Ahead of Indo-Pak talks, MHA terror alert

Raghvendra Rao

New Delhi : Two days before the Home Ministers of India and Pakistan meet for bilateral talks on the sidelines of the SAARC Home Ministers’ Conference in Islamabad, the Indian government on Wednesday issued an advisory to state governments cautioning them against possible terror strikes by “groups inimical to the ongoing Indo-Pak dialogue”.Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told The Indian Express that while a general advisory, based on intelligence intercepts and reports suggesting a credible terror threat in the run up to the Indo-Pak bilateral engagement, was issued on Wednesday, the Ministry was likely to dispatch a “more specific and detailed advisory” on June 24.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram is slated to fly to Islamabad on June 25 and have a bilateral meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Rehman Malik the same day. Union Home Secretary G K Pillai and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, along with Intelligence Bureau Chief Rajiv Mathur, reached Islamabad on Wednesday to engage in talks with their respective counterparts on the Pakistan side.
“There are intelligence reports that indicate that certain groups inimical to the ongoing Indo-Pak dialogue are planning major terror strikes in the days leading to the meeting of the Home Ministers of both the countries with an objective of derailing the talks. We have advised the states to take all caution,” an MHA official said. The advisory has been sent to all the states except those in the Northeast region, sources said.
The specific advisory which the MHA plans to issue on Thursday will list out the “potential targets” and is also expected to have more details about what to look out for, sources said. “The information we have got is being analysed right now. The second advisory will be detailed in nature and will offer security agencies a much clearer picture about what to anticipate and prepare for,” a source said.
Significantly, the February 13 bomb blast in Pune’s German Bakery had raised similar concerns in the country’s security establishment since the incident happened just 11 days before the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan were to meet for bilateral talks in New Delhi. This time, too, there is a view that some groups may go all out to perpetrate a terror strike in India in a bid to jeopardise the talks.

PC to do 'straight talk' with Malik

Raghvendra Rao 

New Delhi : India will engage in some “straight talk” with Pakistan when Union Home Minister P Chidambaram meets his Pakistan counterpart Rehman Malik in a one-on-one meeting on June 25 on the sidelines of the SAARC Interior Ministers’ Conference.According to sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), matters related to terrorism are expected to dominate the bilateral engagement between the two Home Ministers. “We will have to see what the Pakistan side has to say on terror-related issues. The 30-40 minute interaction between both the Home Ministers is likely to witness some straight talk from the Indian side,” sources told the The Indian Express, adding that “too much” should not be expected in terms of “concrete outcomes” from this meeting.
In addition to reiterating its demand for the voice samples of Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafiz Saeed and commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi so that it could match them with the voices of the handlers of the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008, the Indian side, sources said, was also likely to renew its demand seeking the trial of Hafiz Saeed for his alleged role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Chidambaram is also expected to drive home the message that Pakistan needed to expedite the process of bringing the real perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks to justice. “If they do not bring the others to trial, then I would have to conclude reluctantly and regretfully that they are dragging their feet,” Chidambaram had said in January this year. “Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi is one of the masterminds. There are others. We know their names and Pakistan also knows their names.”
Pakistani-American terror suspect David Coleman Headley, too, is likely to figure in the talks between the two Home Ministers, with Chidambaram expected to share fresh information on Headley’s Pakistan link and his role in the 26/11 strikes. With the National Investigation Agency (NIA) having recently questioned Headley in the United States, sources said the Indian side was now armed with fresh information on Headley, who has already pleaded guilty to his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
With Indian security agencies reporting a sharp rise in the infiltration attempts across the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir, Chidambaram is expected to take up this matter with his Pakistan counterpart as well.
Chidambaram, who will fly to Islamabad in a special plane on June 25, is slated to make a courtesy call on Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi.
Home Secretary G K Pillai along with Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and other government officials will fly to Islamabad in a special plane on June 23. Both Pillai and Rao are slated to have meetings with their Pakistan counterparts on June 24.

RRB exam scam: Railways failed to act on tip-off

Raghvendra Rao 

New Delhi : Two days before the CBI blew the lid off the multi-crore job scam involving the sale of Mumbai’s Railway Recruitment Board’s (RRB) entrance examination question papers at Rs 3.5 lakh each, the Railway Ministry’s had received an alert from its own Vigilance Directorate.The Ministry is now at a loss to explain why it did not initiate action against the accused. “We had got an input from our Vigilance on June 15, two days after the exam. Even as we were examining the allegations, the CBI informed us about their probe. We are providing them with all possible assistance,” Railway Board Chairman Vivek Sahai said on Tuesday. It was on June 18 that the CBI informed the Railways about the scam, naming Mumbai RRB Chairman S M Sharma as an accused.
The Ministry, meanwhile, went into a damage-control mode and indicated that it was mulling a huge curtailment in the powers of the 21 RRB chairmen and also introducing several checks and balances to ensure that leakage of question papers can be plugged. Admitting that “there was excessive dependence on the chairman of an RRB” to conduct an exam, the Railways Ministry said it was now focussing on devising “foolproof systems for the way question papers are set”.

