8 August 2015

Udhampur attackers were backed by Pakistan, officials say


Preliminary report made to magistrate
The militants involved in Wednesday's attack on a Border Security Force convoy in Udhampur district were backed by Pakistani intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, police officials from Jammu and Kashmir claimed on Thursday. The officials said that they had written about the possible role of the ISI in a preliminary report submitted to Udhampur district magistrate Shahid Iqbal Choudhary. One Pakistani militant, Mohammed Naved, was captured on Wednesday shortly after he and an accomplice killed two BSF personnel and wounded nearly a dozen others in an ambush.

India hires foreign lawyers for Italian Marines case

India has hired two foreign lawyers to prevent Italy from allowing the case involving two of its marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen to be heard in an international tribunal. Known for their expertise in international arbitration, Alain Pellet and R Bundy will represent India at the International Tribunal on Law of the Sea, which will hear the case on August 10 and 11 in Hamburg. They will be accompanied by Additional Solicitor General PL Narasimha and officials from the Union External Affairs and Home Ministries. India is challenging Italy's move to take the case to the international tribunal as the marines had killed the two fishermen in Indian waters, a senior Home Ministry official said.

Congress criticises prime minister over Lalit Modi case

Congress leader Manish Tewari on Thursday targeted Narendra Modi for his alleged inaction in the Lalit Modi case, saying that the prime minister's "old track record of Godhra riots" was preventing him from demanding the resignation Union Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Tewari's remarks came after Swaraj denied in the Lok Sabha that she had asked the British government to issue travel documents for the former Indian Premier League chairperson.

Use video conferencing in Jundal case, Delhi court says

After the National Investigation Agency said that there was a threat to the life of Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Abu Jundal, a Delhi court on Thursday asked police officials to continue proceedings through video conferencing. The court asked for its order to be sent to the Superintendent of Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail, where Jundal is lodged, so that the necessary arrangements could be made. The NIA had said that Jundal could not be produced in New Delhi as his rivals would try to kidnap or assassinate him. The intelligence agency has charged Jundal with conspiring to carry out terror activities in India, including the Aurangabad arms haul case. The LeT operative is also one of the alleged masterminds behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

CBI registers seven more Vyapam FIRs

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday filed seven more First Information Reports against 77 accused in the multi-crore-rupee Vyapam cash-for-jobs scam. According to reports, three FIRs were registered against 27 accused for their involvement in alleged irregularities in the Police Constable Recruitment Test conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board. The fourth case has been filed against 12 persons over allegations of cheating by impersonation in the Jail Prahari Recruitment Test 2012. Another case was registered against 17 persons for alleged illegalities in the Police Constable Test, 2013. As per the directions of the Supreme Court, the CBI has taken over the investigation of these seven FIRs, which were earlier registered by the Madhya Pradesh Police.

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