is located in a residential-cum-commercial complex that comes under the rural area.

An international contracting company, Financial Software & Systems, had installed the ATM and is now concerned that this is happening in deserted areas of cities.

This is also the second such incident in the district in the last seven days when suspects fled with the ATM of ICICI bank at Chakan on the Pune-Nasik highway. The machine, however, contained only Rs500.

In May this year, a 500kg ATM of the United Bank of India with an unknown quantity of cash was stolen from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. ATM machines usually weigh between 300-600kg and cost between Rs400,000-600,000.

Son kills father over property dispute

A son allegedly killed his
father by attacking him with a blunt object
over a property dispute in Barauli village of
Ghosi area, Mau, UP, police said here today.
Chandra Shekhar (67), a retired constable,
was attacked by his son Indra Kailash last
night killing him on the spot.
Police is probing the matter.

Government destroyed vital evidence of 2002 Godhra riots

Nine years and on, the victims of 2002 Godhra riots are still fighting for justice and to make the matter worse, crucial riot records including phone transactions, vehicle logbooks and official movements have been destroyed by the Modi government. The victims believe that the records have been deliberately destroyed.

The Gujarat government has destroyed crucial records pertaining to the 2002 riots. This comes from none other than the Narendra Modi government itself. SB Vakil, state government counsel in the Nanavati Commission, said important records like incoming and outgoing call data, log books of government vehicles and officials' movement have been destroyed. And that IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt is lying about being present in the meeting that Narendra Modi convened then, because he knows the official records no longer exist.

“Records of incoming and outgoing phone calls, vehicle logbooks cannot be found,” said SB Vakil, State Government Counsel in Nanavati Commission.

People associated with the communal riot cases have expressed shock at the government's admission.

"Proceedings in all the key cases.. the Naroda Gaam case, the main complaint by Zakia Jaffri and other cases are still on. To destroy evidence as important as this is not just shocking, but illegal as well," said Mukul Sinha, Advocate, Jansangharsh Manch.

The big question which remains unanswered is: were these extremely crucial records - that could ensure justice to thousands of riot victims - deliberately destroyed.

Teenage girl sold thrice by family in Meerut

In a shocking incident, a teenage girl was allegedly sold thrice for money by her family, police said.

In her complaint, the 18-year-old girl alleged that she was first sold for Rs 1 lakh at the age of 15 by her mother, uncle and grandfather to a man named Amit, whom she later married, DIG Prem Prakash said.

Five months after the marriage, her parents started threatening Amit of filing a dowry case against him. After reaching a compromise and taking Rs 1.5 lakh from Amit, they brought her back home, Prakash said.

She was again forcibly married in 2009 to Dheeraj (35), a resident of Kajmabad village in Uttar Pradesh, Prakash added.

She alleged that Dheeraj was also similarly threatened by her family thereafter which he was forced to give Rs 60,000 and leave her, he said.
Finding it a lucrative business, her family again sold her to few people in Dehradun for Rs one lakh. She escaped on June 20 from Dehradun and came to Meerut, Prakash said.

NHRC issues notice to UP Govt on Dr Sachan''s death

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today issued notice to Uttar Pradesh Government on Dr Y S Sachan's death asking it to explain why it did not intimate the Commission of the death in judicial custody within 24 hours.

Taking cognisance of media reports and a complaint regarding death of Sachan, the Commission issued notices to the UP Chief Secretary, District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police in Lucknow.

The NHRC called for magisterial enquiry report, inquest ieport, CD of post mortem and its report, ciscera report and final cause of death within four weeks, an NHRC spokesperson said.

The Commission has also directed the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Jail, Lucknow to explain as to why the information about the death in judicial custody was not communicated within 24 hours to NHRC, as per its guidelines.Sachan was lodged in Lucknow Jail as the main accused in the murder of Dr B P Singh. He was found dead in mysterious circumstances in the toilet of District jail hospital on the June 22.

Deputy CMO death in Luknow: Family cries murder

Rejecting the suicide theory of police, family members of deputy chief medical officer Y S Sachan, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances, on Friday demanded a case of murder be lodged.

"An application by doctor Sachan's wife Malti has been sent late last night to top officials including Principal Secretary (Home) and DIG Lucknow that an FIR be lodged and the case should be investigated thoroughly," the Deputy CMO's elder brother R K Sachan said.

He said those behind the 'murder' should be identified and punished.

"The postmortem report clearly indicates that it's a clear cut case of murder," Sachan said while reiterating his demand for a CBI probe in the case.

He said excessive bleeding has been mentioned as the cause of death in the autopsy report which indicates murder.

