(IANS) A "lone wolf Al Qaeda sympathiser" who plotted to bomb police cars and postal facilities in Manhattan as also US soldiers was arrested as he was preparing to create working explosives, officials said.
Jose Pimentel, 27, described as a "lone wolf" with no ties to international groups, planned to carry out a one-man terror spree in retaliation for the US killing of Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in September, according to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
"He was a reader of Al Qaeda's slick online magazine Inspire - and inspire him it did," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
But Pimentel was not part of a larger terrorism plot. "There is no evidence he worked with anyone else," Bloomberg said. "He appears to be ... a lone wolf."
Pimentel's was the 14th terror attack thwarted by the New York Police since the 9/11 attacks, the mayor said, and justifies the city's counter-terrorism efforts.
His intended targets were US military personnel who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as US postal facilities and police in New York and Bayonne, New Jersey, officials said.
An unemployed native of the Dominican Republican who is a US citizen, Pimentel had been monitored by authorities since 2009 and his extreme positions "made some of his like-minded friends nervous," said Kelly.
Pimentel even talked about changing his name to Osama Hussein - in honor of two of his now deceased idols, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, he said.
Last August, the suspect allegedly decided to carry out the bomb plot. He "jacked up his speed" after Sep 30, when Al-Awlaki was killed in a US drone strike in Yemen, Kelly said.
The Pakistan based terror gang HUJI has demanded the Indian Government to withdraw its decision to give death punishment to Afjal Guru, who is now counting his days in Tihar jail. Otherwise, it threatens to target High Courts and Supreme Court in its next round of attacks.
2011/10/17 3:09:17 The police in Madhya Pradesh Sunday dramatically seized a huge quantity of explosives, including gelatine sticks, detonators and detonation cords, from a house and a car in Rewa district but said there was no terror link to the haul.
The discovery came four days after the discovery of an explosives-laden car in Haryana's Ambala town that police said was linked to two terror groups.
"On a tip off, we raided the house of Rajesh Patel and found a huge quantity of gelatine sticks, detonators and detonating cords. Later, we came to know that explosives were also being transported in a car. We chased and seized the car too," Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Rewa, K.P. Khare, told IANS.
Patel, a resident of Gangotari Colony in Rewa town, is absconding, he said.
"Till the time Patel is arrested, we can not say much about the source of the explosives and their intended use. But, so far we can say that it was not going to be used for a terror act," said Khare.
Madhya Pradesh police recovered 14 packets of detonating cord, two-and-a-half packets of detonators and 10 packets of gelatine sticks from the house of Patel in Rewa, over 500 km from state capital.
From the car (without a registration number) which they chased and seized, police recovered 5,000 gelatine sticks in 50 cartons and 29 packets of detonating cord. Car driver Manoj Kaul was arrested.
The DIG Khare also announced Rs.5,000 reward for constable Rajendra Singh Parihar who acted promptly in the case.
The seizure comes four days after an explosives laden car was found in the parking lot of Ambala Cantonment railway station in Haryana Oct 12.
On Oct 13, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani's anti-graft roadshow, Jan Chetna Yatra, passed through Rewa district. (IANS)
2011/11/13 10:07:28 (IANS) With a combative opposition accusing him of going soft on 26/11 terror, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said he was "optimistic" about the resumed dialogue with Pakistan, but stressed that if another "barbarous" Mumbai-like terror attack were to happen, it will be a "big setback" to the peace process.
Manmohan Singh underlined that the powerful Pakistani Army was fully on board in carrying forward the resumed peace process and added that his decision to pursue peace with Pakistan was not based on "blind faith in one individual".
Manmohan Singh also stressed that he has accepted Gilani's invitation to visit Pakistan, but stressed that he will go when Islamabad takes "solid" steps against the Mumbai terror accused.
"Our approach to Pakistan is trust but verify. We are not putting blind faith in one individual. I do hope it will genuinely lead to the normalization of relations," he said.
