Passion murders on the rise in AP

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
17th dec 2008
Murders of young women by insecure and jealous lovers and husbands are on the rise in the state.
Extra-marital affairs and sexual jealousy are the motives for many murders but nowadays, the insecurity caused by the career growth of women are also provoking lovers to kill them.
There has also been an increase in the number of men killing their wives or girlfriends and later committing suicide.
Apart from dowry harassment related killings, at least 720 women are murdered in the state every year.
According to State Crime Records Bureau, around 641 suspicious deaths as well as suicide attempts of women occur every year. Most of them happen within seven years of marriage.
“Several such incidents have occurred in Madhapur and Rajendranagar areas where the women were earning more than their husbands or live-in partners,” said an official of Cyberabad police. “In the IT sector, women are earning really well.” On February 9, 2007, TV news reader and anchor B. Lakshmi Sujatha was killed by her boyfriend Chandrashekar alias Chandu. The incident was similar to the death of Bhargavi.
“In Vijayawada too a TV news reader was murdered in similar way,” said Mr Umapathy, inspector-general of the CID (Women Protection Cell). “Career growth of women makes male partners jealous.” “When the woman gets recognition, new people come to their lives,” said a senior police officer of DIG rank. “Their old acquaintances become burden to them. As they move up the ladder, the old male partner becomes restless and sometimes resorts to extreme steps.” Murders of women are reported mostly from Guntur, Mahbubnagar, Hyderabad and Cyberabad. There are also instances where petty quarrels lead to sudden provocation and killings.

Warangal Encounter - Cops deliver instant justice

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
14th dec 2008
" Cops give excuse that they had fired at youth in self defence ? Most of the encounters take place between 9 pm to 4 am "
The “encounter deaths” of the three youth who were behind the acid attacks on two female engineering students in Warangal is being seen as another example of the “instant justice” meted out by a desperate police.
This time too, cops gave the excuse that they had fired at the youth in selfdefence after the latter tried to attack them. The story, as usual, is full of loopholes.
Legal experts scoff at it and say that the latest encounter deaths are another instance of cops trying to cover up their failure to act on complaints quickly and investigate cases to their logical ends. The Warangal police, under immense political and public pressure, was in a hurry to close the case diary to save their skin. Like many other encounters, the gunning down of the acid attackers also took place in the dead of night at a secluded place.
The state has witnessed several instances in which police went for “encounters” after such controversies. Statistics shows that non-Naxal encounter killings have mostly taken place in Warangal, Hyderabad, and Cyberabad (erstwhile Ranga Reddy) police commissionerates, apart from Anantapur and Kurnool. However, the senior advocate of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Mr C. Mallesh Rao, said it was not an encounter but murder by the state. “If public opinion is to punish it has to be done in accordance with law and not otherwise,” he said. “Of course, the acid attack was condemnable. But this is akin to mob justice where suspects are lynched. The state should strictly adhere to the law.” “Most of these so-called encounter killings take place in between 9 pm and 4 am and in secluded places,” said a police officer.
In Vijayawada in 2002, a murder accused K. Srinivas alias Budda Shantan was killed in an “encounter” at 2.30 am when the subinspector was reportedly interrogating him. According to the police, Santhan grabbed the sub-inspector’s revolver. In another case in Vijayawada, an SI and four policemen shot a rowdysheeter who was armed only with a knife in June 2002. In an encounter that took place in Warangal in October, two rowdy sheeters, Gaddam Jagan and A. Ratnakar, were shot dead while they allegedly tried to escape. Venu, a rowdysheeter, was killed in encounter at Neredmet in Cyberabad at night.
But the former directorgeneral of Police, Mr Pervaram Ramulu, said the police action could be seen as illegal but it could not be termed unethical.
“They are not ordinary criminals,” he said. “Vox populi is Vox dei (the voice of people is the voice of god). As people demanded, instant justice it is delivered.” A retired judge, who sought anonymity, said the duty of the police was to bring the accused to trial and prosecute them. “They have to charge-sheet the cases in time,” he said. “The charge-sheeting rate of the state is very low.” In fact, the charge-sheet rate of cases by police was only 65.34 per cent in 2007. In Hyderabad it is a low of 29.16 per cent. Several cases are pending in the courts and most of them end in acquittal. The conviction rate has also come down drastically, thanks to flawed investigations.
“This is a clear case where police acted under compulsion of public opinion,” said former IPS officer, Mr Ch Anjaneya Reddy. “The police department should able to resist this. It is not the fault of the police alone, but of the entire legal system.” “Warangal police has been involved in encounter killings for the past 35 years,” said the human rights activist, Mr G Haragopal. “First they killed Naxals and then dacoits. Now they are killing boys involved in criminal activity. This is short-circuiting judicial procedure.”

