CVC appointment fiasco...Who will be the scapegoat now?

Buck stops with DoPT in Thomas's selection as CVC?

Vishwa Mohan, TNN
Mar 5, 2011, 12.09am IST
NEW DELHI: Amid questions being raised as to how come the tainted IAS officer P J Thomas had got vigilance clearance for sensitive job, former Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Pratyush Sinha on Friday said the decision was taken "on the basis of the files sent to the Commission by the department of personnel and training (DoPT)".
Sinha told TOI, "The decision (of giving Thomas vigilance clearance) was not taken by him personally. It was taken by the full Commission, including the two vigilance commissioners, with concensus on the basis of existing government guidelines which are clearly outlined in the official circular, issued in 2007".
He said, "My consent being the then CVC was always there, but it was purely in consonance with DoPT's circular comprising the guidelines in this regard as well as the information extended to the Commission by the department".
Though Sinha did not suggest whose fault it was for witholding certain information (like pending prosecution sanction) from CVC at that time, his remark comes as a clear indication that the onus was on the ministry of personnel, which was privy to all the information relating to Thomas.
Sources in the government already indicated that someone in DoPT would be held responsible for this.
An official said, "DoPT secretary Alka Sirohi has already been asked to find out who had prepared files relating to Thomas before sending it to the CVC at different points of time and also to the high-level Committee which appointed him".
Thomas's bio-data was presented before the Committee, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, by DoPT when Shantanu Consul was the secretary of the ministry of personnel.
Consul is currently a member of the Shunglu Committee, which has been set up to probe alleged irregularities in the Commonwealth Games, 2010....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDExLzAzLzA1I0FyMDE5MDM=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Mere Tax Evasion May Not be a Ground for Phone Tapping...more stringent tap rule is in the offing

Vishwa Mohan, TNN

Mar 4, 2011, 02.57am IST
NEW DELHI: With allegations of misuse as well as fears of breach of privacy mounting, authorities are working to ban phone tapping in cases of tax evasion, except when the matter may have a bearing on national security.
Even in cases concerning national security, only Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) or Enforcement Directorate (ED) will do phone-tapping after additional scrutiny of its request is done in consultation with both home and finance ministries. CBDT, another agency under the finance ministry which is empowered to tap phones, is being taken off the list.
It is one of the recommendations of the committee of secretaries, headed by cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, which is learnt to have prepared a draft report on making the phone-tapping law more stringent in the wake of recent leaks of lobbyist Niira Radia's telephone conversations with industrialists and journalists.
The committee, which is to take final decision on its draft in the next 10 days, has recommended that Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) could be taken off the list of agencies authorised to request the home secretary for permission for phone-tapping. CBDT was given this power in 2005-06. An official said, "DRI and ED will be in the list. Both these agencies can continue to seek permission for phone-tapping if any tax violation or illegal transaction has a bearing on security, like terror financing or funding of organised crime syndicate."
The official explained that request of DRI and ED would have to reach the home secretary via either the revenue secretary or the finance secretary, unlike the current practice when such a plea can be made by even the member (investigation).
"Additional scrutiny of the request by somebody senior in finance ministry will minimise the chance of misuse, if any, at the stage of DRI or ED," said the official.
The committee's recommendations, which are yet to be finalised, comes when the finance ministry is ready with its findings about the leak of intercepted telephone conversations of Radia. The government had ordered an inquiry into the leak after industrialist Ratan Tata filed a petition in Supreme Court over infringement of privacy.....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDExLzAzLzA0I0FyMDEyMDA=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Will the stringent Anti-Hijacking law act as a deterrent?