"If our government gets solid evidence that terror is continuing (from Pakistan), it will be a negative factor. If trade relations move positively, it will be a positive factor," Manmohan Singh said.
2011/10/10 9:30:09 The Supreme Court Monday stayed the death sentence awarded to Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone gunman captured alive during the Nov 26-29, 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
An apex court bench of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice C.K. Prasad stayed the death sentence till it hears Kasab's petition challenging his conviction and death sentence.
At the outset of the hearing, Justice Alam said that "we have to afford him full opportunity" to defend himself as provided in the judicial system.
"That is the price we have to pay to uphold the supremacy of law," the court said.
Issuing notice to the Maharashtra government, the court directed all the parties in the case to complete their pleadings by Nov 30. The final hearing in the case would be held Jan 31, 2012.
Before the final hearing, the matter would be listed Friday when it is likely to be tagged with the state government's petition challenging the acquittal of Fahim Harshad Mohammad Yusuf Ansari and Sabauddin Shaikh in the Mumbai terror attack case.
Senior counsel Raju Ramachandran, who has been appointed amicus curiae (friend of the court) to defend Kasab, said: "People may believe it otherwise, but the due process of law demands that the accused should be given full opportunity to defend his case in the highest court."
Kasab was one of 10 Pakistanis who illegally sailed into India from Pakistan and launched the Nov 26-29 mayhem killing 166 people, including many foreigners.
He was awarded death sentence by a Mumbai trial court May 6, 2010. Besides other charges, he was convicted for waging war against the nation. The Bombay High Court upheld the verdict. (IANS)
2011/10/9 11:09:48 The Supreme Court Monday is likely to hear a plea by Ajmal Amir Kasab - the lone Pakistani terrorist to be captured during the 2008 Mumbai terror attack - challenging his conviction and death sentence.
Kasab was one of 10 Pakistanis who illegally sailed into India from Pakistan and launched the Nov 26-29 mayhem killing 166 people, including foreigners.
His plea seeking suspension of his death sentence is likely to be heard by an apex court bench of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice C.K. Prasad.
Kasab moved the apex court through the authorities at Mumbai's Arther Road Jail, where he is currently lodged.
The apex court had earlier appointed senior counsel Raju Ramachandran as amicus curiae (friend of the court) to defend Kasab.
The case papers run into 11 volumes, including the judgments of the trial court and the Bombay High Court. On the basis of the material supplied by the Maharashtra government, counsel Gaurav Agarwal has filed the petition on behalf of Kasab.
Ramachandran Monday is likely to seek permission of the court to file more documents.
During the hearing on the Maharashtra government's petition challenging the acquittal of Fahim Harshad Mohammad Yusuf Ansari and Sabauddin Shaikh in the Mumbai terror attack case, the apex court Sep 2 permitted the government to complete filing of papers in connection with Kasab's case.
Ansari and Shaikh were acquitted for want of corroborative evidence.
Kasab was awarded death sentence by a Mumbai trial court May 6, 2010. Besides other charges, he was convicted for waging war against the nation. The high court upheld the verdict. (IANS)
2011/11/19 19:02:31 (IANS) Four British men have been charged with raising funds for terror purposes and of travelling to Pakistan for terrorist training, a media report said Saturday.
Khobaib Hussain, Ishaaq Hussain and Shahid Kasam Khan -- all 19 years -- and Naweed Mahmood Ali, 24, were Friday night charged with the crimes by the Crown Prosecution Service, Sky news reported.
All four were arrested from their homes in Sparkhill area of Birmingham by officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit Nov 15.
Police said the arrests were "pre-planned" and were part of a major ongoing investigation.
The Praja Rajyam party Chiranjeevi was arrested and taken to the Goshamahal stadium. The PRP staged a dharna outside the office of APIIC in protest against the irregularited in the EMMAR deal.
Chiranjeevi and other party leaders were arrested when they tried to barge into the APIIC office.
Bipasha Basu has suffered many traumatic events, but what happened yesterday on her trip to New York is something she will never forget.
