Saradha scam: Father of chit fund agent commits suicide

KOLKATA: As the multi-crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam rages on, the related loss of life continued in West Bengal with three more people linked to ponzi firms committing suicide, taking the death count to nine.

The body of Jagdish Roy, whose son Bidhan used to operate a chit fund firm and owed over Rs.1 crore to investors, was found hanging at his house in North 24 Parganas district's Sodepur on Sunday night.

His family alleged that angry investors had ransacked his house a few days ago and assaulted him.

"He was deeply shocked by the assault and could not bear the humiliation," Roy's daughter Dola said.

In Hooghly district's Chinsurah, Jayanta Sarkar, who used to run a small deposit- seeking firm, hanged himself Sunday night. Police said that over the last few days, Sarkar was hounded by angry investors demanding their money back.

In another case of distressed agents and collective scheme operators committing suicide, 30-year-old Sanjay Sarkar, an agent with a chit fund company, ended his life.

Police have found suicide notes from both Jayanta and Sanjay Sarkar.

Shyamsundar Mukherjee, a retired school teacher who worked as an agent of the tainted Saradha Group, died following cerebral attack in Birbhum district's Nalhati. His family blamed stress and humiliation caused due to the collapse of the company.

His family said the 64-year-old was under stress and felt humiliated to have joined a company whose promoter Sudipta Sen was arrested and is being prosecuted for cheating.

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Ex-Premier Giulio Andreotti dies, Italy state TV says

ROME: Italian state television says Giulio Andreotti, Italy's former seven-time premier, has died at age 94.

Andreotti was hospitalised last year with heart problems stemming from a respiratory infection.

At his prime, Andreotti was one of Italy's most powerful men: He helped draft the country's constitution after World War II, sat in parliament for 60 years and served as premier seven times. He remained a senator-for-life.

The Christian Democrat was accused of exchanging a "kiss of honour" with the Mafia's longtime No 1 boss and indicted in what was called "the trial of the century" in Palermo in the mid-1990s.

He denied any wrongdoing and was eventually cleared by Italy's highest court.

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Russian helicopter with nine aboard crashes in Siberia

MOSCOW: A helicopter with nine people aboard including Russian emergency ministry officials crashed in eastern Siberia on Monday, the ministry said, and Itar-Tass reported it was also carrying two tonnes of explosives used to blow up ice on frozen rivers.

Debris from the Mi-8 helicopter was spotted in Russia's Irkutsk province later in the day. Interfax reported that search and rescue teams had found human remains and that it was unclear whether there were any survivors.

Accidents involving Mi-8 aircraft are frequent in Russia, which has been criticised for its poor air safety record. The Soviet-designed helicopter is widely used for ferrying people and cargo to remote areas of the world's largest country.

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Complaint against BJP alleging false election promises

BANGALORE: In an interesting development, a city civil court in Bangalore has ordered suit summons (notice) to BJP national president Rajnath Singh, Karnataka state unit president Prahlad Joshi, former party chief ministers D V Sadananda Gowda, B S Yeddyurappa and the incumbent chief minister Jagadish Shettar.

The court has posted the case further proceedings on June 26, 2013. About 13 Bangalore voters have filed this suit seeking damages for what they claimed as 'misrepresentation' by BJP in its election manifesto in 2008 assembly elections.

The petitioners had also sought stay on making fresh set of 'false promises' by the party.

Entitled for damages claiming that they all voted in favour of the candidates put up by the BJP believing the promises made by the party in the 2008 election manifesto, the petitioners have stated that the party failed to honour the same and they are entitled for damages.

"The breach of the said contractual promises by the BJP has invited a liability for compensatory damages and these plaintiffs seek compensatory damages to the extent they have suffered economic injury due to a breach by the BJP of its contractual promise to perform its election premises," the petitioners have stated.

Induced to vote for BJP, the petitioners have claimed that did not have any means of discovering if the promises made by the BJP in its promise sheet were in any manner dishonest.

