26/11 terror attack case: Pak panel records statement of Investigating Officer

Mumbai:  The 8-member Judicial Commission from Pakistan, here to record statements of four key witnesses in the November 26 Mumbai terror attacks case, today took down the versions of the Investigating Officer and two doctors (who had conducted post-mortem of victims).

The proceedings were held in-camera before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S S Shinde for the second day today. Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who headed the prosecution in 26/11 trial, was also present.

The Commission recorded the statement of Senior Inspector Ramesh Mahale, who had investigated the terror attacks case. Sources said that Mahale told the Commission how the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, was overpowered by police at Girgaum Chowpatty during the attacks. Mahale also spoke of incidents in which Kasab had shot at people and policemen, killing some and injuring many others.

Mahale also told the Commission that Kasab had disclosed his role in the terror attacks voluntarily, and given a confession before a Magistrate here.

Kasab was awarded death sentence by a Mumbai court and his appeal is pending before the Supreme Court.

Later, the Commission recorded the statements of the two doctors who conducted autopsies of 26/11 victims and the nine slain terrorists, before winding up the proceedings.

The Commission had yesterday recorded the statement of Magistrate R V Sawant-Waghule who had taken on record Kasab's confession soon after his arrest. Waghule told the panel that Kasab had confessed to his role in attacks and had said that he and nine others had been sent by Lashkar-e-Taiba to unleash terror in Mumbai.

For NDTV Updates, follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook

View the original article here

Baby Falak who died of a heart attack will be cremated by her mother

New Delhi:  Baby Falak, the two-year-old who had India watching her in hospital and praying for her recovery, will be cremated by her mother. The baby died of a heart attack yesterday - her third in two months. Doctors at Delhi's AIIMS hospital, where Falak went through multiple surgeries, today handed her over to her mother, Munni.

"Her mother had come over and was handed over the body at around 4.30 PM. They then left the premises for the cremation," Deepak Agrawal, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at
the AIIMS Trauma Centre, who has been attending on Falak from the day she was admitted there, said.

Falak was being monitored by the Child Welfare Committee, and the officials had asked for an inquiry on her death. That could take till tomorrow to complete.

Falak was introduced to India under circumstances that made the country sick with anger. She was brought to AIIMS by a young teen who had been looking after her. Her face had been bitten, her head had repeatedly been smashed into a wall, and her chest showed burn marks from a hot clothes iron. The nurses who tended to her at the Intensive Care Unit named her Falak meaning "the sky." In recent weeks, doctors had said Falak was showing healthy signs of recovery and was strong enough to leave hospital. But because nobody requested them for her custody, she was moved to the general ward. Yesterday, her heart beat fluctuated all day. Then last evening, she had a heart attack. "It happened all of a sudden. She was sleeping in her bed when the cardiac arrest occurred," Dr Agrawal said.

Two earlier cardiac arrests had weakened her heart greatly. For 40 minutes, doctors tried to revive her. Finally, they gave up. "Since hers (Falak) was a medico-legal case, a post-morterm was conducted. The cardiac arrest happened due to due cardiac arrhythmia, a disorder of the heart rate when the heart beats too quickly," he said.

Till Falak met the doctors and nurses who devoted their days and nights to her, the baby had known only a world of unimaginable neglect and horror. Her mother's story is one that shames India repeatedly - she couldn't afford to look after her three children. So after being passed from one disinterested adult to another, Falak's last few weeks before being admitted to hospital were with a teen living with a married man. The young girl abused her after the man she had eloped with took off to see his wife and children.

A long police search located Falak's mother, named Munni, in Rajasthan. Munni originally lived in Bihar with her husband and three children, including Falak. Then her husband left her. Munni was lured to Delhi by a gang who trafficked sex workers. She refused to prostitute herself, so the women in the gang arranged a marriage for her to a man in Rajasthan. They brokered the deal, unknown to Munni, for two lakhs. They said she should leave her children behind, and that once she settled into her new life, her husband would be persuaded to accept them. The women then divided up the children. Falak's sister was sent home to Bihar. Her brother is five-years-old. And Falak was passed from one adult to another, all known to the gang of traffickers, till she ended up with the teen who brought her to AIIMS.