Thanks to the foiled terror attacks in the UK on Thursday, Basu was stranded at Heathrow airport for six hours before her flight finally took off for New York. She spills the beans on her nightmarish experience.
Mid-air mayhem
Says Bipasha, “We were in transit (USA via London) when one of the cabin crew got a call from Australia asking if we were fine. That’s when we got to know that there was news of terrorists planting bombs in the planes. Rocky and I made some calls and one of the first calls was to my mom. She was panicking when I spoke to her.”
Once the plane landed at Heathrow airport, she discovered that the airport was packed with stranded passengers.
“We could see the crowds from the plane itself. We were not allowed to disembark from the aircraft but had to wait in the plane for six hours,” says Bipasha, adding, “Ours was an Air India flight, that’s why we could reach New York. I heard that most of the American and British airlines were still stuck at the airport. We landed in New York at 9.30 pm. We would have landed earlier but there was heavy rush at the airport and clearance took a lot of time.”
The trauma
How did her friends and family react? Bipasha shudders, “It’s scary to think that you can get blown off mid-air! My mom, who had no news of what was happening to me, was frantic till I called her up and told her I was safe.
We were getting messages from people asking if we were all right, and that’s when it struck us how terrible the situation was. We could have had a bomb in the plane and would have been blown apart without us even knowing about it.”
Security risks
But Bipasha is all praise for the security arrangements at international airports. “The security measures are fantastic but it’s frightening to think that terrorists can still get past them. No matter how many precautions you take, your life is still exposed to risk.
According to the new safety rules, the aircraft crew was carrying transparent plastic bags with passports and other important papers in it.
Thanks to the rules, we are not allowed to carry any kind of liquids as the terrorists had planned to plant liquid explosives. Our luggage was checked thoroughly.
Travelling has become very dangerous nowadays. Anything can happen anywhere…” says the actress, before signing off. She returns to Mumbai on August 18.
2011/8/11 3:18:31 Nandi Srihari who has produced film ‘Nagaram Nidrapothunna Vela’ with Charmi and Jagapati babu has been arrested by Hyderabad north zone police on yesterday for cheating the public about Rs. 90 crores through his Gurudev Multi Level Marketing. Recently, the police also arrested the side heroine of the same film while she was engaged in prostitution.
On agenda is an absolute treat for the film buffs, as the 6th European film festival will be organised in Pune from April 24 to 30 in collaboration with Max Mueller Bhavan, Pune Alliance Francaise de Poona, British library and National Film Archive of India. Incidentally European Union is also celebrating the year 2008, as the year of intercultural dialogue and aims at emphasizing the diversity of cultures between Europe and India.
“Our aim is to develop a film culture and introduce people to different genres of cinema,” says Vijay Jadhav, director National Films Archive of India.
This year 14 recent films from 14 European countries will be shown. The selection includes international hits like Long Weekend from Belgium, Yella from Germany and You and Me from France. “There are many different ways of making films in Europe. Diversity of European countries will be portrayed through these films. German and French films have definitely made an impact, but we will try to bring up several other films from other European countries which are equally good and different,” says Dr Eva Wolf-Manfre, director Goethe Institut, Pune.
The inaugral film is Short Circuits a Slovenian film made in the year 2006 by the director Janez Lapaje, which has won numerous awards. The film starts at night and merges together diverse instances of a bus driver finding an abandoned baby near a bus stop, a divorced man coming to pick up his excited son for the weekend and a pretty doctor befriending a quadriplegic.
Out of this unfolds a delicate story of human relationships, and the protagonists are confronted with different ways of looking at the events. It had also won the official submission to the best foreign language film category at the 80th Annual Academy awards. “There is one film from Denmark which talks about the life of street children in India,” informs Dr Wolf-Manfre.
The closing film on April 30 will be the French film You and Me. The film deals with the life of the editor of a magazine, Ariane, who has the tendency to transpose the love lives of herself and her sister onto the pages- albeit with some extra flourishes.