Motorised cutter seized from Naxal camp in Jharkhand

Raghvendra Rao
New Delhi : The recovery of a heavy-duty motorised cutter from the recently destroyed Maoist camp located atop a hill in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district has led the security agencies to suspect the involvement of this Naxal contingent in the May 28 derailment of the Howrah-Kurla Jnaneswari derailment. The derailment was executed by cutting off a portion of the railway track.

Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that this is the first time this kind of cutter has been recovered from a Naxal camp. “We suspect that some members of this particular Naxal party could have used this machine to cut the rails in Jhargram. The recovery of such a sophisticated cutter also indicates that other Naxal groups could have similar machines with them,” a MHA source said.

Besides 20 claymore mines, three plastic bags containing slurry explosives and six bags of ammonium nitrate, underlining the Naxals’ growing fire power, were also recovered from the hilltop camp located under the Bandgaon police station.As much as 300 kg of dried fish and rice were also recovered from the camp. “Not only were they staying here for a long while, but they were also well-equipped,” a source said.

Animal-like: Govt on photos of dead Naxals

Raghvendra Rao

New Delhi : The release of photographs showing bodies of Naxals, including women, being carried by securitymen, their hands and feet tied to bamboo poles, following an anti-Naxal operation in West Midnapore, West Bengal, came in for sharp criticism on Thursday with even the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) expressing disapproval over the “animal-like” manner in which the bodies were carried.

“We understand that deep inside forest areas, the security forces, at times, do not have any other option of carrying back bodies than the one that has been shown in the pictures. But once they come out of the forest area and are closer to habitation, they should use stretchers to carry bodies,” said a senior official in the MHA.

“The way those bodies were being carried was simply inhuman. A few years ago, we had expressed outrage over the undignified treatment of dead bodies when similar pictures of Bangladesh Rifles carrying dead BSF men had appeared,” another MHA official said.

The MHA, sources said, had already communicated its displeasure to the CRPF and the West Bengal police for both the inhuman treatment of the bodies and for allowing the release of these photographs. “There is still some doubt on whether the CRPF men were carrying those bodies or the Bengal police and on whether an official photographer took these pictures or many photographers were allowed. While those details are being ascertained, the forces concerned have been told to be more careful in such matters,” sources said.

CRPF Special DG Vijay Raman, who is heads the anti-Naxal operations, called the photographs “gruesome”. “I was very unhappy after seeing those photos. I feel ashamed about what has happened and whoever has done it. I need to cross-check whether our boys were involved,” Raman said.

Won’t let Muivah enter state, says Manipur govt

Raghvendra Rao

New Delhi : As the 66-day-old economic blockade in Manipur appeared to be heading towards an end, with the Centre firm on moving the first convoy of trucks under security cover starting June 19, the Manipur government has made it clear that it will not allow NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah to enter the state under the present circumstances.

“After what has happened over the past two months, we will not allow Muivah to visit Manipur,” Manipur minister and government spokesperson N Biren Singh told The Indian Express. “Muivah’s proposed visit to his native village Somdal was not a homecoming for the simple reason that his programme schedule which was sent to us by the Ministry of Home Affairs clearly stated that he would hold public meetings in Ukhrul and Senapati. How could we allow that?”

Muivah, who is currently engaged in talks with Centre’s interlocutor R S Pandey, had wanted to visit his ancestral village in Manipur but was denied permission by the state.

Accusing the Centre of adopting a “soft stance” towards the NSCN-IM, Singh said the Central forces were acting as a “mute spectator” to the “free run” which this Naga outfit was having in the state. “NSCN-IM cadres move around in Manipur carrying weapons and recruiting fresh cadres. It is a very volatile situation.”

He added that despite having to pay exorbitant sums of money to purchase essential commodities, there was no anti-India sentiment in Manipur. “But if blockades like these are allowed to happen, underground separatist forces which have been lying low for a while may try to take advantage of the situation by whipping up passions against both the Centre and the state governments,” he said.

To keep N-E lifelines open, Delhi plans to deploy 2,000 men permanently

Raghvendra Rao


New Delhi : Learning from the 65-day old economic blockade of two National Highways which has crippled Manipur, the Centre is planning to permanently deploy nearly 2,000 paramilitary personnel along NH 39 and NH 53 to ensure these key arteries remain open through the year.

“Two Central paramilitary battalions will be deployed as a National Highway Protection Force on these national highways,” said an official in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Manipur had sought “permanent security” on both NH 39 (Imphal-Dimapur) and NH 53 (Imphal-Silchar). “We have asked the Centre to provide permanent security by deploying forces on both the national highways,” Manipur minister and spokesperson N Biren Singh told The Indian Express.

Union Home Secretary G K Pillai met Manipur Chief Secretary D S Poonia and Nagaland Additional Chief Secretaries A Jamir and Toshi Aier today to discuss matters relating to movement of vehicles through both highways.

“While the blockade has been lifted in Nagaland territory, it is still in place in Manipur. We have asked the Nagaland government to try and persuade the All Naga Students Association of Manipur to lift the blockade,” said an official of the MHA.