Falak's mother visited her once in hospital. She broke down after she saw her baby. She has been staying at a shelter for women run by an NGO.

The Child Welfare Committee was to decide whose custody Falak would be placed in once she left AIIMS.

For NDTV Updates, follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook

View the original article here

Israeli car bomb attack: Man arrested a journalist or spy?

New York:  The family of Syed Mohammed Kazmi, the Indian journalist who has been arrested in connection with the attack on an Israeli diplomat last month, has said that he is an innocent man who spoke the truth and has done a lot for India.
Mr Kazmi was arrested on March 7 under the Explosive Substances Act, for attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and was also booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Mr Kazmi's family feels that he is being punished for exercising his right: freedom of speech, but government sources say it is perhaps too early to come to any conclusion.
Mr Kazmi's son, Taurab Kazmi, while recalling his services to the nation said his father was innocent. "He is a journalist who spoke the truth. He did so much for the country and now he has been arrested for being an international terrorist," he said.
As evidence of his credibility, Mr Kazmi's family has a collection of his photographs with the prime minister, the former prime minister, and a range of national and international leaders.
Though Mr Kazmi had extreme views on the on-going Israel-Palestine conflict, it did not affect his work. He reported for Doordarshan News, covered the Iraq war and was also a retainer with IRNA, Iran's state news agency.
According to sources, agencies investigating the car bomb attack believe that Mr Kazmi helped the bomber, an Iranian national who stayed with him and used his vehicle to recce the Israeli embassy. Sources add the agencies don't think Mr Kazmi did not personally plant the bomb.
Reacting to these allegations, Mr. Kazmi's son Taurab says that no Iranian had ever stayed with them. "No Iranian stayed with us. The vehicle belongs to my uncle he used it go to the hospital," he said.
Sources say the operations to get Kazmi involved Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency with support from the Israeli Mossad. His arrest was cleared at the highest levels in the home ministry.
While his family prays for his release, the Delhi Union of Journalists has written to the Delhi Commissioner and Home Minister P Chidambaram asking for Mr Kazmi to be released on bail.
Tal Yeshowa, the wife of an Israeli diplomat was injured in an attack on February 13 in Delhi's high security Race Course Road area. A motorcyclist came from behind and planted what police call a 'sticky bomb' on the vehicle in which she was travelling. Four people were injured in the incident. Ms Yeshowa was hospitalised and operated for spinal injuries before being flown back to Israel.  

For NDTV Updates, follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook
View the original article here

Bangalore lawyers attack reporters with stones, iron chairs

Bangalore:  For about 60 minutes this morning, media crews outside a Bangalore court tried to duck stones, helmets, iron chairs all being flung at them by a group of nearly 500 lawyers. The riot lasted for an hour and subsided after the police resorted to a lathi-charge and tear-gassing. Ten journalists, most of them cameramen, are recovering in different hospitals in the city. Seven lawyers and 30 policemen were also injured.

"They attacked me with huge stones, they tried to take away my camera," said Mr Nagesh, a reporter with a local TV channel.

The lawyers say this was their protest against what they describe as one-sided coverage of their strike in January.   Lawyers had blocked one of the main roads near the city centre to protest against police assault against a colleague.  The protest had led to a seven-hour traffic nightmare in the heart of  Bangalore, provoking extensive media coverage.

Former minister Janardhana Reddy, arrested for illegal mining by the firms he owns in Bellary, was bring brought to court today, ensuring a huge turnout of reporters.
Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda says a judicial inquiry will identify those responsible for the worst of the violence.   The police is using the footage of news channels to find the culprits. Section 144 which bans people from assembling in groups has been imposed in the court area which is meters away from the Vidhan Soudha.

For NDTV Updates, follow us on Twitter or join us on Facebook

View the original article here