Timeline Refresh
BJP President Rajnath Singh will visit Chhattisgarh on Wednesday where Congress leaders and workers were killed in a Naxal attack on Saturday. Earlier, Singh and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley along with party general secretary in charge of Chhattisgarh J P Nadda were to visit the state tomorrow. The decision was taken at a meeting of BJP Parliamentary Board held here this evening.
Later, the party said Singh and Nadda will be visiting the state on Wednesday as a team of Union Home Ministry will be taking a review meeting in Raipur tomorrow and Chief Minister Raman Singh will be busy with that.
The BJP leaders will meet the family members of Congress leaders Nand Kumar Patel, Mahendra Karma and others who were killed in the incident on Saturday last, party leader Ananth Kumar told reporters after the meeting.
In a horrific incident, a school teacher was burnt alive by his colleagues inside the school premises in Bihar's Purnia district today. Superintendent of police Kim alleged that a group of teachers along with the principal of a middle school under Maranga police station took the teacher Ranjit Kumar (40) to a toilet, tied his hands and legs and poured kerosene on him before setting him on fire.
The ghastly incident took place before the classes began this morning and students were yet to come in. Hearing his screams for help, people staying in the neighbourhood rushed in and took the teacher to Katihar Medical College where he succumbed to his injuries in the evening, the SP said adding the reason behind the ghastly incident is yet to be known.
Kim said the attackers are absconding since the incident and the police have launched a search.
Training her guns on the Centre, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today dared it to impose central rule in the state and accused it of disturbing her government and party by issuing threats of engaging CBI against it.
"The Centre is economically depriving the state (WB). There are threats of engaging CBI against us. They (Congress) have become vindicitve against us since we pulled out of the UPA," the Trinamool Congress chief said, kicking off the party's campaign for the upcoming Howrah parliamentary bypoll.
"Congress and CPI(M) have ganged up to work against my party and the government. Threats are not going to work on me. You (Centre) use article 365 and see," she said.
Alleging that Congress was conspiring with CPI(M) to financially cripple the state and stall its development, Banerjee said, "I have struggled for 34 years despite all sorts of threats, including threats to my life. I will not bow down come what may -- I will smash the conspiracy."
Congress leaders today denied reports that the route of the ill-fated 'Parivartan Yatra', which came under Naxal attack on Saturday in south Bastar region, had been changed at the last moment.
The convoy of Congress leaders was attacked at Jiram Valley in Darbha region when it was returning from Sukma to Jagdalpur. 27 people including Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and veteran leader Mahendra Karma were killed and 37 others including former Union minster V C Shukla were injured. Reacting to reports in local media about last-moment route change, former chief minister and Congress veteran Ajit Jogi said, "Rally's route was not changed. MLA T S Singhdeo was in-charge of the route schedule and he had submitted the same route chart thrice for security approval.
"Convoy was proceeding according to its pre-decided schedule. This was a sheer security lapse," Jogi said.
He ruled out the role of the army in Bastar. "It is not a battleground," he said.
The Prime Minister earlier in the day said that he proposed to invigorate India''s relations with Japan in the political, security and energy spheres. "I propose to invigorate our relations with Japan in the political, security and energy spheres. We will explore ways to harness the full potential of our Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Partnership by intensifying and balancing our two-way trade and investment linkages," said Dr. Singh prior to his departure to Japan.
"Thanjavur airbase is going to be another strategically important airbase of the Indian Air Force. By stationing our frontline fighter aircraft Sukhoi at Thanjavur, IAF can protect vast area of interests," Antony said after inaugurating the airbase. The establishment of the premier fighter base is important in the view of current geo-political scenario and threat perception in the peninsular region and in the Indian Ocean, the Defence Minister said.
The development follows completion of barely 2,300 km of roads in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas till date out of proposed 5,477 km till 2012.
"The government has decided to relax eligibility conditions for developers like equipment capability, sub contracting for non-mechanised work and qualification criteria to attract more builders in such areas," a Road, Transport and Highways Ministry official said. The official said there was no response from contractors in some areas of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Maharashtra out of security concerns.
"This is the latest and most shocking example of the politics of violence and terror practiced by the Maoists against all their political opponents," the CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement.