“The multifaceted relationship between India and European encompasses a dialogue between modern day state nations built on ancient civilisations, enriched with myriad cultures, religions, ethnicities and languages. Intercultural dialogue has become important in fostering European identity and citizenship,” concludes Dr Wolf-Manfre.
2011/8/1 8:25:10 Veteran actress and active member of DMK party Kushboo was arrested by Chennai Police on Monday, while she and her party workers staging a picket in the city in protest against Kum. Jaya Lalitha’s vindictive handling of DMK party cadres. DMK has been staging pickets all over the state. Karunanidhi’s son Alagiri and several others were also among the arrested. However, they all released on bail within hours.
2011/10/1 11:54:16 Harish Yadav, the political cartoonist of leading Gujarati daily Prabhat Kiran has been arrested by police on Saturday morning for drawing cartoon on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi showing that he is opposing Muslim minorities.
He takes inspiration from an incident that happens during Modi's recent 3-day fasting. It came to know that when a Muslim leader has tried to put the traditional Muslim cap on his head, Modi is said to be refused to wear it. The cartoonist who is inspired with this incident draws a cartoon on him and it irks Modi, thus the cartoonist got arrested. This might be the first case in the recent times that a cartoonist got arrested for his work.
2011/11/10 1:50:24 (IANS) Ajmal Amir Kasab, convicted by an Indian court for the 26/11 Mumbai attack, is a terrorist and should be sent to the gallows, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said here Thursday after delegation level talks between the two countries.
He said the Pakistani judicial commission looking into the terror attack would be coming to India soon and would positively impact the trial of those accused in the Mumbai terror attack.
"The judicial commission has a limited mandate. They'll be in India any time after we hear from the Indian side. They will submit the report after the visit which is going to give a positive impact to the judicial process (of 26/11)," Malik told reporters at the Shangri La Hotel.
Talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's Yousuf Raza Gilani were preceded by delegation level discussions between the two countries.
The judicial commission report, Malik said, would help plug the legal lacuna and move forward the trial of those accused in the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attack.
India had last week welcomed Pakistan's decision to send a judicial commission to interview witnesses connected with the 26/11 terror probe.
"We look forward to the visit of the judicial commission," Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai had told reporters Nov 5.
Pakistan's High Commissioner Shahid Malik has conveyed to Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram that the Pakistani government would soon be sending the commission to take forward the process of bringing to justice the perpetrators and conspirators of the Mumbai carnage.
The commission is expected to record the statements of Mumbai Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R.V. Sawant Waghule and investigating officer Ramesh Mahale, who had recorded the confessional statement of Ajmal Amir Kasab, convicted of the terror attack.
Islamabad has contended that the charges against seven LeT militants, including its 'operation commander' Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who are currently lodged in a Pakistani jail, were based on Kasab's statement and hence the magistrate and the investigating officer's statements were necessary to furnish before the anti-terror court.
At least 166 people were killed in the 26/11 attack by 10 Pakistan-based terrorists in Mumbai.
2011/8/6 1:20:47 Congress party official spokes person Janardhan Dwivedi has told the media that, the operation of AICC president Sonia Gandhi was successful and she was shifted to ICU on yesterday, in Memorial Sloan Catering Cancer Center in New York. He said, media should respect the privacy of such big personalities. Hence he refused to give any details further about her.
He said, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka and her husband Robert Wadera are now at New York with Sonia Gandhi. She has preferred to undergo surgery at New York only to avoid unnecessary attention of media, visitors and of course to avoid disturbance to other patients. It will also enable her to take complete rest without any disturbance from visitors. He said Sonia Gandhi may return home after 3-4 weeks depending on her health condition.
2011/9/6 6:16:00 New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) Rajya Sabha MP and former Samajwadi Party MP Amar Singh was Tuesday arrested and sent to judicial custody until Sep 19 for alleged involvement in the cash-for-vote scandal that rocked the parliament in 2008.