Seven years after: Lessons not learnt from Parliament attack

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
13th dec 2008
Despite successive governments promising to deal with terrorism firmly, India continues to be an easy target for terror outfits. Seven years after Indian Parliament was attacked on December 13, 2001, the counter-terror measures have not improved much. ‘ Removal of ministers was the easiest part of the post-mortem... There seems to be an attempt to avoid a detailed study ‘ of the deficien- cies in our intelligence
Seven years ago, on this day, the Indian Parliament was attacked by a group of terrorists.
On December 17, 2001, after a heated discussion in the Lok Sabha, the then home minister, Mr L.K. Advani, had dramatically declared that the fight against terrorism had entered a decisive phase.
But seven years down the line, India is still being bled by terrorists. Homegrown terrorists of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) as well as operatives from Pakistan and Bangladesh are carrying out strikes again and again.
And, as the Mumbai incidents proved, terrorists are also creeping into the country’s shores from the sea to carry out brazen attacks.
The Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and the Jaish-eMohammed (JeM) involved in the Parliament attack and Mumbai attacks are still thriving.
And creating a sense of déjà vu, Parliament has once more debated the menace of terrorism and has vowed to end it. In an unprecedented manner, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, apologised to the nation for failing to protect it.
But experts say that if the leaders want to move beyond rhetoric and keep their promise, they have to start doing the essential spadework.
For one, they have to totally revamp the intelligence system in the country. Terrorists continue to strike at the great symbols of India. After Parliament was attacked, they targeted the Indian Institute of Science and then they hit the 400year-old Macca Masjid in Hyderabad.
In several of these cases, “actionable” intelligence was not available. In Mumbai, the sleuths had intelligence, but did not act on it. There are severe lacunae in the whole intelligence network.
“Every day intelligence officials send alarming reports and they are taken as routine affair,” said Dr S. Subramanian, former director-general of the National Security Guards (NSG) and founder of the Special Protection Group (SPG). “There is no accountability.” The Border Security Force, Director General, Mr M.L. Kumawat, who also served as Union home secretary, said there was urgent need to upgrade and augment the intelligence network.
“We have busted at least 182 terror modules this year,” he said. “But we should have busted more. For this, the intelligence network should become more modern.” Experts feel that even after the Mumbai blasts, there is no concerted attempt to enquire into the deficiencies of intelligence gathering.
“Removal of ministers was the easiest part of the postmortem,” said Mr B. Raman, former additional secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). “But there seems to be an attempt to avoid a detailed study of the deficiencies in our intelligence and counterterrorism apparatus. Public pressure should be kept up on the government to hold such an inquiry.” One major flaw has been the lack of coordination among the various intelligence agencies and the absence of mechanisms to share information.
“After 9/11, we have been holding joint counter-terrorism exercises with agencies of many countries,” said Mr Raman. “But there is no coordination between various agencies within the country.” “The responsibility of an intelligence officer does not stop with his sending a memo or a note; there should be follow-up action,” said the South Asian Analysis group director, Dr S. Chandrashekaran.
The next most important aspect is real-time physical security.
“Terrorists can strike anywhere. They should be denied opportunities to cause damage,” said Dr Subramanian.
It is commonplace to say that suicide attacks cannot be prevented since the perpetrator is not afraid to die. But experts disagree. They say that strong preventive measures as adopted by Israel can deter suicide attacks too. “Israel is surrounded by 13 enemy countries but it is still surviving,” said a senior police officer. “The modus operandi of suicide attacks in the sub-continent is also similar. They can be nipped in the preparatory stage.” The role of “non-state players” is also important. For instance, fishermen in Mumbai informed the police about the landing of a suspicious group, but the cops did not act on it. Similarly, hotels and lodges can inform the police about suspicious characters.
“The preparedness of police and security agencies must be on a war scale as the terrorists are waging a war against the country,” said Mr Kamal Kumar, former director of the SVP National Police Academy.
Further, there is urgent need to improve security along the border as well as the coast.
The Indo-Nepal border is also porous and the ISI is sending in operators via Kathmandu.
After securing the fortress, India should launch a major diplomatic initiative to prevent Pakistan and Bangladesh from allowing terror groups to flourish.
“We have to stop the flow of funds and weapons to terror groups,” said an officer of the counter intelligence cell of the AP Police.
Many states including AP have decided to set up special units to fight terrorists after the Mumbai attacks. “There is also an urgent need for a new Central agency,” said retired director-general (security), Mr R. Swaminathan.
And experts say in one voice that the terrorists who are arrested should be given exemplary punishment. “The law should be a deterrent and we should make it certain that the perpetrators are punished,” said Dr Subramanian. “In many cases, they are acquitted. In others, the trial goes on for years. This cannot be allowed.”

AIDS, a misunderstood malaise

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

December 1, marked as the World AIDS Day, we pledge to end discrimi- nation and promise to spread aware- ness about a dis- ease that is much misunder- stood. The in-laws refused prop- erty rights to a woman and her kids say- ing they will die anyhow.
Discrimination against HIV positive patients continues, underscoring the need for concerted efforts on many fronts to give them space and scope in the mainstream public life. A painful fact remains that some patients are discriminated against by their own family members.
To overcome this, many HIV positive people have found a solution on their own: Networking and marriages within the group.
Sapna, president of ‘HIV positive Network People of Ranga Reddy’, says: “I am living with HIV for the past eight years. When I first launched the network of HIV positive people, very few came forward. But now, our network in the state has grown to 60,000 people living with HIV.” Sapna lamented that there are several cases of discrimination, especially, legal discrimination against HIV positive persons. “People with HIV are denied the right to property,” she said.
In one case, the in-laws refused property rights to a woman and her kids saying they will die anyhow.
Another woman, Mayuri, was deserted by her husband, after she tested positive. “Three years ago, I was tested HIV positive. My husband took away our son. I attempted suicide in 2005. However, I was counselled and now I am helping others. But my husband is seeking divorce,” she said.
People living with HIV have been facing many problems ranging from getting pensions to educating children.
Ramya, also HIV positive, says, “I am from Guntur. My husband died of AIDS, so I came to Hyderabad because I was facing serious discrimination there. Although I produced the death certificate of my husband for widow pension, the authorities insist that I get the pension in my home town only.” ART centres in the state have been providing medication for AIDS-related illnesses nutritional care is not provided. NGOs cover only 30 to 40 per cent of the persons living with HIV. Organisations working for HIV positive people are now asking the government to extend the Aarogyasree scheme to cover HIV positive cases too.
Safety of the blood in government and commercial blood banks is another big concern. The AP State AIDS Control Society (Apsacs) additional project director, Dr B. Kalidas, says “Apsacs works on treatment, awareness and testing. Regarding Aarogyasree, we have informed the principal secretary (health).” On discrimination, Mr Kalidas said, “We give preference to HIV positive people and appoint them as outreach workers. Some departments like fire and police too are not recruiting HIV positive candidates.” There are some positive stories too. Some mothers have formed self-help groups and are funding their own treatment.
Nalini, a resident of Kacheguda, says, “We have formed a self- help group. Each member saves Rs 50 per month and an NGO gives another Rs 50. This way we help others in need.” — All names have been changed to protect their identities

Viqar’s mobile hints 26/11 link

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
6th dec 2008
The absconding terror suspect, Viqar Ahmed alias Ali Khan, was in Mumbai on the day of the terror attack and as well as the previous day, police sources said.
Viqar had escaped an attempt by Counter Intelligence Cell cops to nab him in the city on Wednesday after shooting and injuring one of the unarmed constables in the team.
“We have analysed the cellphone calls he made to his friends from Mumbai and discovered that he was in Mumbai on the day of attack and the day before it,” said a senior police officer of the state anti-terror wing. “As of now, we have no other concrete links. We are waiting to get more information.” Sources said that Viqar also visited Lucknow two months ago and had also been spotted moving around Azamghar.
“Indian Mujahideen module has close contacts with activists in Azamghar,” said the police officer. “His visit to Lucknow and other areas in Uttar Pradesh has to be verified.” Meanwhile, the city commissioner of police, Mr B. Prasada Rao, said that Viqar was absconding and there was no breakthrough in the investigation. “We don’t want to share more information. Right now we have no such evidence linking him to Mumbai attacks.” Police are also questioning local people whom Viqar called up on Wednesday from an STD booth.
“He was trained in Bangladesh and had visited Oman and Qatar,” said the officer. “He had weapons and could have been on a terror mission,” he said.

Police on terror list

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
9th dec 2008
The police has been alerted that its offices could be attacked by the Lashkare-Tayyaba. Topping the list of terror targets are the offices of the Special Investigation Team at Himayatnagar, and the director-general of police at Lakdikapul and Saidabad police station, according to the alert.
Police suspects that the sudden appearance of terror suspect Viqar alias Ali Khan, who shot two policemen last week, may be linked to the plot to attack police offices or officials.
The police commissioner, Mr B. Prasada Rao, said, “We have asked the possible targets to take precautions.” The police has decided to train surveillance teams of the Special Branch to use firearms.
Special teams have been formed to track illegal immigrants in the city, sources said. Apart from illegal migrants particularly from Bangladesh, foreigners including Pakistanis who have gone missing have also become a security concern.
The police is checking whether all 212 foreigners who were issued leave India notices since 2005 have actually left the country.
At least 40 foreigners are facing trial in the city in criminal cases. The Special Branch as not received any information about them from the local police outfits.
A senior police official said the Saidabad police station is being targeted as it arrested scores of women who attacked the building to protest the arrest of a suspect, Mohatasim Billa. The Indian Mujahideen had special mentioned about the arrests in their emails posted before the Ahmedabad and Delhi blasts.