Accusing the Chhattisgarh government of lack of security arrangements for the Congress yatra, it said, "On the one hand the BJP government allows the killing of innocent tribals as happened last week in the name of fighting Maoists and on the other hand it utterly fails to protect legitimate democratic activities in the state." It also demanded firm action to stop Maoist depredations and appealed to all democratic forces to fight the politics of violence by the extremists.
The NIA team will find out possible lapses on the part of the central forces or the state government. Action will be taken if anyone is found guilty, Minister of State for Home R.P.N. Singh told reporters today.
"We have asked the NIA to investigate the Maoist attack. Security lapses could have taken place. Any lapse on the part of central forces or the state government, buck will have to be stopped somewhere. We have to take action,' he said.
Kiran Bedi tweets: Is Chatthi police not better placed to probe Jagdalpur Naxal Attack than NIA?Who has better ground info for investigation?
Law Minister Kapil Sibal said the government should keep away from sports "as far as possible" as it could damage it.
"Sports can't be run by governments...governments getting involved in sports activities would ultimately damage sports," he said.
He was responding to a question as to whether government should step into the affairs of the Board of Control for Cricket in India as questions are being raised over its functioning in the wake of spot-fixing allegations.
"I am not saying that in every situation, but as far as possible government should keep away. But when it becomes absolutely necessary, then there is no way out, then of course at that time government can take a position," he said.
Mumbai's Tada court where Dutt had surrendered on May 16, has allowed the actor to get home-made food delivered to him and has agreed to his appeal to be provided with a thin mattress and pillow and medicines for a month. After that, the jail authorities will decide whether these allowances will be continued.
Shinde's being away in the US kept him from joining the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on their Chhatisgarh visit on Sunday. Incidentally, the officials who were part of Shinde's US visit delegation are already back in India. Had Shinde chosen to come back on the same aircraft as the other key members of his delegation, he would have been by the prime minister and Congress president's side as they assessed the aftermath of the Maoist assault.
Maken has won the confidence of 2482 allottees in various places by ordering a CBI probe. Another measure to up Congress vote share.
"The six bookies were operating for last 45 days in Goa and accepting bets," a police official said. The bookies were picked up from a rented room at Candolim, about 9 km away from here, police said, adding that they were being interrogated.
The betting syndicate was exposed during the joint investigation of Goa police with their Delhi counterparts. Delhi police is also in Goa to investigate the spot-fixing scandal allegedly involving IPL team Rajasthan Royals' players. All the arrested bookies are said to be from Mumbai.
The preliminary investigation into the case has revealed that the leader of the operation was Gaganna, a resident of Karimnagar in Andhra Pradesh and that the attack had been planned for the last six months. The planning and execution was handed over to Gaganna who is a senior operative in the Naxal hierarchy.
It is believed he is part of the movement for over 20 years now and has gradually risen in the ranks. He was extremely close to Kishenji and served as a deputy to another high profile Naxal leader Ganapathy.
"This is not a time for blame game', Rudy said adding the need was to create a national banner to fight the Maoist menace. "We can understand the anger, concern and anguish of AICC Chief Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. But it is very unfortunate to make statements with political implications at a time of grief", he said addressing a press conference.
"The Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) of BCCI is looking into all these matters," was Jaitley's reaction when asked about the spot-fixing scandal.
"The Supreme Court has given it (BCCI) a 15-day time limit. It will give its report which will come up before the Disciplinary Committee. Be rest assured we are going to take tough action (against anyone found guilty)," he said.
Read: How Srinivasan blunted the revolt and won over Arun Jaitley.
In an editorial piece in the party's mouthpiece Saamna, Thackeray condemned the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh that virtually left the state Congress headless and said the treatment meted out to terrorists like Ajmal Amir Kasab and Afzal Guru should also extend to those responsible for Saturday's strike.
"They should be slapped with the same stringent laws that deal with Indian Mujahideen, Laskhar-e-Taiba, Al Qaeda or other anti-national religious forces,' Thackeray said.
Shukla was taken to a hospital at Jagdalpur, the divisional headquarters of Bastar, by road, from where he was taken to Medanta hospital in Gurgaon.