House panel for death penalty for hijackers

Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Mar 2, 2011, 12.21am IST
NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary panel has endorsed the proposed amendment to provide capital punishment -- apart from hijackers -- to conspirators and abettors of hijacking of any aircraft and recommended suitable changes in the law so that other modes of transport can also be covered.
The panel, which examined the Anti-hijacking (Amendment) Bill 2010, in its report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, said, "The Committee feels that the proposed amendment is the need of the hour and unavoidable in the heightened threat for such a daring crime".
The amendment Bill, which was introduced in Rajya Sabha on August 19, 2010, seeks to bring conspirators and abettors of hijacking also into the ambit of the Anti-hijacking Act, 1982, and include `death penalty' as punishment for hijacking. The Act currently only deals with matters pertaining to the hijacking of aircraft.
After its introduction, the Bill was subsequently referred to the Parliamentary committee for examination and look for whether the scope of the existing Act can also be extended to hijacking of other modes of transport as well.
The panel, comprising department-related parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture, is of the opinion that "if the death penalty was a foregone conclusion for the offence of hijacking, the opportunities for any negotiation or settlement to save lives of the passengers may be foreclosed".
It, however, recommends that the "death penalty must be made applicable to those offenders whose action results in the death of hostages\security men during the act of hijacking".
Taking note that in recent years there have been a spurt in hijacking of buses, cars and trains by anti-social elements for ransom or for other ulterior motives, the Committee recommended that the government should consider having such a legislation to deal with taking control forcefully of other modes of transport and provide for the punishment to the offenders and compensation to the victims.
Headed by the Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury, the panel, during its examination, found that taking control forcefully of such modes of transport -- other than aircraft -- were not covered under any specific laws.
It also took note of the compensation aspect. It said, "The Committee feels that when we have a stand alone legislation for hijacking, it should be appropriate to include all the aspects related or incidental to the Act of hijacking in this legislation itself. The compensation, no doubt, should be an integral part of it".
At present, the compensation aspect is dealt under civil law, which is time-taking since it involves litigation and sundry procedures......http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JS00vMjAxMS8wMy8wMiNBcjAwODAx&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Historic talk with banned outfit ULFA gets underway....idea is to engage them like NSCN(IM)

Ulfa holds talks with Centre, meets PC

Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Feb 11, 2011, 12.46am IST
NEW DELHI: Historic talks with the banned outfit United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) got underway as an "ice-breaker" on Thursday with the government getting the insurgent group on board to work for reaching a "just and honourable solution" within the framework of the Indian Constitution.
Both sides agreed to set up a seven-member committee -- comprising three Ulfa members and two officers each from the Centre and Assam government -- to look into the issues of the outfit's camps, its locations, cadres, status of their arms, surrender policy and detailed modalities for discussions before the "substantive" round of talks begin after the assembly polls in May.
The outlawed group made it clear that it would not take part in the election, and also would not become an obstacle before "desire and aspiration of the people of Assam". The eight-member Ulfa delegation -- some of whom are out on bail -- was led by its chairman Arbinda Rajkhowa during the talks.
Terming Thursday's formal parleys as a "confidence building round", Ulfa `foreign secretary' Shashadhar Choudhury later said, "We did not raise any demand today. We will discuss broader issues when we meet next".
After the group's discussion with a team of officials comprising home secretary Gopal K Pillai and secretary (internal security) U K Bansal, Choudhury also made it clear that though the outfit had been in constant touch with its commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, his (Baruah) absence would not cast any shadow over the talks. Ulfa opted for the talks after the `General Council' -- the group's highest decision making body -- gave its assent.
Choudhury maintained that "Baruah is still our commander-in-chief". But, security agencies believe that the stance might have been taken just to give an impression that the outfit's C-in-C may bounce back in case talks fail at a later stage.
Stating that the outfit is hopeful that the insurgency problem in Assam can be solved through an amendment in the Constitution, Choudhury -- flanked by `vice-chairman' Pradip Gogoi and `finance secretary' Chitraban Hazarika -- said, "We have noted a recent statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the Indian Constitution is flexible enough to accommodate the desire and aspirations of all people."
He added, "Through the talks, therefore, we proposed to evaluate various facets of the Constitution and to explore the viability of protection and enrichment of the sovereignty of the people of Assam in all its dimensions -- political, social and cultural, within the flexibility as mentioned by the prime minister."
Declaring that the agenda of the future talks with the government and ULFA's demands would be decided by the "people of Assam", he said it was necessary to amend the Constitution to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the people.
On the possibility of declaring a ceasefire, Choudhury said the initiative has to come from the government. "Anyway, we have not indulged in violence in last one year,"he said, adding that Ulfa is still a banned group. He said though the members were still outlawed, they were trying to be "good citizen" to bring a lasting solution to the "conflict".
Before the delegation went for first formal talks, home minister P Chidambaram, whom the Ulfa leaders met, said, "I assured them that the government of India and government of Assam will engage them in sincere and meaningful talks and I am confident that we will find a just and honourable solution". The outfit's delegation will meet the PM here on Monday.
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September, 2008 Blast in Gujarat...the Hindu radicals' terror act