Maoists run own PDS

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
10th dec 2008
Maoists are running their own public distribution system (PDS) of sorts to reach out to the tribal population on the Andhra-Orissa border.
The left-wing extremists have been looting food grain and other essential commodities from PDS shops run by the government to supply to tribals. Police sees this move as a propaganda tactic and adds that Maoists won’t be able to operate their ‘PDS’ outlets for long.
“It is basically to prove that they are running things in the area,” said a senior police officer working on the antiNaxal front. “But from where would they get continuous supply of essential commodities?” Maoists are now distributing food grain and other commodities to villagers in Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and AndhraOrissa border. Meanwhile, police is worried over the growing Maoist influence on the Andhra-Orissa border particularly in Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam.
“It is true that their presence has increased consider ably in the recent past,” said a senior cop.
One reason is the decrease in combing operations at the border by the police after the Balimela reservoir attack.
“Taking advantage of this situation the Maoists and their militants are moving actively,” said the cop adding, “We will strike back against them and are doing the groundwork for that.”

AS COPS REFUSE TO ACT - Acid attacks on the rise

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
12th dec 2008
If the police had taken some action, this incident would not have happened.
Police inaction is emboldening many stalkers to harass girls who have spurned their amorous advances. The latest instance was the acid attack on two girls in Warangal on Wednesday, one of whom, K. Swapnika, was injured critically.
“She received 75 per cent burn injuries and cornea of her eyes was damaged,” said her anguished father, Mr K. Devender Rao. “We had complained several times to the Subedari police about his harassment. If they had taken some action, this would not have happened.” Initially cops arrested Srinivas, the person who attacked Swapnika, but he soon came out on bail and threatened the family saying that “police and courts can do nothing.” Such brazen attitudes are fed by police indifference. Obsessed stalkers had earlier killed MCA student, R. Srilakshmi in Vijayawada, and hacked N. Prasanna Lakshmi in Guntur.
In the city too, stalkers had attacked one Fathima of Rajendranagar with acid. In Palasa of Srikakulam, a lecturer threw acid on a girl student as she refused to accept his proposal.
Swapnika’s family had feared the worst and had tried their best to evade the stalker. But it was no use.
In most cases, acid attacks permanently disfigure, debilitate and destroy the victim, both physically and psychologically. Survivors continue to battle medical complications as the acid seeps into the body and harms internal organs.
The National Women’s Commission says that most victims know the violator, who often escapes the law and is rarely brought to book. Srilakshmi, who was killed by a stalker, Manohar, in Vijayawada had lodged a complaint against him with the Commissioner of Police as well as the principal of her college. But nothing was done to stop him.
The Women Protection Cell in Crime Investigation Department and Women Police Stations are also no refuge for those tormented by stalkers. They only take up dowry harassment and domestic violence cases. The city task force was supposed to keep tabs on eve teasers but their focus changed post terror attacks.
“The stalking phenomenon is not prevalent in AP alone,” said S. Umapathi, IG of the CID Women Protection Cell. “Today’s generation can’t wait. They want quick results. They are influenced by violent films.” He admitted that lack of stringent punishment of stalkers was prompting many youth to harass girls. “I have asked all the police officers to open rowdy sheets against persistent stalkers and eve teasers,” said the Hyderabad Commissioner of Police, B. Prasada Rao.
He, however, added that cops could not always be on the lookout. “Police deals with hundreds of cases,” he said. “There are robberies and murders which are more dangerous crimes.” The Prevention of offences (by Acids) Act 2008 is still waiting for approval of authorities. It will add a new section to the IPC where the perpetrators of acid attacks will be given punishment of up to 10 years in prison.
Legal experts say that there are enough provisions in the law right now to curb the menace, if the police has the will. “It is a serious crime and an equivalent to an attempt to kill,” said the eminent lawyer, Madabushi Sridhar.

TN CM to get bullet proof cars

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
22nd dec 2008
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, will get two bullet-proof cars that are being fabricated at Hyderabad. The Ambassador cars that he currently uses will be replaced by Tata Safari SUVs which are being bullet-proofed by a private firm in Hyderabad.
Sources said that the Tamil Nadu government had opted for an upgrade as the Ambassador cars were found to be “inconvenient”.
“It takes 70 days to bullet-proof a vehicle,” an official said. “They are built according to the standards of the Bureau of Police Research.” The car can withstand fire from revolvers and automatic weapons. The tyres can also withstand firing.
The Medak Ordnance Factory bullet-proofs vehicles but it is loaded to capacity and the government and private citizens are looking to private firms for the job. The police also buys some bullet-proof vehicles directly from automobile firms.
Earlier, the Telugu Desam president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, has bullet-proofed his Tata Safari on his own at Real Cars, which is also doing up Mr Karunanidhi’s vehicles.
Andhra Pradesh has the largest number of bulletproofed cars after Jammu and Kashmir; the Police Transport Organisation has around 200 such cars for the Chief Minister and other VIPs.
An IG rank police officer said that the government plans to buy up to six Tata Sumos or Safaris and get them bullet-proofed.