"Hanging cannot be caused by a belt. A doctor cannot inflict so many injuries on his own body as slitting one vein is sufficient to cause death," Sachan said.

"It is clear that first he was killed and later his body was dragged to the first floor and the incident was made to look as suicide," he said.

Sachan, however, said there was no need for a second autopsy as the postmortem report was clear. Some family members of the Deputy CMO had on Thursday demanded a second autopsy by an AIIMS doctor.

The main accused in the murder of Chief Medical Officer (Family Welfare) B P Singh, Sachan was found dead under mysterious circumstances inside the Lucknow district jail hospital on Wednesday night after which the government ordered a judicial probe into the incident.

Singh was shot dead by unidentified persons on the morning of April 2 when he had gone for a walk.

Sachan was arrested after Singh's murder when the investigating agencies detected swindling of funds to the tune of several crores in the implementation of the National Rural Health Mission in Uttar Pradesh.

Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh had said on Thursday that the death of the deputy CMO was caused by 'excessive bleeding' and that prima facie it was a case of suicide.

"Prima facie it's a case of suicide, but as judicial inquiry is being conducted into the incident, the facts will come out soon," he said, rejecting the demand for a CBI probe.

In the autopsy, nine injury marks were detected on the body--neck, elbows, thigh and left wrist--besides a strangulation mark on the neck.

Chattisgarh: Medical entrance test paper leaked, 12 held

Chhattisgarh authorities on Sunday cancelled the scheduled Pre-Medical Test (PMT) for admissions to medical colleges as the question paper was found to have been leaked.

Police have arrested 12 youths in connection with the leak which came to light last night. The new dates would be announced soon, the exam authorities said on Sunday.

The arrested persons include some students of dental and medical colleges.

Additional SP, Raipur, Lal Umed Singh said that acting on a tip-off police raided a house in Takhatpur village in Bilaspur district and found that some 80 PMT aspirants were being tutored on the basis of the leaked paper.

Police suspects that one Santosh alias Sanjay is the kingpin of the inter-state racket, which leaked the paper.

The PMT had been earlier scheduled for May 11 but it was deferred because some questions already asked in the Uttar Pradesh Pre-Medical Test had been mistakenly incorporated in the paper. Some 20,000 students have registered for the exam.

'Bomb ka badla bomb' mantra led to Samjhauta blast

Continued attacks on temples across the country led Swami Aseemanand to propound "Bomb ka Badla (revenge) bomb" theory which led to the bombing of Samjhauta Express train, the oldest rail-link between India and Pakistan.

The probe into the conspiracy of the explosion, which claimed 68 lives in 2007, brought out a deadly plot that was inspired by "quite upset" attitude of Aseemanand with the terror strikes on temples like Akshardham in Gujarat, Raghunath Mandir in Jammu and Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi.

This, according to the NIA charge sheet, built up as a "deep vengeance" feeling against the minority community in the hearts and minds of Swami Aseemanand and four others named in the charge sheet of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at a special court in Haryana's Panchkula today.

"He (Aseemanand) used to 'give vent to' his feelings while discussing with Sunil Joshi and his associates. Over a period of time, they developed a deep vengeance against not only the Jehadi terrorists but unfortunately against an entire minority community as such.

"As a result, Aseemanand propounded a 'bomb ka badla bomb' (bomb for bomb) theory. Samjhauta train was particularly chosen, as most of the passengers who travel in it are Pakistani citizens.

"Aseemanand not only provided financial and logistical support to the terror group which executed this dastardly act but also played a vital role in instigating and motivating his associates to undertake this terrorist act," the NIA charge sheet said.

Section 144 withdrawn at Ramlila Maidan

Section 144 has been withdrawn at Ramlila Maidan. The order clamped on June 4 and prohibiting the assembling of people at the protest hub was used by Delhi Police to justify eviction of Baba Ramdev's supporters on the intervening night of June 4 and 5.

"The prohibitory order issued under section 144 Criminal Procedure Code 1973, in the area of sub-division Kamla Market by the ACP of the area dated 04.06.2011 is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect," the order issued on June 16 states. Senior officers at police headquarters and central district said that after a review of the law and order situation it has been decided that there was no immediate need for another prohibitory order.

Speaking to TOI, senior cops also affirmed that there were no "officially recorded statement" which restrains Baba Ramdev from coming to Delhi at present. "We are yet to officially restrain him from coming to the capital. However, there is an FIR registered against the Ramlila gathering and at least the role of eight people including Ramdev is under probe. We do not want to comment on the investigations right now but we might arrest him if our investigations provide us with proof that he had instigated the public at Ramlila Maidan. At present, he has not been named as an accused in our FIR,'' clarified a senior police officer.