Further, they have stated that the repeated and recurring assurances that were made by the BJP, its agents and candidates in regard to the solemn nature of its promises and stress on the same by them compelled them to vote for BJP as they got induced by such promises.

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No conclusive proof chemical weapons used in Syria: United Nations

GENEVA: UN investigators into rights abuses in Syria stressed today they had no conclusive proof that either side in the conflict has used chemical weapons, after a team member cited "concrete suspicions" that rebels have used sarin gas.

"The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic wishes to clarify that it has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict," the commission said in a statement.

Late on Sunday, Carla del Ponte, a former war crimes prosecutor and a member of the commission, told Swiss public broadcaster RSI that "according to the testimonies we have gathered, the rebels have used chemical weapons, making use of sarin gas."

She acknowledged there was "still not irrefutable proof, (but) very strong suspicions, concrete suspicions that sarin gas has been used... by opponents, by rebels, not by government authorities."

Her comments come amid growing Western suspicions that Assad's regime has used chemical weapons in the 26-month conflict and follow Israeli raids on military sites near Damascus over the weekend.

The commission of inquiry did not mention del Ponte's comments specifically, only stressing that it was "not in a position to further comment on the allegations at this time".

The commission's Brazilian chief Paulo Sergio Pinheiro reminded "all parties to the conflict that the use of chemical weapons is prohibited in all circumstances under customary international humanitarian law".

Set up two years ago at the behest of the UN Human Rights Council, the commission has so far been unable to gain access to Syria as Damascus has ignored repeated requests for entry.

Instead, it has interviewed over 1,500 refugees and exiles as a basis for its reports and its charges that both the government forces and their allies and opposition forces have committed war crimes in Syria, where more than 70,000 people have been killed since the violence exploded in March 2011.

The commission is set to publish its next report on the situation in Syria at the end of May and will present its findings to the Human Rights Council during its next session in June.

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Verdict on Nirbhaya case expected by May end, Delhi Police commissioner says

NEW DELHI: With the trial in the Delhi gang rape case "almost 90 percent complete", the court verdict is expected to come by the end of May, Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar said.

In an interview to a news channel, Neeraj Kumar said: "The trial of December 16 (2012) case is almost 90 per cent complete and judgment is expected by the end of May."

On December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old woman was brutally raped and tortured by a gang of six people on a moving bus. She died a few days later of grievous injuries.

The male friend of the victim, who too was attacked and severely injured, in an interview had criticised the police for their "inaction" in the case.

The police commissioner dismissed allegations that policemen had offered a bribe of Rs 2,000 to the parents of a five-year-old-girl in east Delhi, another rape victim in the city, in April to hush up the matter.

"A report was promptly registered by the women help desk after which a case was lodged. I admit the follow-up action was not up to the mark for which we suspended the SHO (station house officer) and IO (investigative officer) in the case," he said.

There was no question of hushing up the case as NGOs were informed about the incident and media was also present there, he added.

Speaking of capital punishment for rapists, Neeraj Kumar said: "Many criminals have been hanged for murders and terrorism but has this brought an end to such crimes? The law punishes criminals but if we start assuming that this will stop crimes, this will not be correct."

The commissioner again said that his stepping down would not serve any purpose.

"I am not among those who run away. I am the leader of the force and till the time the government has trust in me, I shall continue to lead," he said.

According to Neeraj Kumar, in the wake of the recent crimes against women, the police have taken a slew of measures to make women feel safe in the capital.

"One such step is setting up of women help desks at police stations which are functional round the clock where females can register their complaints," he said.

"There is a 158 percent increase in rape case registration, 600 percent in molestation cases and 700 percent in eve-teasing cases. These are not indicative of a rise in crimes but it shows women are now confident about going to police stations where a woman officer hears them and registers their complaints."

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Hindutva leaders can guarantee Muslim security, Uma Bharti says

NEW DELHI: Only right-wing Hindutva leaders can guarantee the security of Muslims in India, BJP leader Uma Bharti said on Sunday, as she defended Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, facing fire over handling of 2002 riots in his state.