Post "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" (KANK), director Karan Johar has found a new job to keep himself occupied - that of a marriage counsellor!
"I'm here in New York and doing a great job of advising Indian couples on their marriages. 'Kabhi Alvida...' seems to have triggered off this chain of doubts and revisions in the minds of many couples. And they feel I'm in a position to advise them. Lucky me, poor them," said Johar, who is holidaying in New York.
News is Johar has already started working on his next project. Without going into too many details at the moment, it would be a film that would again take him into the arena of mature human relationships.
"That's the only way to go," asserted Johar.
"I've tasted blood. And okay, not everyone loved my effort to probe the cult of marriages. But the response has encouraged me to go beyond KANK the next time. But for now I'm in New York for a richly deserved holiday," Johar told IANS.
Not New York again! Didn't he shot KANK there?
"Yes, I did. But it's one thing to shoot a film in a city. It's another thing to holiday in the same city. When you're on location, you can never enjoy the place. I am finally getting to be in New York without looking at every landscape for a potential shot."
In the second week of September, Johar will go to Canada to attend the Toronto Film Festival where KANK will be screened under the title "Never Say Goodbye" in the Gala Presentations section.
The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta.
"Amit-ji will also be joining me in Toronto from London (where he's shooting for Balkrishnan's 'Cheeni Kam'). Should be loads of fun."
2011/1/8 9:54:04 Police has arrested TRS leader Vijaya Shanthi for violating the prohibition orders. Today, she has come to Osmania University to take stock of the prevailing situation inside the University campus. Though, she was told not to enter the campus, she entered and police has immediately arrested her and sent to Tirumalagiri police station.
2011/10/15 10:43:47 Keeping its words, the State Police has slapped several cases under Railway Protection Act against Telangana activists and leaders including MPs and MLAs for participating in the Rail Roko agitation that began here on Saturday.
Police have arrested Congress MPs S Rajaiah and G Vivek, TRS MP Vijaya Shanti, MLA T Harish Rao and Telangana Jagruthi president K Kavitha under the Railway Protection Act.
According to Additional DGP (Law & Order) and police spokesperson SA Huda, the leaders have been arrested under the Railway Protection Act at different places. Other leaders including MPs Balaram Naik, Madhu Yashki and Ponnam Prabhakar, MLAs Kavitha and Koppula Eshwar have also been arrested.
Huda said that the TRS MLA KT Rama Rao was arrested under Sections 353, 506 IPC for abusing the Police at Seethaphalamandi Police Station in Hyderabad.
In Hyderabad city, 63 cases were booked in connection with Rail Roko and 49 people have been arrested. In Cyberabad police limits, 136 persons were arrested in 18 cases under Sec. 151 Cr.P.C. Another 88 persons were arrested in eight specific offences including four cases under The Railway Act 1989.
The police said that 718 persons were taken into preventive custody in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, across the Telangana region, as many as 2,382 were arrested which include 2,133 cases of preventive arrests.
Police arrested 322 people in Mahabubnagar, 260 in Medak, 268 in Nalgonda, 197 in Nizamabad, 347 in Adilabad, 248 in Khammam, 115 in Karimnagar, 245 in Warangal, 73 in Ranga Reddy and 307 people have been arrested in the State Capital.
According to Huda, unknown miscreants removed track clips (80) rings between Gatepally Railway gate and Elgur railway Station and at Nekkonda in Warangal district and between Kothapally and Peddapally railway Stations in Karimnagar district.
Huda said that one sub-inspector Yousuf Jani Mohd and his gunman were injured in stone pelting incident at Mahabubabad in Warangal district. At Osmania University police used teargas after the agitators pelted stones, he said. In Cyberabad one Asst Drill Instructor and two Police Constables were injured when stones were thrown on the bus in which they were travelling. (INN)
Even as actors like Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai and Irrfan make headlines about their Hollywood projects, Om Puri, a veteran in the cross-border genre, has been lying low.