According to the police, as the camp was broken up 72 people were injured, which included 39 civilians and 23 policemen. An apex court bench of Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice Swatantar Kumar took suo motu cognizance of the police action against Baba Ramdev, referring to media reports.

Meanwhile, Jantar Mantar, the most favoured spot for crusaders since the late eighties, may soon become inaccessible for them. The Delhi government, in the backdrop of over 1.5 lakh people protesting at Jantar Mantar in 2010 and as many as 12,000 getting detained for breaching the law in the first six months of the year, is mulling over identifying an alternative site for protests.

"It is submitted that as long as the demonstrations are held in the small road space currently being used for this purpose, inconvenience will be faced by people passing through Tolstoy Marg, Jantar Mantar Road, Parliament Street and Jai Singh Road. Besides this, people travelling to their houses and offices located on the said roads as well as Connaught Place will also be inconvenienced.

As a natural corollary, a more convenient location with ample space has to be identified for holding demonstrations in Delhi," read the affidavit, adduced by Standing Counsel for the government Najmi Waziri before a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra. He was responding to a petition by the residents of the Dhawandeep RWA, which had sought relief from the noise generated by agitations.

We don't touch luxury cars, say traffic cops

The theft of Audi Q7 car in February has now put the surveillance of state highways under a cloud. The accused, Anupsinh Padhiyar, drove around extensively between Gandhinagar and north Gujarat in his dream car, but neither the state highway police nor any other police agency thought it fit to question the man driving the Rs 80-lakh car with only 'Applied For Registration' written on the number plate.

City crime branch officials tracked down Padhiyar and recovered the car on Thursday. Investigating officials suspect that Padhiyar was trying to contact prospective buyers for the car. That a stolen car, without a registration number could ply in the state without raising an eye-brow has caught the state police red-faced, especially since Gujarat is high on various terrorist organizations' hit list.

The problem is more deep-rooted than just an oversight. Padhiyar's free run in his stolen car is not a surprise to cops. The state police officials say they usually refrain from stopping high-end, luxury cars for security checks at any check posts.

"More often than not, riders of such cars are well-connected and get away after a phone call to senior officials or some influential person. In some cases, constables have been transferred just for stopping such a vehicle," said a city traffic branch constable. Senior police officials also admitted that everyday they receive at least two to three calls requesting their intervention at traffic signals.

V D Vanaar, deputy superintendent of police, state traffic branch, said, "If the car had a number, it would surely have been caught. However, without a registration number, it is difficult to keep a tab on such cars."

As per Padhiyar's statement, he had told his relatives and friends that the car was second-hand. Even then the car did not have any registration number.

The stickers at back and front of the car read 'APPLIDE FOR REGISTRAION' in black. As a routine procedure, the stickers are red and accompanied by provisional registration number for the car. Padhiyar had got such stickers printed specially to pass the stolen car off as a newly purchased vehicle.

Man dies while raping elderly South Texas woman

Investigators say a man has died while in the act of raping an elderly South Texas woman.

The Refugio County Sheriff's Office identifies the man as 53-year-old Isabel Chavelo Gutierrez.

Sheriff's Sgt. Gary Wright says the incident happened on June 2 after he rode two miles by bicycle from his home to that of his 77-year-old victim in the tiny coastal community of Tivoli.

He says the man, weighing between 230 and 250 pounds, sneaked into the woman's house and raped her at knifepoint. During the attack, he said he wasn't feeling well, rolled over and died. His body was sent to the Nueces County medical examiner in Corpus Christi for autopsy.

Gutierrez was a registered sexual offender on parole from a sentence for aggravated sexual assault and indecency with a child.

'El Brad Pitt' arrested in Mexico drug swoop

Marco Antonio Guzmán accused of leading the armed wing of the Juárez cartel, which has terrorised northern Mexico.

A leader of Ciudad Juárez's La Linea cartel is arrested in connection with a cell phone-detonated car bomb that killed four people in 2010 Link to this video

Federal authorities have detained a former police officer accused of leading the armed wing of the violent Juárez cartel in northern Mexico, according to the government.

Marco Antonio Guzmán, who had several aliases including "El Brad Pitt", was captured on Wednesday in Chihuahua along with two alleged accomplices, according to a federal police statement.

Guzmán, 34, was brought to the Mexican capital on Thursday and shown, handcuffed, to the media.

Police said Guzmán was involved in a car bomb explosion that killed a federal police officer and two civilians in June 2010.

They also accuse him of being involved in drug-trafficking operations across Chihuahua. Ciudad Juárez is one of the worst affected areas of the drug war, where an estimated 3,100 people were killed in 2010.