Modasa blast: NIA says Samjhauta accused did it

Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Feb 9, 2011, 05.00am IST
NEW DELHI: A month after Union home minister P Chidambaram credited the NIA with a "breakthrough" in the Samjhauta Express train blast, the central probe agency has now `formally' claimed to have achieved a similar "breakthrough" in the 2008 Modasa (Gujarat) blast case amid indications that both the incidents were carried out by the same group of Hindu radicals comprising members of Abhinav Bharat.
Although the confessional statement of Swami Aseemanand and subsequent questioning of Bharat Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai and others made it amply clear that the Modasa blast too was the handiwork of the Hindu radicals, the NIA's latest claim is learnt to have been made after the agency collected some corroborative evidence.
Without disclosing what it has got during investigation of the Modasa blast case, the NIA -- in a brief report on its achievements during 2010 -- stated achieving a "breakthrough" in the case. The report has listed out breakthroughs in both Modasa and Samjhauta blast cases as the NIA's "significant achievements in the field of investigation".
Sources in the agency, meanwhile, said that the forensic and technical examination of the motorcycle used in the blast had made some substantial progress. It had helped the agency zero in on certain people who were linked to members of Abhinav Bharat including the absconders Sandeep Dange, Ramchandra Kalsangra and Ashwini Chauhan, they added.
The blast in Modasa was carried out on September 29, 2008 -- the day a similar incident took place in Malegaon. While one person was killed in Modasa, six persons died in the Malegaon incident. In both the blasts, the extremists had used motorcycles and similar kind of explosives.
Though the Maharashtra Police had cracked the Malegaon case quickly and arrested 11 persons including Lt Col Srikant Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Dayanand Pande after tracing the original owner of the used motorcycle (the Sadhvi), the Gujarat Police could not make any breakthrough in the case of Modasa. The probe was subsequently handed over to NIA in July last year.
Sources said the mystery behind the ownership of the motorcycle, used in Modasa blast, had delayed the probe. The perpetrators of the blast had meticulously erased all the numbers including the engine and chassis numbers, making it difficult to reach the real culprists, they added.
Questioning of American Lashkar terrorist David Coleman Headley, getting Red Corner Notices (RCNs) issued against five Pakistani nationals including retired and serving Army personnel (Major Sameer Ali, Major Iqbal and Syed Abdur Rehman) and terrorists Sajid Majid and Ilyas Kashmiri and arrest of prominent north-eastern insurgents like Niranjan Hojai, Anthony Shimrey and R K Meghen are the other matters listed as the "significant achievements" by the NIA in its report.
The report also said that the agency in 2010 had created a "digital repository" comprising a database on terrorists, terror organizations, cases and interrogation reports. "The total number of records available in the database is 10,380 including 4,083 interrogation reports and 407 dossiers of terrorists," it said........................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDExLzAyLzA5I0FyMDE5MDE=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

David Coleman Headley...India is expecting too much from Pakistan on American terrorist having links with ISI

India to seek Pakistan court help on Headley

Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Feb 6, 2011, 01.59am IST
NEW DELHI: India will soon send a Letter Rogatory (LR) to Pakistan, requesting it to "transfer evidence" in connection with NIA's case here against the American Lashkar terrorist, David Coleman Headley, and his Canadian associate, Tahawwur Hussain Rana.
"The LR (a formal request from a court to a foreign court for any judicial assistance) has been prepared and submitted to a Mumbai court after obtaining government's approval. It is likely to be sent to Pakistan shortly for execution and transfer of evidence," said a senior home ministry official.
The NIA needs certain information, available with Pakistan, to corroborate what Headley told Indian sleuths during his interrogation in Chicago in June last year. The information pertains to the places Headley visited in Pakistan for his terror training, his bank accounts, if any, and his 'contacts'.
"It will help the Indian agency to file the chargesheet against Headley and Rana in due course, as and when the probe against the duo is completed," said the official.
The information to be sought from Pakistan through the LR is independent from what New Delhi has already sought from Islamabad through a number of dossiers in the past two years on details about other 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused and related materials including their `voice samples'.
It was in November 2009 that NIA had filed the case against Headley alias Dawood Gilani, Rana and others for entering into a criminal conspiracy with members of LeT and HUJI to commit terrorist acts in New Delhi and other places in India. The case was filed against them under Sections 121A, 120 (B) IPC, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section-18 of the SAARC Convention (Suppression of Terrorism) Act, 1993.
Although the American terrorists had provided a lot of information to the Indian agency which led it to broaden the probe, the interrogation report does not have any evidence value as it was not recorded before a magistrate as per an agreement reached between Headley and FBI under plea bargaining. The FBI had arrested Headley and Rana in October 2009 in Chicago.
"Further investigation has already been conducted in India on the basis of Headley's interrogation report. The NIA now needs certain information from Pakistan to complete the probe before filing the chargesheet against the duo," said the official.
The LR will be sent to Pakistan amid indications that Headley may not be formally chargesheeted in India till the Pakistani national and fellow jihadi Mohammed Ajmal Kasab's conviction in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case is finally confirmed by the Supreme Court.
Such an indication comes from the apprehension among Indian agencies that Kasab would use the Headley charges to delay legal processes. Though Kasab has already been convicted by the trial court, the matter is currently being heard by the Bombay High Court for confirmation. If the HC confirms his conviction (death penalty), the matter will go to the Supreme Court in due course...............http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JQ0gvMjAxMS8wMi8wNiNBcjAwOTAw&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Endless search for most wanted Hindu radicals (terrorists) continues....