Srinivasan, whose son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings CEO Gurunath Meiyappan has been arrested for alleged involvement in betting, reached here after attending the IPL final last night in Kolkata, where the crowd booed him during the presentation ceremony.
"The press is hounding me, the media is hounding me. I have already clarified everything in the press conference. I have no reason to resign," Srinivasan retorted when journalists at the airport asked him about the scandal and whether he should resign on moral grounds.
Srinivasan had yesterday held a press conference hours before the final to declare that he would not step down. He also announced the setting up of a three-member enquiry panel to investigate the scandal, that led to the arrest of three Rajasthan Royals players.
"I have this mission of empowering rape victims like me. With this job, I embark on a new journey," she said, adding that the work is also helping her heal the past wounds. Besides handling the pain and the stigma after the incident last year, it was getting difficult for the 37-year-old single mother Anglo-Indian to raise her two children without a job.
"I found her and the entire family totally distressed both mentally and financially. So I offered her a job in the helpline," activist Santasree Chaudhuri said.
Founded by her, the helpline 'Survivors for Victims of Social Injustice', helps women in distress, especially victims of sexual and domestic violence.
Suddenly, an elderly man stepped out of the eighth vehicle in the Congress convoy and said in a calm voice: "I am Mahendra Karma.'The 62-year-old founder of anti-Maoist militia Salwa Judum -- the rebels' prime target during Saturday's ambush in Chhattisgarh -- heroically chose certain death yesterday by identifying himself to the guerrillas, sacrificing his life to save those of fellow Congress leaders and workers, survivors said. Read more
"Mahendra Karma was called the 'Bastar Tiger.' But the tiger has slowed down over the years,' said the Minister in the presence of Karma and about two thousand Gond tribals. Sitting on the dais, Karma's reactions changed from surprise to utter disgust as the Minister, known for his proximity to the Gandhi family, kept repeating this formulation. Read the profile
Correction: He had just one bullet left.
"He told Shuklaji he was sorry that he could no longer protect him. He then held a pistol against his own forehead and fired the last bullet,' said Congress activist Nikhil Trivedi, who was in Shukla's vehicle.
Reports said the PSO of Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel too shot himself when he exhausted his ammo. Read the full story here.
Correction: He had just one bullet left.
"He told Shuklaji he was sorry that he could no longer protect him. He then held a pistol against his own forehead and fired the last bullet,' said Congress activist Nikhil Trivedi, who was in Shukla's vehicle.
Reports said the PSO of Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel too shot himself when he exhausted his ammo. Read the full story here.
'And Sreesanth replied: "Yaar, maine nahi kiya (I did not do it).'
The young admirer, a Class VIII student of Air Force Bal Bharti School, was in the court of the chief metropolitan magistrate to see the pacer who was produced today.
Standing close to the witness dock, Tushaar kept whispering to the cricketer while the court proceedings were on. They exchanged high fives and a handshake.Tushaar had come with his father, a constable posted at the Saket court complex. Read the full story here.
"After some time, I heard gun shots. I feared the worst," Lakma told reporters from his hospital bed. Lakma represents the Maoist-hit Konta segment in Sukma and has head injuries.
"The PCC chief, his son Dinesh and I were in the same car. When the Maoists began shooting, I got injured when glass shards hit my face and head. I was only half conscious when I saw Patel and his son being taken by the Maoists with their hands tied into the dense forest," he added. Read the full story here.
Heavily-armed Maoists had on Saturday ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, killing 27 people including Congress leader Mahendra Karma, PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh and ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar and injuring 32 others, including former union minister VC Shukla.
A survivor, Dr Shiv Narayan said nearly 20 vehicles in the convoy came under attack. "The naxals were checking almost every vehicle after the bloodbath.'
The attack took place around 4pm, but security forces could reach the spot only after 9pm.
Locals and some mediapersons helped the survivors reach Darbha police station on Saturday. From there they were taken to Maharani hospital in Jagdalpur by ambulance.
The toll in the deadly attack by suspected Maoists on a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh rose to 27 after the bullet-riddled bodies of state party chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh and eight others were found on Sunday.
The bodies were lying in the forested Jiram valley of Bastar region, about a km from the spot where the rebels had ambushed the convoy around 5pm on Saturday, the police said.