A federal official, speaking off the record, said Guzmán's nickname, "El Brad Pitt" arose from a disguise he wore when he served as a lookout for the Juárez cartel.

To go unnoticed, he tried to look like a tourist wearing his hair long, a baseball cap and a camera around his neck. According to the official, gang associates said Guzmán looked like Pitt in a scene from the US film Spy Game about CIA agents.

A $42,000 (£26,000) reward was offered for Guzmán's capture, and police suspected he may have been planning another bombing. Federal police said in a statement he had been responsible for acquiring another load of explosives seized in Ciudad Juárez on 25 April.

He also alleged to have participated in a videotaped killing that was posted online.

Also on Thursday, federal police said they arrested a leader of the so-called Zodiac kidnapping gang, whose member used the signs of the zodiac as nicknames.

Dhither Camarillo Palafox, alias Taurus, was arrested in Cancun on Friday. His alleged associates nicknamed Sagittarius and Aquarius were arrested in 2009. The group's other leader, nicknamed Cancer, was detained in 2005.

The group allegedly carried out kidnappings in and around Mexico City.

Vancouver kiss couple 'were knocked down by riot police'

 

The couple apparently kissing during the Vancouver riots. The man has been named as Australian Scott Jones. Photograph: Rich Lam/Getty Images

At first glance the picture, snapped during Vancouver's hockey riots, seemed to show a young couple lying on the road and kissing, oblivious to the chaos around them. Now it appears that the real force behind the arresting image was not romance, but a charge by riot police who knocked Scott Jones and his girlfriend, Alex Thomas, to the ground.

The picture taken by Canadian photographer Richard Lam became a global sensation – appearing in the media, shared on Facebook and tweeted around the world – and looked set to take its place as one of the world's most iconic kiss photographs.

"How's that for making love, not war," astonished dad Brett Jones declared on his Facebook page, announcing that his son, Scott, was the Romeo depicted in the picture.

But others wondered if it was a fake, and the photographer himself had doubts about what the picture really showed. A second shot emerged showing more people around the couple and adding to the mystery.

A witness, identifying himself as William, wrote to the Vancouver Sun to give his take. He said he was on top of a carpark looking down on the place where the picture was taken. "What happened was the police line rushed the crowd and this couple trying to stay together couldn't react in time and were run over my two riot police officers.

"The girl who was knocked over landed head first on the pavement with her boyfriend landing partially on top of her. She was in visible pain, crying, but the two officers gave them a parting shove and moved on. Bystanders went to go make sure she was OK. I understand that the frontline police have to control the crowd but it is a bit ridiculous that they couldn't have other officers or paramedics behind the line to help anyone who is hurt."

Australian media have widely identified the man in the picture as Scott Jones, a 29-year-old from Melbourne who has been living in Vancouver for six months. The woman is said to be his girlfriend Alex Thomas, a Canadian.

His mother, Megan Jones, told NineMSN: "I knew it was him because he doesn't have a lot of clothes with him and he always puts on the same thing."

Before the full story emerged, she said she was shocked to spot her son lying in the middle of the street but not surprised. "It is something he would do, that's our boy. He has always lived in his own world, he's special like that. He doesn't always connect with what going on around him. I'd have to have my house flooded to get on the news, but he just has to kiss a beautiful girl."

Scott's sister Hannah said people had been posting on Scott's Facebook page. "You keep getting played on the news. You're famous!" one wrote. Jones replied: "Classic! This was shortly after the riot police run over the top of us and naturally Alex needed some comforting."

Lam took the photograph while covering the riots that followed the Vancouver Canucks' 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup.

The photographer was being buffeted by rioters and riot police when he spotted the couple. "I was about 20 or 30 yards away," he said. "There were these two people on the ground in this empty street. Initially I thought one of them was hurt." He took a few shots and then the moment was lost.

"It was complete chaos. Rioters set two cars on fire and then I saw looters break the window at a neighbouring department store," he said.

"At that point the riot police charged right towards us. After I stopped running I noticed in the space behind the line of police that two people were lying in the street with the riot police and a raging fire just beyond them.

"I knew I had captured a moment when I snapped the still forms against the backdrop of such chaos but it wasn't until later when I returned to the rink to file my photos that my editor pointed out that the two people were not hurt, but kissing," Lam said before the real story behind the photo came out.

A second photograph taken by Richard Lam of the 'kissing couple' lying in a Vancouver street after the hockey riots.

Officials in Vancouver said almost 150 people required hospital treatment and almost 100 were arrested during the riot.