Now, after a gap of three years the actor — who has done several international projects including Wolf, City of Joy, East is East, The Zoo Keeper, Gandhi, The Ghost and The Darkness among others — is ready to start his next Hollywood film, Charlie Wilson’s War.
The film, which also stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, is to be directed by Mike Nichols, who earlier directed Puri in Wolf (1994). In Charlie Wilson’s War, Puri plays the role of former Pakistani President General Zia-ul-Huq. Puri says the dictator doesn’t appear as a villain in the film.
“He appears as a tough and cunning politician who has done his homework well. The film is not about him but on his relationships with the Americans. He wants that the money and arms for Afghanistan should flow through Pakistan,” says Puri, over phone from Mumbai. The US understands his agenda “but the Americans want to get their work done, so they are very polite with him,” adds the actor, who was awarded the Order of The British Empire (OBE) in 2004.
The movie is based on George Crile’s book, Charlie Wilson’s War, which revolves around the story of a Congressman from Texas and a CIA official who spurred the Congress and the CIA to help the Afghan rebels in their fight against the Afghan government, which was then in power with the support of the Soviet Union.
Hanks, who is also producing the film along with Gary Goetzman, plays Charlie Wilson, the Texas Congressman in charge of the US funding of the Afghan rebels and Roberts (this is her comeback film after the birth of her twins) is slated to play Joanne Herring, a socialite who helps Wilson raise support for the cause.
Puri has already been to Los Angeles for trials of make-up and costume and he will be leaving for Morocco on October 9 for his first schedule. “They will be shooting the Afghanistan and Pakistan portions in Morocco. And later, in December, I will be in Houston for a week,” adds Puri.
About Tom Hanks and Roberts, Puri says, “Most of my scenes in the film are with them.” On why he has not done any international project in three years, Puri informs, “I had a surgery and there were also date problems. The bulk of my work has been in Britain but for quite sometime the British film industry has been lying low. Of course, due to my illness I also said no to several offers that came my way.”
Back home, Puri has Farhan Akhtar’s Don-The Chase Begins Again and Mani Shankar’s Mukhbir among others. He is also doing a film with Priyadarshan and the Victoria No. 203 remake directed by Ananth Mahadevan.
2011/10/22 10:28:35 The West Zone team of Commissioner’s Task Force on Saturday arrested one illegal fire arm seller and seized one pistol with one live round from his possession.
According to police, the accused Nishad Ravinder is a native of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and was living in Hyderabad since 1998. He purchased one pistol from his friend Ramesh at his native place for Rs 4,000. He was trying to sell the same for Rs 30,000 to people known to him. However, on a tip off, while he was waiting at Borabanda Bus Stop on Saturday to meet his friends for disposal of the pistol, the Task Force police apprehended him.
The arrested accused person along with seized material was handed over to Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar Police Station for taking necessary action. (INN)
The police in Madhya Pradesh Sunday dramatically seized a huge quantity of explosives, including gelatine sticks, detonators and detonation cords, from a house and a car in Rewa district but said there was no terror link to the haul.
(IANS) With a combative opposition accusing him of going soft on 26/11 terror, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said he was "optimistic" about the resumed dialogue with Pakistan, but stressed that if another "barbarous" Mumbai-like terror attack were to happen, it will be a "big setback" to the peace process.
The Supreme Court Monday stayed the death sentence awarded to Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone gunman captured alive during the Nov 26-29, 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
Veteran actress and active member of DMK party Kushboo was arrested by Chennai Police on Monday, while she and her party workers staging a picket in the city in protest against Kum. Jaya Lalitha’s vindictive handling of DMK party cadres. DMK has been staging pickets all over the state. Karunanidhi’s son Alagiri and several others were also among the arrested. However, they all released on bail within hours. 
Congress party official spokes person Janardhan Dwivedi has told the media that, the operation of AICC president Sonia Gandhi was successful and she was shifted to ICU on yesterday, in Memorial Sloan Catering Cancer Center in New York. He said, media should respect the privacy of such big personalities. Hence he refused to give any details further about her. 