2008 what a year! - Carrot for wrongdoers, stick for the law-abiding

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
26th dec 2008
Inefficiency and political interference continued to plague the law and order machinery in the passing year too. For citizens, it would not have created anything more than a sense of déjà vu.
Investigations were redirected and laws were bent to suit the interests of biggies in many instances.
And police tried to erase public memory of its umpteen failures through an ‘encounter’ in which three youth who attacked two engineering students with acid were gunned down.
The applause which it got for this dubious act may not have died down, but sordid facts remain. Statistics say that three out of every four persons accused of murder in the state walk out unscathed for “want of evidence”.
The prosecution even failed to prove the murder charge against Maoists and Maoist sympathisers who allegedly killed the tough cop K.S. Vyas. “Many persons could have impleaded in the case to help the prosecution but none of them did so,” said the senior cop.
Hired killers and faction ists, M. Suryanarayana Reddy and Moddu Srinu, were acquitted in two cases pending against them. And the depressing list goes on and on.
According to State the Crime Records Bureau, the conviction rate in Andhra Pradesh is very low.
Conviction in dacoity cases is 30 percent and in robberies it is 45 percent. But when it comes to simple thefts the conviction rate is as high as 60 percent.
This is yet another indication that while ‘influential’ criminals who do big crimes walk away, the petty thieves go to jail.
“The pity is that in rape cases the conviction rate in the State is only 14 percent,” said an SCRB official. “This means that 86 percent of alleged rapists are still on prowl. Even in cheating cases, the conviction rate is 14 per cent.” However, the police blames it on the tardiness of the legal system in the country. For instance, the state will have 3 lakh cases pending trial in various courts by the end of this year.
“A confession made before the police officer is still not admissible as evidence in the courts here unlike in western countries,” said a senior police officer. “As per Section 161 of CrPC, no signature shall be taken on the confessional statement. This has to go. Video recording of the confession and signature have to be taken. It should be accepted as evidence.” Mr P.P. Rao, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, felt the need of the hour was an investigating agency that is free from influences. “It should be thoroughly professional,” he said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have such an independent investigation agency now. Mostly investigators work according to the wishes of the government.” It is alleged that political interference spoiled the attempt by some sincere police officers to investigate the bomb blasts in the city thoroughly and arrest the culprits. This is likely to affect a determined fight against terror.
At the same time, the case involving former APCC chief, Mr K. Kesava Rao’s son K. Venkateswara Rao and realtor Prashath Reddy got ‘solved’ in no time and the influential son of the influential father walked away.
“In certain high profile cases police and politicians collude to save the accused,” said a senior cop. “In some other cases witnesses are won over and police are unable to do anything.” The extent of interference became once more evident when a murder accused was killed within the ‘secure’ four walls of the Anantapur Central jail. The jail officials escaped with simple suspensions.
Police also suffered a major blow when Maoists ambushed a party of Greyhounds personnel at Balimela on the Andhra-Orissa border.
Strangely, the Greyhounds personnel who were trained in jungle survival were not trained to swim. Many drowned while others fell pray to Maoist bullets.
It was a tragic and telling instance of lack of foresight and preparedness which had crept into the training of an anti-terror force. Police authorities have to draw the right lessons from it.

Terror techie trained in city

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
18th oct 2008
Mohammed Mansoor Peerbhoy, the ‘terror techie’ associated with Indian Mujahideen, was trained for a week in Internet security issues at the city-based e2-labs by Italian experts.
The Macca Masjid blast took place during the course which ran from May 14 to 19 last year, and is believed to have led Peerbhoy into the arms of terrorists.
Peerbhoy is accused of sending the terror emails that were posted just before the blasts at Ahmedabad and Delhi. For this, he hacked into the wi-fi connections of other users.
Among his classmates was the AP Forensic Science Laboratory forensic expert, Mr U. Ram Mohan, a deputy superintendent of police now the with CID Cyber Crime Police Station.
Peerbhoy did not provide his photograph which is part of the process of joining the course. However, his photographs taken during the course appear on the company’s website.
Peerbhoy has confessed to the Mumbai police after his arrest earlier this month that he was shocked by the Macca Masjid blast and was inspired by IM chief Riyaz Bhatkal to take revenge.
Peerbhoy is a close associate of Bhatkal, who is at large, Mohammed Akbar Ismail Choudhary and Anique Shafique Sayyed of IM. Bhatkal, Ismail and Sayyed reportedly placed the bombs that exploded on August 25, 2007. A participant at the city-based e2-labs by Italian experts said that Mohammed Mansoor Peerbhoy, the ‘terror techie’ associated with Indian Mujahideen, used to keep a low profile.
“He spoke English fluently and maintained a very low profile.” the participant, who did not want to be identified, said.
Peerbhoy was a senior software architect of Zimbra Asia Pacific Pvt Ltd from where he joined Yahoo India.
Representatives from Ethical Hacking and Asian School of Cyber Laws in Pune attended the course along with the first female ethical hacker from Kolkata, system administrators and networking engineers from Hyderabad among others.
The training was conducted in Hotel Fortune Katriya at Somajiguda by e2-labs in association with Zone H from May 14 to 19, 2007, as part of the first batch of the six-day course titled ’Corporate training on hacking unlimited’.
The Zone-H founders, Mr Roberto Preatoni and Mr Gerardo Di Giacomo, were part of the faculty that taught the 12 participants. The e2-labs chairman and CEO, Dr Zaki Qureshey, told this correspondent, “Italian experts of Zone H were surprised of Peerbhoy’s speed in learning. He knew hacking before he came here.
“Peerbhoy was dedicated to his work,” Mr Qureshey said. “He was highly qualified and we didn’t suspect him as he was working with a corporate company. Usually we take an undertaking from private participants that they would utilise this knowledge only for constructive purposes and for protection of internet security.” However, since Peerbhoy was representing a company he did not require to give an undertaking.
He said, “Peerbhoy gave us his details but not his photograph. He said he will give the photograph later. We took group photographs. The course fee was Rs 75,000 which he transferred through wire from his personal account. He had sent the email from his corporate account.” Peerbhoy wrote in the feedback on the hacking course that it was “mind boggling”. Peerbhoy stated “really unleashes the power of information, Very well designed course obstacle race, Very hands on.” e2-labs claims that it is Asia’s first anti-hacking school.

IM, fallout of Reza force

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
19th oct 2008
Terrorist kingpin Amir Reza, who helped Riyaz Bhatkal to set up the Indian Mujahideen, also had links with terror operatives involved in the Sai Baba Temple blast in Saroornagar.
Police said Bhatkal, who was involved in the twin blasts of the city, had been taking directions from Amir Reza.
The latter was heading the Asif Reza Commando Force which was involved in US Consulate attack in Kolkata in 2002.
Asif Reza, brother of Amir Reza, was killed by the Gujarat police in an encounter in 2001. It was after his death that his brother formed the commando force. Police now believe that the Indian Mujahiddeen may have evolved form this force.
Sleuths got wind of Amir Reza’s activities after Lakshkar-e-Tayyeba terrorist Abdul Masood Razzak, a native of Nizamabad, was arrested by Delhi police and brought to Hyderabad in August 2005.
“Razzak was a close associate of Amir Reza and Aftab Ansari, who helped the September 11 attackers of Al Qaeda and the Kandahaar plane hijackers,” said a senior police officer.
Razzak was the chief coordinator of LeT in Dubai and was an accused in Sai Baba temple blast in 2002. He also helped Amir Reza escape to Karachi under a false passport.
Police suspect that Amir Reza also had contacts with Harkat Ul Jihad Al Islami of Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the city police found that Indian Mujahiddeen activists, Anique and Akbar, who stayed in a flat in Habsiguda, had entered into a rental agreement with the owner, Mr Hariram.
“Anique contacted the owner of the flat after seeing an ad,” said a senior police officer. “He gave the false name of Satish Gaikwad and signed a rental agreement.” Police is planning to hand over the handwriting samples of Anique and the rental agreement to the AP Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.
The duo stayed in the Habsiguda flat for two days and then asked the owner to give back the advance of Rs 8,000. However, he refused to do it at such short notice and they vacated the flat.
“They were very upset as the bomb they planted at Dilsukhnagar didn’t explode,” said the cop.