Missing SIM cards key to Hindu terror absconders

Vishwa Mohan\ TNN
New Delhi: Seven missing mobile SIM cards, procured by the gang of Hindu radicals in 2006 to carry out a number of terror attacks in India, hold the key to the mystery behind the whereabouts of three most wanted absconders who executed the ‘bomb for bomb’ plan.
Police of two states (Rajasthan and Maharashtra), CBI and NIA have so far not been able to trace the deadly trio — Sandeep Dange, Ramchandra Kalsangra and Ashok alias Ashwini Chauhan — despite camping at various places in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
These three, along with Sunil Joshi (who was reportedly killed in December, 2007 by his own men to cover their misdeeds) and a couple of others, had carried out all the operational works including planting the bombs at Malegaon, Hyderabad, Ajmer and Samjhauta Express.
“Devendra Gupta, who had procured these SIM cards using fake identities, has given Rajasthan police a lot of details about the users of these cards which can lead us to the absconders,” said an official of an investigating agency.
The accused might have destroyed it making the links cold beyond a point. But if, officials believe, they can trace the people who might have used it later on, it will lead them to the trio who are important to join dots in the probe.
“Details procured from three telecom service providers and technical examination of all the SIM cards have, so far, not served any purpose. But, trailing those details is the only way out now to reach the absconders,” said the official, admitting that the probe was initially hampered due to delay in handing over the Mecca Masjid blast probe by Andhra Pradesh police to CBI in 2007.
The ‘bomb for bomb’ plan was first discussed during the gathering of 10 Hindu radicals, including Swami Aseemanand and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, at Ujjain during the occasion of ‘Singhasth Kumbh’ in 2004. It was formalized with basic details at Shabridham in Gujarat at the occasion of another Kumbh (Shabri) two years later in February, 2006 when it was decided that Gupta along with others would be the part of the team to arrange logistics.
Gupta, who is currently in Jaipur jail in connection with his alleged role in the Ajmer blast, had procured 11 SIM cards from Jamtara in Jharkhand and Asansol in West Bengal between May 24, 2006 and November 26, 2006. He and two others had also procured eight mobile phone handsets (Nokia) from different places during the period.
These SIM cards and mobile phones were procured to use them as ‘timer device’ in bombs for terror attacks. While two of the SIM cards were used in Mecca Masjid blast in May 2007, another two were used in Ajmer blast in October, 2007.
One SIM card each was destroyed in these two incidents whereas the police recovered one each from unexploded bombs in both these incidents. “The probe about the remaining seven continues,” said the official, adding it were the unexploded bombs which helped us in cracking the case.
Similarly, one mobile handset each was destroyed in Hyderabad and Ajmer blast, the two unexploded ones were in the custody of investigating agencies. One out of remaining four was recovered from another accused Chandrashekhar Leve and two from his contact Vishnu Patidar whereas the fourth was thrown away by another gang member.
Four mobile phones were procured by Devendra Gupta from Jharkhand and West Bengal, the remaining four were procured by the arrested accused Lokesh Sharma and absconder Ramchandra Kalsangra from Delhi and Faridabad.
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