A spokeswoman for the local health authority said three stabbing victims had been admitted and one man was in a critical condition with head injuries after a fall from a viaduct.

Rioting and looting left cars burned, stores in shambles and windows shattered over a roughly 10-block radius of the city's main shopping district.

The police chief, Jim Chu, said nine officers were injured, including one who required 14 stitches after being hit with a thrown brick. Chu said some officers suffered bite marks. He said 15 cars were burned, including two police cars.

He called those who incited the riot "criminals and anarchists" and said officers identified some in the crowd as the same people who smashed windows and caused trouble through the same streets the day after the 2010 Winter Olympics opened.

"These were people who came equipped with masks, goggles and gasoline," he said. "They had a plan."

Chu said those who stood by and filmed and cheered also bore responsibility.

The assistant fire chief, Wade Pierlot, said people were rescued from rooftops and bathrooms where they had hidden for safety. He said some people moved burning dumpsters away from buildings to prevent further damage.

CBI to probe Sadiq Jamal Mehtarencounter case – Gujarat HC

A single judge bench of Gujarat High Court
comprising Justice MR Shah Thursday
handed over the probe of infamous Sadiq
Jamal Mehtar encounter case to the Centre
Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The court while allowing the petition of
Sadiq's brother Shabbir observed that high
ranking police officials were involved in the
case and to avoid any apprehension of bias
the probe be handed over to the CBI. The
court rejected governments' plea to hand
over the investigation to the special task
force constituted by it.
Justice Shah also rejected the government
contention of undue delay in preferring the
appeal. Sadiq Jamal Mehtar was killed on 13
2003 January in a police encounter.

Tragedy averted after police recover explosive device

A major tragedy was averted on Friday when 4 kg of explosive and detonators were recovered by police from the Kanchenjunga Express during routine search after its arrival at the railway station here.

Police found the explosive, detonators and a device, which were concealed in an air bag, from seat no. 22 of S5 coach during routine search of the Kolkata-Guwahati express at the Guwahati Railway Station, sources said.

They said after the bomb was found, all 1100 passengers inside the train were deboarded. “The train was checked thoroughly,” the sources said.

Police said they recovered 4 kg explosive, 4 detonators and a time device from the bag at around 5.20 AM after the train arrived.

“The programmable time device was found during routine check by police personnel. Every train which arrives at the Guwahati station is checked,” the sources said.

Maoists blast 2 mobile phone towers in Jharkhand

Maoist guerrillas blew up two mobile phone towers in Jharkhand's Palamau district during a 24-hour shutdown called by them to protest the arrest of one of their top leaders, police said Friday.

According to the police, the two towers, situated under Hunterganj police station , were blasted by the Maoist guerrillas late Thursday. The generator rooms were also set on fire.
No one was injured in the incident, police said.

Maoists also torched two trucks early Friday in Bihar.

Maoist guerrillas had blasted a mobile phone tower of a private company situated at Mali village of Palamau district early Thursday.

They had called a 24-hour shutdown Thursday to protest the arrest of Jagdish Yadav alias Jagdish Master, politburo member of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist). He was arrested June 12 from Gaya.

Indian chained to hospital bed for five months in Saudi Arabia

Inhuman treatment: An Indian has been chained to a hospital bed in Saudi Arabai for nearly five months after he was arrested in a forgery case.

An Indian has been chained to a hospital bed here for nearly five months after he was arrested in a forgery case and is waiting to be deported back home, according to a report.

Ram Pradip Mali was brought to the King Fahd hospital in Jeddah from the prison in January after he became weak.

The National Society for Human Rights Society (NSHR) called Mali's treatment as inhumane.
He is suffering from severe anaemia, which has caused life-threating problems of inflammation and acute bone marrow, The Saudi Gazette reported.

Mali was admitted to the intensive care unit and moved to an isolation room due to infection concerns .

The hospital has written several letters to prison officials, demanding his speedy deportation after his condition stabilises since the treatment is costly, said the report.

There are also fears of a relapse in his condition since his leg has been chained to the bed for five months.

"The man is disgruntled because the Indian consulate has not made any serious effort to solve his case after its representative visited him in the hospital," Dr Hussein Al-Shareef, supervisor of the NSHR branch said.

Mali also claimed that same treatment was not meted out to him by the consulate as to his colleagues, who were promptly deported following their arrest in a forgery case, Al-Shareef added.
"We are preparing a report on the patient's condition, which we will refer to authorities for expediting his deportation due to his heath condition," Al-Shareef said.

"Chaining him is an inhuman and inappropriate act," he said. "It is humiliating and does not show any regard for the patient's dignity and it is causing him fear," he added.