IM man posed as student

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
20th oct 2008
Anique Shafique Shaik, the Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist behind the twin blasts in Hyderabad, had posed as a student, Satish Gaikwad from Pune, when he took a flat on rent at Habsiguda, according to the flat owner, Mr Gopisetty Hariram.
Mr Hariram, a retired engineer from the irrigation department, is a resident of Begumpet. He also owns a flat on the third floor of Banjara Nilayam at Street No. 8, Habsiguda “After seeing my advertisement for tenants, he approached me as Satish Gaikwad from Pune. He told me that two others will also be staying with him. I also entered into a rental agreement.” Investigations by the police revealed that Anique did pose as a student. Mr Hariram visited the flat thrice during Anique’s stay there.
“I never found anything suspicious. There were books in the room. But I saw only ‘Gaikwad’. In the rental agreement, he mentioned Pune as his hometown and that he was a student of Zoom Technologies at Ameerpet. The agreement also has details of the two others,” Mr Hariram said.
The police have taken a copy of the agreement. The two others were Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chaudhary and Riyaz Bhakal both belonging to the IM. While Ismail stayed with Anique, Riyaz used to visit them often. Police said that Riyaz went to the flat two days before twin blasts. He had earlier visited the city after the Macca Masjid blasts.
“The three assembled the bombs in the flat and placed them at three crowded places,” an official told this correspondent.
The bombs wrapped in gift packets were taken in bags to the locations. While the bomb planted at Dilsukhnagar by Ismail didn’t explode, those planted at Gokul Chat by Riyaz and at Lumbini Park by Anique exploded killing 42 persons.
The three stayed in the flat for two days after the blasts. They also asked Mr Hariram to return the advance rent amount.
A wiser Mr Hariram has now put up a board at the flat: “House for rent. Only for families.”

Techie terrorists worry IT firms

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
22nd oct 2008
Corporates are wary of the ‘enemy within’ who uses technical skills to work for terror outfits
P olice has asked the IT industry to be doubly cautious while recruiting peo ple in the wake of terrorists infiltrating software firms to learn hacking courses.
Concerns had increased after it was revealed that Mohammed Mansoor Peerbhoy, 31, of the Indian Mujahideen, had learnt a course on ‘Hacking Unlimited’ in the city’s antihacking school at Banjara Hills.
The Mumbai police had found that Peerbhoy, an employee of Yahoo India with an annual salary of Rs 19 lakh, had sent emails for the Indian Mujahideen before the Ahmedabad and New Delhi blasts by hacking into wi-fi networks of strangers.
Mubin Kadar Shaikh, a computer graduate, and Asif Bashir Shaikh, a mechanical engineer from Pune, aided Peerbhoy. They were arrested along with Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chaudhary, another computer mechanic, who actually planted a bomb at Dilshuknagar on August 25, 2007. Luckily, it did not explode.
“IT companies and training schools should keep tab on suspicious employees and trainees,” says the Central Crime Station Deputy Commissioner of Police, R.S. Praveen Kumar, who is in charge of the cyber crime unit as well as the Special Investigation Team that deals with terror related cases in the detective department.
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai are considered to be potential zones for operations of such techie terrorists since the IT indus try has a large presence in these cities. “Companies have to do a thorough background check and can even ask for police verification if necessary,” says Kumar.
Peerbhoy, for instance, got admitted to a training course on hacking and wireless security without proper verification since he was working for a reputed firm.
Cops suggest that companies should also gauge the opinions of candidates on political events during interviews to find out their affiliations. “They should observe the behaviour of employees and check out those who work on holidays and late in the night without any particular assignment,” he adds.
Madhapur Inspector N. Bhujanga Rao, says that police had held meetings with IT firms and had asked them to conduct background check of applicants before employing them. “They can take the help of a private security agency,” he adds.
With the threat of terror looming large, software companies also have disaster recovery plans in place to ensure that a terrorist attack does not disrupt their operations. Further, IT firms have got their security guards trained by the police on how to deal with explosives and have intensified peripheral patrolling outside the walls. But the ‘enemy within’ cannot be prevented merely through such tactics.
“Companies have taken steps to prevent hacking and intrusion into the networks,” says V. Srinivasa Prasad, secretary of the Society for Cyberabad Security Council, which has representatives of IT companies, police and government.
“To prevent hacking we have stopped outsiders coming to the companies and connecting their laptops into our networks,” he adds.

German roaches invade flats

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
22nd oct 2008
Exotic German cockroaches are invading city apartments and houses making life hell for residents.
Rise in incidence of diarrhoea, asthma and typhoid is also being attributed to these small cockroaches which carry germs and multiply profusely.
“The German cockroaches (scientific name Blatella germanica) are an invasive species accidentally introduced into the country by travellers,” says Dr C. Srinivasulu, a zoologist and wildlife biologist of Osmania University. “They adapt quickly to new environments and develop resistance to insecticides.” The brown and black cockroaches have become a menace in areas near water bodies such as Kapra, Kukatpally and Ashoknagar and also other areas such as Dilsukhnagar and Secunderabad. Kitchens and bathrooms are the targets of the insect army and if they meet with no resistance, they swarm into bedrooms too.
“These small cockroaches have literally invaded our flat and even insecticides are not effective,” says Mr Damodar Rao, a resident of an apartment in Kapra.
“Urbanisation without proper sanitation is a key reason for this,” says Mr G.S. Prakash, a senior pest control. “Apartments are not kept clean and get infested quickly.” “I stay in Ashoknagar and am also a victim of the cockroach invasion,” admits the Health Director Dr D Ramesh Chandra. “No insecticide works against them.” As they frequent dustbins and sewers, bacteria such as Salmonella, streptococcus and helminths such as pinworm and tapeworm get attached to the cockroaches. They also produce powerful allergens that cause asthma. The voracious insects feed on starch, grease and meat and when they don’t get them, they eat soap, toothpaste and even each other. Dr Srinivasulu said that a particular hormonal repellent was found to be effective against the cockroaches to some extent.

Buy copters, chase naxals

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
23rd oct 2008

Play it tough, Centre tells states
The Centre has ordered state governments not to hold any peace talks with Maoists until they give up violence and lay down arms.
The Centre, which was insisting on a holistic approach towards the Naxal problem, now prefers police action to peace dialogue with Maoists.
The Union ministry of home affairs has sent a strong message to the states to improve the police response and pursue sustained action against Naxals indulging in violence.
In the status paper on the internal security situation by the ministry of home affairs, the Centre asked the naxal-hit states to buy helicopters for the police for improve surveillance.
The Congress government in the state had gone for talks with the Maoists. The talks failed.
The MHA in the status paper stated, “States should effectively implement surrender and rehabilitation polices for Naxals and use mass media to expose the violence.” The Centre has already set up Cobra (Combat Battalion for Resolute Action) that trains police personnel in guerrilla warfare.
According to the MHA, overall Naxal violence has dipped due to the changed situation in AP and Bihar.
An official of the state home department said, “MHA says 68.07 per cent naxal incidents were reported from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and 58.56 per cent deaths were reported from the two states in 2008.” Experts attribute this to use of improvised explosive devices and landmines by Naxals, the officer said.
He said naxal violence had also come down in Maharashtra.
In Andhra Pradesh, there were 62 naxal attacks reported till August this year compared to 93 in 2007.