"Only right-wing Hindutva leaders can be the saviour of Muslims and guarantee their security. Only we can instill confidence and erode fear from the Muslim psyche," Uma Bharti said a news channel. "The so-called secular brigade has failed to secure the community. It's important to win their trust, if not their votes," the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said.

Uma Bharti, the firebrand "sanyasin" and a former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, who recently returned to the team of central office-bearers of the BJP, defended Modi, saying there has been no exodus from Gujarat post-2002 riots.

"There was no Muslim exodus from Gujarat after the riots. People are at peace with themselves and enjoying the fruits of development. Let's not do a body count of riot victims on basis of religion. Hundreds of Hindus died in police firing during the post-Godhra riots. This negates allegations about Modi's complicity in the violence," she claimed.

Her full-throttle support can also be gauged from the fact that she even couched then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's much-publicised admonition of Modi to follow 'raj dharma' as a spur-of-the-moment reaction to a journalist's query.

"Atalji is a spontaneous speaker. I was with him in Gujarat in the tense weeks following the riots. Vajpayee's call for morality was no criticism of Modi. It was no advice, no call to Modi to redeem himself. He just blurted it out," she said.

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One killed, five sustain injuries in explosion at house in West Bengal

RISHRA, West Bengal: A 20-year-old youth was killed and five others of his family, including three children, were injured in an explosion in a house at the industrial town of Rishra in Hoogly district on Sunday.

The sudden blast in the house at Liluah Bagan area of the town this morning also damaged the building and sent locals rushing out of their homes, police said.

Hoogly superintendent of police Tanmoy Raychowdhury said the tragedy was caused when a bag, which got exchanged in the train when the youth's family was returning from a trip to Gaya three days ago, suddenly exploded.

The family had gone to Gaya to attend a wedding but they had not complained either with the railway police or the local police about the exchange of the bag, the SP said.

Bomb squad personnel have rushed to the spot and investigations are on to ascertain what kind of explosives were kept in the bag, he added.

The house had been rented out to the family, which hails from Bihar, about four months ago. The youth worked at a clothes store in Kolkata, the houseowner said.

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BJP holds protest at Indo-Pak border over Sarabjit Singh's death

AMRITSAR: BJP activists today held a protest demonstration at Attari along the Indo-Pak border here, against the Pakistani government, over the death of Sarabjit Singh in a Lahore hospital following a murderous assault on him.

The party activists, led by its state unit chief Kamal Sharma, raised anti-Pak slogans and protested against the "brutal killing" of Sarabjit.

"Pakistan's action is devoid of any respect for basic human rights and we have asked the neighbouring country to stop giving shelter to the terrorists who work against India," party vice-president Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, who was also present on the occasion, said.

He also blamed the UPA government for its "weakness" to deal with hostile neighbours, and asked the Centre to show that it has strong will to protect its citizens from such brutalities.

Meanwhile, police used mild force and water canons against the agitating workers as they broke the barricades and tried to run towards international border with Pakistan.

Later, over 200 workers and leaders were detained at Gharinda police station but were later released by the authorities.

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Tanzanian catholic church blast kills one, wounds 57 according to police

DAR ES SALAAM: A suspected bomb attack on a new Catholic church in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha killed at least one person and wounded dozens of others on Sunday, police said.

The Vatican's ambassador to Tanzania, Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, was attending the official opening of the church when the explosion occurred, but escaped unharmed.

If a bomb blast is proven, it will mark an escalation in sectarian tensions in east Africa's second biggest economy.

"Some kind of explosion went off at the church. It is believed to have been a bomb but we don't know what type of bomb it was," police spokesperson Advera Senso said.

One person was arrested after the blast, which killed a woman and wounded 57 other people, Senso said.

A Vatican embassy official said he had been in contact with Padilla. "He is personally fine," the official said.

Two Christian leaders were killed in Tanzania's semi-autonomous, predominantly Muslim islands of Zanzibar earlier this year and there have been attacks on Muslim leaders and mosques. Arusha lies near the snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in a part of Tanzania that is predominantly Christian.

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