Hyderabad, July 13:Andhra Pradesh High Court has asked the CBI to probe in two weeks Jaganmohan Reddy's alleged amassing of wealth and money laundering during his father's reign, acting on a complaint by a loyalist of chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.
The final decision on hearing the complaint by P. Shankar Rao, a minister in the Kiran Reddy cabinet, will be taken on the basis of the CBI report, the court said yesterday. A division bench of Chief Justice Nisar Ahmed Kakru and Justice Vilas V. Afzalpurkar asked the agency to submit its report in a sealed cover.
A spokesperson for the YSR Congress Party, floated by Jagan after he quit the Congress, dubbed the move "an act of coercion". Sources indicated the breakaway leader would seek a Supreme Court injunction against the order.
"All these attempts are an act of coercion by the Congress to ensure Jagan tows its line," said Ambati Rambabau, the YSR Congress spokesperson.
The high court's directive came barely a week after 27 MLAs and two MPs of the Congress attended the first plenary of Jagan's party on home turf Kadapa. The state Congress and the Speaker had issued notices to some of the leaders for participating in the plenary and other Jagan events earlier.
Rao, the minister, had written in January and in April this year to the high court, which treated the letters as formal complaints to order the probe. He alleged that Jagan laundered money by floating fictitious firms and routing the "black money" through outfits in Mauritius.
Rao pointed out that Jagan's personal income was only Rs 9.19 lakh before his father Y.S.R. Reddy became chief minister but shot up to Rs 77.40 crore in 2009 and Rs 445 crore in 2011, as mentioned in his election affidavits. Jagan had also filed advance income tax of Rs 84 crore in October last year.
At the heart of the letters by Rao are claims that industrialists granted land for special economic zones (SEZs) during YSR's regime were forced to invest to the tune of Rs 300 crore in the Jagapati Enterprises, Jagan's company that also financed his Sakshi TV and Sakshinewspaper.
Earlier, the income tax department had asked Jagan to explain how he had acquired a stake of 90 per cent in Jagapati Enterprises worth Rs 73 crore. Later, the media company had been slapped with a tax demand of Rs 122 crore after the department detected "unaccounted funds".
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Omar govt spanner on march plan
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Srinagar, July 13:The Jammu and Kashmir government today imposed curfew-like restrictions to prevent separatists from leading march to a Srinagar graveyard.
Police arrested separatist Shabir Shah and placed other leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, under house arrest.
Separatists from both hardline and moderate factions had asked people to march to the graveyard at Naqshband Sahib.
July 13 is observed as martyrs' day to commemorate the deaths of 21 Kashmiris, buried at the Naqshband Sahib graveyard, in firing by the state's Dogra rulers in 1931.
The killings had triggered a struggle against the Dogra rulers under the leadership of Shiekh Mohammad Abdullah, the grandfather of chief minister Omar Abdullah.
Both Omar's National Conference and the separatists claim to be real inheritors of the struggle.
Thousands of policemen and paramilitary personnel had been deployed in the old city. They prevented any pedestrian or vehicular movement. People said they were warned to stay indoors, although there was no official announcement of a curfew.
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Scrutiny heat on Sai Baba trust
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Hyderabad, July 13:The Andhra Pradesh government is thinking of bringing the Sathya Sai Central Trust under its scrutiny, withdrawing all the exemptions it has been enjoying for over two decades and even after Sai Baba's death in April this year.
The indication came from chief minister Kiran Reddy, who reviewed the affairs of the trust and made it clear it was not above the "law of the land".
Last week, the late godman's ashram in Puttaparthi, Prashanti Nilayam, was asked to pay Rs 3.35 crore in arrears for electricity consumption over one-and-a-half years.
If, and when, the exemptions under the Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act of 1977 are withdrawn, every activity of the cash-rich trust will be open to scrutiny. Even the tax exemptions it enjoyed will be withdrawn.
"Everyone has to obey the law of the land," Reddy said, directing the endowment secretary to study the trust's reply to a notice issued by the endowment department.
The government has directed all departments not to spare the trust if it was guilty of any violations. The water and police departments have already been scrutinising dues. Nearly 50 constables used to be hired by the trust every year for events it organised.On Monday, the trust had submitted a detailed report to the government on its various activities, financial status, and movable and immovable assets. The report, running into hundreds of pages, also mentioned plans, including social service activities.