morale policing - Beggars to lecture cops

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
2nd Nov 2008
Police recruits in the state, will from now on, be trained in rehabilitation centres, deaf and dumb schools and other serviceoriented institutions.
The guest lecturers will not only be from reputed management schools but people such as rickshaw pullers, hawkers and even beggars.
This is being done to bring a “humane face” to the department which has often been branded as anti-people. A training curriculum has already been prepared to be implemented from December. It was prepared by the police training wing.
According to sources in the police headquarters, at least 18,000 constables and sub-inspectors will be trained in 45 training centres across the state.
The constables will also be taught how to invest their earnings rightly so as to reap more benefits.
A senior police officer, who was part of the project says, “The constables will not only be trained to fight terrorism and Left wing extremism but also to become social workers. They will be taught invest ment and finance management techniques to help them lead a disciplined life and keep them away from corrupt practices. ” ‘Why should I be an honest man’ is one of the lessons in the curriculum.
Handling crime scenes, health management, keeping away from social vices, micro management in crisis situations, personality development and other aspects will part of the new syllabus.
Learning to ride twowheelers, driving, swimming, mountain climbing and basic computer skills have been made mandatory for the constables.
The Anantapur Police Training College staff along with a team of 60 experts formulated the syllabus in the last eight months.
With these trained recruits the police will have a major impact on policing in the next three decades.
The state police spokesperson and additional director general of police (law and order), Mr A.K. Khan, said, “The curriculum has been designed to help the police understand the extreme difficulties faced by the common people and under privileged groups.”

City is con capital

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
4th Nov 2008
Hyderabad has earned the dubious distinction of being the “cheating capital” of the country.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the state has the highest number of gambling Act violators, bodily crime offenders and women-related crimes.
While Guntur has the highest number of sexual harassment cases, Vijayawada has the most gam bling cases and around 10,000 special local law cases.
On average, Hyderabad records the highest number of cheating cases every year. According to the NCRB, Bengaluru tops in robberies, Delhi in kidnappings and Mumbai in burglaries.
The crime statistics from Cyberabad are excluded from Hyderabad.
The commissioner of police, Mr B. Prasada Rao, said, “Hyderabad has wit nessed a software and job consultancy boom in the recent years. This has increased the number of cheating cases. Frauds related to financial institutions, chit fund, land registration, data entry work and software jobs have been registered on large scale.” He added that though Nigerian frauds have decreased after the police department launched a website, most of the victims don’t take any precautions. The cheating cases included false gift schemes, money circulation schemes, multilevel marketing schemes, promise of high rate of interest on deposits, plantation and real estate schemes.
“The scamsters throw frequent cocktail parties, lavish dinners and offer gifts like cars and plots. They develop personal friendship with bureaucrats and politicians and exploit it for personal gains. However, they close shop soon after collecting the deposits,” said an official of the state crime records bureau (SCRB).
The SCRB analysis found that territorial clusters including Hyderabad and Cyberabad, Vijayawada, Karimnagar, Guntur, West Godavari and Visakhapatnam accounted for most of the white collar crimes.
Even in criminal cases, Hyderabad ranked fourth (after Mumbai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad).
A senior police official said, “In some north Indian states, most of the criminal cases are not registered. In AP, the police registers almost all the cases.” Around 23.9 per cent of the total cases booked in the country under the Gambling Act are from Andhra Pradesh (41,488).
Cases of unidentified bodies, possibly murders, are reported the most from AP after Maharashtra. In AP, an average of 5,417 unidentified bodies are found annually against 5,973 in Maharashtra.
A police official said, “Cases of unidentified bodies are reported mostly from Cyberabad. Several people involved in real estate disputes and sex workers are killed and their bodies are dumped in the city outskirts.” After Delhi and Maharashtra, minor rape cases too are the highest in the state. While there were 195 cases of minor rapes being reported annually in Maharashtra, AP followed closely with 174 cases. In crimes against women, AP was second only to Delhi.
The state also accounts for 86.2 per cent of cases under the Indecent Representation of Women Prevention Act in the country with 1,347 cases per year.
Andhra Pradesh has reported the highest number (11,489) of negligence leading to death cases followed by Maharashtra (10,933) and Tamil Nadu (10,792).

Locals to have rights on Mahanandi

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
6th Nov 2008
River water with healing qualities already being sold by temple authorities
The local communi ty in Nallamala Hills will soon have exclusive rights on Mahanandi water which has curative qualities.
It will also become a specialised product like Darjeeling Tea, Kondapally toys and Kancheepuram Silk.
The Mahanandi Biodiver sity Committee, headed by the village sarpanch, Mr G. Thimma Reddy, has resolved that the water is a unique resource of the area, and the Andhra Pradesh Bio Diversity Board is trying to include it in the Geographical Indications Registry.
Products specific to a geographical region can be registered under the Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protec tion) Act 1999 and it would give to the registered proprietor the legal right to their exclusive use.
Once this is done, no company can use the name Mahanandi and can take this water for processing or selling.
The Andhra Pradesh Bio Diversity Board Member Secretary, Dr V.B. Ramana Murthy, said the Mahanandidswar Swamy Temple Devasthanam has begun the process of selling the curative water.
Mahanandi is located in east of Nallamala hills in Kurnool district and is surrounded by thick forest. It is a perennial source from which water flows out irrespective of seasons.
“The water, known as Shiva Ganga, is famous for crystalline purity and healing qualities,” said environ mental activist, Ms B.Varalakshmi.
“There are three famous fresh water pools; two small pools at the entrance and one big pool inside the temple premises.
“The inlets and outlets of the tank are so arranged that the depth of the water is constantly kept at five feet. The source of water is still a mystery.” Dr Nagarajan of Chennai Geographical Index Registry said that Mahanandi water was a natural product specific to the region.
Meanwhile, Seetammapet in Araku has also resolved on declaring it’s turmeric as Geographical Indicator.
“The turmeric is deep in coloUr and has more medicinal properties than any other turmeric available on earth,” said Dr Ramana Murthy.

Bad times for Indians abroad

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
8th Nov 2008
These are not good times for Indians studying and working abroad. The financial crisis in the US and other countries is taking its toll on Indians working there. At the same time, many Indian students are also falling victim to hate crimes.
Sociologists predict that there will be more suicides as the recession deepens and people lose jobs.
After suffering losses in the October stock market collapse, an NRI, Karthik Rajaram, killed his wife, three sons and his motherin-law before shooting himself. He had made more than $1.2 million in a Londonbased venture fund and lost it all in the collapse.
Last week, the wife and two kids of a software programmer, Mr Nerusu Laskshminivasa Rao, were found murdered in Detroit. He too had lost his job recently.
“Job loss, capital erosion and debt are creating fear among the NRI community and are leading to suicides,” said Mr P. Vijay Reddy, a financial planner.
Even as NRIs grapple with the financial crisis, Indian students have also become deeply insecure for other reasons.
Six students from the state alone have been killed in foreign countries in the last two years. The latest instance was the death of Arpana Jinega, a software engineer in Seattle .
Medical student, A. Srinivas, and Ph.D students, K. Chandrashekar Reddy and A. Kiran Kumar were killed in 2007. In September, T. Soumya Reddy and her cousin Vikram Reddy were killed in Southern Illinois.
“The victims are not just from AP,” said the CID IG, Mr S. Umapati, who looks after the NRI-wing. “But as we have lots of people working there, there are more victims from AP.” Meanwhile, the families of these victims usually don’t get to know anything about the progress of the investigation.
“We have not heard from anybody about the progress of the probe,” said Mr A. Rajaiah, father of A. Kiran Kumar.
Soumya Reddy and Vikram Reddy’s families too have similar complaints.

AP jails turn into dens of criminal activities

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
10th Nov 2008
With top jail offi cials of the state’s prison department on a private tour to Thailand, the Anantapur jail murder has come as a shock to the state. Moddu Srinu’s killing has come as a stark reminder of the unruly situation prevailing in the jails.
The IG of the jails department, Mr Narasimha Reddy, and the additional IG, Mr M.R. Ahmed, are touring Thailand for the past seven days.
A senior police officer said, “Though AP is considered to be in fore front of jail reforms, incidents like suicides, deaths due to ill health are on the rise. To make matters worse, criminals are planning antinational and anti-social activities from the jails,” Sources said proper searches are not conducted in jails paving way for prisoners to use mobile phones. Jammers are yet to be set up in the jails. Officials are delaying the process citing several reasons including non-effectiveness of jammers.
Recently, the Task Force sleuths busted a gang which conspired to kidnap the Country Club chief, Mr Rajeev Reddy. The conspiracy to kidnap him was hatched in Chanchalguda jail.
A few years ago, associ ates of Paritala Ravi were arrested by the city police as they planned to eliminate Maddalacheruvu Suri, who was lodged in jail, by lacing poison in his food. A prisoner was sent to the jail for this purpose.
Similarly, an ISI suspect Aziz was caught red-handed using a mobile phone in Cherlapally jail. Supply of ganja packets and blades has also been reported several times in the jails. A jail official said, “About 20 years ago, a body was found in the Chanchalaguda jail. This murder was not so brutal like that of Moddu Srinu”. Sources said Biryani packets are being sent to the jail for those who are ‘influential’.

117 jail deaths a year in AP

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
11th Nov 2008

When it comes to the number of prisoner deaths, the state stands only next to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
On an average, 117 prisoners die in jails in a year in the state according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Deaths in jails are classified as natural deaths and unnatural deaths. Unnatural deaths include suicides, execution, murder by inmates, death due to firing, death due to negligence and death due to excesses by jail personnel.
According to the NCRB, around 1,423 prisoners died in 2007 in jails of which 80 were due to unnatural causes.
Uttar Pradesh leads has the highest number of deaths (180) followed by Bihar (164). Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka are behind Andhra Pradesh.
Tamil Nadu has highest number of suicides out of total number of 62 in the entire country. Only two suicides took place in the state.
A jail official said, “Most of the deaths are due to illhealth. Doctors in jail dispensaries are not available in some of sub-jails. Prisoners die of cardiac arrest by the time they are shifted to hospitals. There are no such problems in central jails.” “As per the prison manual, the director, health, has to visit the jail. But in the state, the department officials seldom visit.”

3,400 missing untraceable

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
16th Nov 2008
Hyderabad and Cyberabad top list of unsolved cases
Around 40 per cent of the 8,500 persons who go missing every year in the State are not traced.
Hyderabad and Cyberabad tops in the number of missing persons according to State Crime Records Bureau. Many of the missing cases later turn out to be kidnappings, sex abuse and murders.
In all, 2,273 persons went missing in the Hyderabad police commissionerate limits in 2007, of which 1,066 were women. Of them, police is yet to trace 532 children and 346 women.
In fact, the real number of missing persons is much higher than this.
“Every year we prepare a list of untraceable missing persons but this list is not added to the new records in the following year,” said a senior police officer. “Most of the girls who go missing end up in brothels. They are also trapped by organised gangs,” said an official.
Last year, 117 missing cases in the state turned out to be kidnappings, 10 were found to be sex abuse and 45 missing persons were murdered.
A proposal made six years ago to start a Missing Cases Cell in the Crime Investigation Department is yet to take off. The National Crime Bureau had also expressed concern at the high number of unidentified bodies being found in the outskirts of AP cities.

AP lags in fight against fits

Udumula SudhaKar Reddy
17th Nov 2008
A majority of patients suffering from epilepsy in the state still depend on quacks as the awareness levels are very low, particularly in the rural and the tribal areas.
In Andhra Pradesh alone, up to six lakh children suffer from epilepsy out of 55 to 78 lakh people in India who have the disease.
Doctors warn that the rate of epileptic patients committing suicide is on the rise. Nalgonda, Karimnagar, Guntur and Rajahmundry have reported the highest number of cases of epilepsy.
As several myths are attached to the disease, the patients are the discriminated against.
Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain. When there is a disturbance or improper transmission of electrical impulses, a person gets a seizure.
Symptoms of seizure are characterised by sudden trembling and uncontrollable movements of the arms and legs, followed by loss of consciousness. In some individuals, seizures are not so severe:- There may be a brief period of trembling or muscle contractions after which the person recovers.
Some patients who have a seizure simply stare blankly for a few seconds.
A single episode of seizure does not mean a person has epilepsy. People with epilepsy have regular and repeated seizures.
Official statistics state that only 20 to 30 per cent of the patients receive proper treatment from qualified physicians while the rest depend on unqualified persons.
Dr Zaffer Shah Nawaz, an epileptologist at Global Hospitals, says, “Most of the victims are from rural areas. The most common genetic cause of epilepsy in children in Andhra Pradesh is febrile seizure”.
People still believe that only otter’s blood can cure it. Some believe that a concoction made from tree leaves and cauterisation can cure epilepsy. This thinking has to change.” said.
“In some cases, epilepsy is curable. In nearly 85 per cent of the cases, the seizure do no recur and the patient can lead a normal life,” Dr Zaffer says.
With Hyderabad emerging as the health capital of the country, patients from Pakistan, Yemen, Iran and Saudi Arabia are now coming for treatment of in the city hospitals for epilepsy.
A study by Nimhans has revealed that epilepsy is associated with social shame in several states in the country.
Many cases go unreported or undetected due to lack of knowledge and understanding among the masses.
Dr S. Mohandas, neurologist with Kims, says, “Epilepsy, or seizure disorder, is neither a curse nor a sin. It is just like other diseases and disorders like high blood pressure or diabetes — a medical problem that can be treated. Epilepsy patients don’t turn violent.” Studies have found that people with epilepsy are three times more at risk of committing suicide as compared to other people.
It was also found that the risk is greater among women patients.
The likelihood of people freshly diagnosed with epilepsy committing suicide is even higher. Dr T. Umesh, consultantneurologist with Wockhardt, says, “Newly diagnosed patients often have many misunderstandings about the disease.” Researchers also found that people with both epilepsy and a psychiatric illness have a 29-fold increase in suicide risk than ordinary people.
Says Dr S. Mohan Das, “Epilepsy patients need emotional and psychological support, especially immediately after it is diagnosed.” Experts say that epilepsy should not be understood as a single disorder, but rather as a group of health conditions with different symptoms but all involving irregular abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
The district medical and health officer, Dr Ch. Jaya Kumari says, “There are two types of epilepsy — grandmal and petitmal. In most cases the cause is not known. Encephalitis and brain tumours can also lead to seizures. The state government is giving free medication for a five-year course.
In Hyderabad, patients are referred to the Osmania General Hospital and Gandhi General Hospital.” Dr Kumari further cautions about patients receiving injuries during seizures.
“Precautions must be taken when they suffer seizures. There are chances of patients receiving a head injury and biting of tongue.” However, in the state government hospitals, the EEG (electro encephala graph) investigation is not available.
She said, “Seizures can be terrifying. A belief that it is contagious and possessed by evil spirits are also leading to discrimination.” Experts earlier have suggested that the state government must implement in the primary health care (PHC) centre based model for treating epileptic patients. But if failed to take off.