A government official said the intelligence department had been directed to scrutinise the report. "The report will be circulated to the revenue and finance departments, the registrar of societies and other departments and it may take a few weeks to verify the facts," said a senior official in the endowment department.
Officials said this was the first time the Sathya Sai trust had come forward to submit a report on its functioning to the state government. "In the past, we could not even dare to question its activities," said an official.
Trust media coordinator Anantaraman refused to go into details of the report. "It is a confidential document and excepting a few details most of the content is already available in the public domain," he said.
A second round of scrutiny of some other rooms in Sai Baba's personal chambers, Yajur Mandir, last week revealed a collection of gold rings, gold chains and imported cosmetics like nail polish, perfumes and shampoo.
Last month, a team of chartered accountants and bank officials had found cash and jewellery worth Rs 35 crore in the two-storey living quarters of the late spiritual leader.
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Only Sanskrit daily gasps for life
K.M. RAKESH
Bangalore, July 13:Naughtiness killed the News of the World, but it's a holy tongue that has made life hell for Sudharma.
The world's only Sanskrit newspaper that turns 41 on Friday is tottering under the weight of overall disinterest in the language of the gods.
"We can't even cover half of the operational costs," said K.V. Sampath Kumar who edits the two-page newspaper.
Based in Mysore, some 140km from here, the newspaper is gasping but still alive, unlike Rupert Murdoch's scandal-sheet, though that's not the sole difference between the two.
Unlike the 168-year-old British tabloid, which closed down following allegations of phone-hacking and bribery, Sudharma— as the name suggests — is a straightforward newspaper whose staple is mainstream news and articles based on Hindu scriptures and yoga.
Literally home-made, the single-sheet product, which has a cover price of Re 1, is edited, composed and printed at the residence of Kumar and his wife Jayalakshmi, both Sanskrit scholars. Some 3,000 copies are printed and posted to subscribers every day except Sunday.
But apart from the academic interest in being the "world's only" Sanskrit newspaper, what purpose does it serve?
"After we started our daily, AIR started to broadcast Sanskrit news. Twelve universities were established in the country exclusively for Sanskrit studies. Thousands of students are now studying the language," Kumar told The Telegraphtoday, explaining what kept the product ticking despite no big-ticket sales pitch or circulation schemes like the state's more popular vernaculars and English-language dailies.
There's an emotional reason, too.
When Kumar's father, Pandit Varadaraja Iyengar, started the newspaper on July 15, 1970, he had just one aim — to serve the mother of all Indian languages.
More than 20 years later, as he lay on his deathbed, his one wish was that his son must carry on with the paper — come what may.
But does it make economic sense today? "That word I gave to my father is driving me and my wife in this mission," Kumar said.
The 50-year-old prefers to keep a low profile with no circulation or revenue targets. "We are not competing with any other newspaper. We are just serving Goddess Saraswati and Sanskrit lovers from around the world," he said, emphasising that love for the language was the only reason why the paper was still being printed.
In keeping with the times, Sudharmawent online three years ago and the site gets regular hits from some 85 countries. "Lots of foreigners are keen on Sanskrit even today," Kumar said.
While rising input costs are gnawing into the revenues, Kumar's support is his wife and a few die-hard Sanskrit lovers. Besides the couple, two honorary editors and a few Sanskrit scholars contribute a few hours every day to fine-tune the articles and set the pages. All of them work for free.
To break even, the couple have taken up external print jobs. "That pays for the material and the four workers who handle the printing," said Jayalakshmi, 40, who has been part of the show for 18 years.
To mark the paper's foundation day, a gathering of Sanskrit and Kannada scholars has been scheduled for July 30 and 31. "We expect to create more awareness on the need to preserve and popularise this great language," Jayalakshmi said.
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A flutter & frantic bid to flee car
SADAF MODAK
Mumbai, July 13:Pigeons at Dadar's bustling Kabutar Khana fluttered noisily as a deafening explosion shattered the rain-induced calm outside Antonio D'Silva School, next to the Hanuman Mandir bus stop.
For Rajendra Rathod, it brought back memories of the two blasts that had rocked this Shiv Sena bastion in the heart of Mumbai nearly 18 years ago.
The sound was so loud that Rathod, who was in his small shop N. Raichand Jewellers across the road, stumbled and almost fell. When he looked up, he saw smoke billowing from the back of a Maruti Esteem MH 4A 9345 that was heading towards the bus stop and a man frantically trying to get out of it.
"It took me several minutes to realise it was a bomb blast," Rathod said.
The road near the bus stop where the explosion took place was splattered with blood and glass shards. Dazed people stood around, some of them bleeding. Many parked vehicles were damaged. The windscreen of the Esteem, which was traced to one Hiten Patel from Navi Mumbai, was shattered and its bonnet damaged. It is not known if Patel survived the blast.
"I heard a loud explosion. I saw people with serious injuries lying in a pool of blood," a witness said.
Another witness said sparks were seen in an electric meter box behind the bus stop — it is 300 yards from Plaza Cinema — soon after the explosion. A part of the bus stop collapsed, injuring some people.
Policemen swamped the area with bomb and vapour detection gadgets and armoured vehicles within minutes of the explosion.
Assistant commissioner of police Madhukar Sankhe said: "Preliminary investigations show an IED was placed inside the meter box behind the bus stop. Four persons were injured and taken to nearby hospitals."
The blast site, which is a few yards from Dadar railway station and very close to the Gole temple, is usually packed in the evenings with office-goers, schoolchildren and women. Hawkers clog the narrow lanes leading to the station. The Siddhi Vinayak temple is a little distance away.
"Usually there are many people in the area but because it rained so much today the street was empty. Otherwise, the toll would have been much higher," said Rathod.
Vaibhavi Bandiwadekar, who was walking by when the explosion took place, said: "I saw three girls and a boy standing at the bus stop. All of us panicked and ran."
The Plaza cinema was one of the 12 targets of the March 1993 bombings. A few buildings away is the Sena Bhavan. A car bomb placed in a petrol pump adjoining the Sena Bhavan damaged the gas station but the Bhavan was unaffected.
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Jewellery hub hit third time
SADAF MODAK
Mumbai, July 13:What Opera House is to the diamond industry, Zaveri Bazaar is to Mumbai's gems and jewellery business — its heart.
The blast today was not Zaveri Bazaar's first brush with terror.
There is, however, some confusion about the number of explosions that rocked in the crowded market.
The Mumbai police chief and the chief minister both spoke of three explosions — one each in Zaveri Bazaar, Dadar and Opera House — but some eyewitnesses said there were two explosions in Zaveri Bazaar.
Both happened outside an eatery, Mohan Pudawala, in Zaveri Bazaar's food street which is barely a few yards from the famous Mumbadevi temple.
The bombs, eyewitnesses said, were on two motorbikes.
Ramesh Ojha, who runs a dairy shop near the eatery, said: "Around 6.45pm or so, there was a low explosion, and it was followed by another one few minutes later. Both the bikes were in flames when I rushed to the spot."
Video footage of the blast moments, recorded by an eyewitness on his mobile phone, showed a fire engulfing a cluster of vehicles and people running helter-skelter.
"We first doused the fire. I counted at least six bodies on the road. I placed at least three of them on hawkers' carts and in private cars, and rushed them to hospital," said Ojha.
"They were so badly mangled, I don't know if they will survive. At least 25 others were injured by shrapnel," he said. He pointed to the adjoining lane that had witnessed a similar explosion in August 2003.
Today's blast was the third in Zaveri Bazaar. It first became an underworld target on March 12, 1993. A scooter laden with RDX exploded killing 17 people.
In August 2003, terror revisited the bazaar when a powerful bomb planted in a taxi went off.
The jewellery hub also lost several traders in the July 11, 2006, train blasts.
Today, most of the injured were rushed to the nearby GT Hospital.
When state home minister R.R. Patil visited the hospital close to midnight, relatives of the deceased shouted slogans against him and Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi, who accompanied the minister.
Kishore Gidh, whose 27-year- old neighbour Rajesh Khedekar died in the blast, asked: "If there can be protection for the politicians, why not the common man?"
He tried to console Rajesh's younger brother Sitaram.
Rajesh, a Goregaon resident, was the sole breadwinner of his family and had been working in the jewellery market for five years.
"He was married just two years ago and leaves behind a wife and a child. Rajesh's cousin Ramesh lost his legs in the blast," Gidh said.
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