health sector - Prices of blood hiked

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
22nd November 2008
The National AIDS Control Organisation (Naco) has allowed blood banks of the state to sell whole blood at the rate of Rs 850 per unit and platelets for Rs 400.
Previously, the rate of whole blood was Rs 500 and that of platelets was Rs 200.
“Prices have gone up since rates of kits, electricity, manpower and other materials have gone up,” said the Andhra Pradesh State Aids Control Society (Blood Safety) joint director, Dr M.N. Kishore.
However, teh government blood banks are still giving blood in exchange for donated blood.
NGOs are providing blood for free to white card holders and at Rs 450 to Rs 500 to others.
There are around 206 blood banks in the State of which 88 have the support of Naco. Ten new blood banks have applied for permission.
Of the 64 standalone blood banks in the state, four were found to be of poor quality and many others average. “Around 15 of the standalone blood banks are doing a good job,” Mr Kishoresaid.
State needs around 8.5 lakh units of blood but the procurement is around 6.75 lakh.

reporter’s notebook - Open air prison becomes a shoppers’ paradise

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
27th Nov 2008
Now inmates are involved in soap making, weaving, and furniture making.
The Cherlapally open air prison has become a shoppers’ stop for housewives these days. Families from surrounding colonies stop their cars and two-wheelers here on the way home to buy fresh veg etables grown by the jail inmates.
They prefer them to the pesticide-laced vegetables sold in nearby Rythu Bazaars and Sunday markets.
Jail inmates are following organic methods to grow vegetables with minimal use of pesticides. And the rates are comparable with those of Rythu Bazaars.
The prison is not only known for its high quality vegetables but also for milk, meat and poultry products.
It has an area of 128.7 acres in which the inmates are growing vegetables and mango. There are also sheds where around 102 cows, buffaloes and calves are kept.
The sheep grown in the farms are sold at good prices during Bakr-id.
With the government allowing prison authorities to spend more funds on livestock, plans are afoot to buy Jersey cross cows that give 10 litres of milk per day and Murrah buffaloes which give 10 to 12 litres of milk.
The dairy farm supplies 70 to 80 litres of milk per day to the Cherlapally Central Prison and other sister institutions.
Popular cinema has given all of us the impression that prisoners spent all their time breaking huge stones. But this is no longer true.
Now inmates are involved in soap making, weaving, and furniture making apart from horticulture and maintaining dairy farms.
Prisoners who are sentenced for rigorous imprisonment will have to work in the factories as well as farms.
Those who are sentenced to simple imprisonment have to give it in writing that they have volunteered to work.
Each prisoner in open air jail is paid Rs 20 per day. The rate is Rs 15 per day for inmates of closed jails. A prisoner can earn up to Rs 600 per month.

Experts: DM is red herring

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
28th November 2008
Deccan Muhajideen claims role
City police anti terror experts feel that the email of the “Deccan Mujahideen” claiming responsibility for the Mumbai attacks was probably meant to divert attention from the “foreign hand”.
Though the AP police has no information of this new outfit, sleuths did not rule out its existence as the email also talks about the “liberation of erstwhile Muslim-ruled states”.
This has made intelligence officials suspect a Lashkar-e-Tayabba link. They pointed out that in a congregation of LeT members in Lahore four years ago, its chief Hafiz Mohammed Sayeed said that liberating Hyderabad and Junagarh was top on the agenda of the outfit.
“Give back the states you have captured from Muslims,” says the email of Deccan Mujahideen. “If you return our states back we will lead the life as per the Islamic law. Till then blood will be shed for blood.” The email challenges anti-terror squads and says, “We know how to take revenge. We know how to play the game. We will go stronger when we are humiliated and harassed.” Experts say that the tone of the email had similarities to those sent earlier by the Indian Mujahideen which also spoke about alleged harassment of Muslims and homegrown resistance.
“Most of the operatives of the Hizbul Mujahideen are from the Deccan area, including its Indian chief Riyaz Bhatkal,” said a senior police officer. “Indian Mujahideen also has its base mostly in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.” He added that the Deccan Mujahideen could be an offshoot of the LeT like the Indian Mujahideen.
Meanwhile, two persons who identified themselves as Sadullah and Babar spoke to a TV channel claiming to be a representative of Deccan Mujadideen.
An SIT official said the police had no record on them. He added that Sadullah spoke in a Sindhi accent. Babar asked for ransom to release the hostages. The authenticity of both calls could not be established.
(with bala chauhan in Bangalore
Pak hacker messes up state sites
BY U. SUDHAKAR REDDY
HYDERABAD

27th Nov 2008
A malicious hack er, who claimed to be from Pakistan, has messed up the official websites of the state government and AP Police. The hacker, who defaced www.cidap.gov.in, www.aponline.gov.in, and gad.ap.gov.in, termed it revenge for the hacking of the OGRA (Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority) website of Pakistan by a group of Indian hackers who termed themselves Guards of Hindustan.
Officials said Pakistani hackers also attacked websites of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Indian Railways and Indian Insti tute of Remote Sensing along with several other Indian websites.
The hacker, with e-mail ID ZombiE_KsA@hotmail.co m, said in his posts that he was loyal to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and belonged to the Pakistan Cyber Army (www.pakbugs.org).
AP authorities have realised the vulnerabilities in state systems after the hacking.
“We realised on Wednesday that the website of the CID was hacked,” said the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Mr A.K. Khan. “There is no loss of data as it is a public site. It can be the handiwork of professional hackers or that of the crazy pranksters.
We are probing into it.” The general administration department webpage containing phone numbers of district collectors was also defaced by the hacker on Monday.
Cyber forensic experts expressed concern at the hacking of AP Pol Net and other government systems which hold much confiden tial information.
“This time they defaced only public sites,” said a cyber forensic expert. “But they may intrude into these websites and steal vital information.” The aponline wesbsite was hacked for the second time. In March 21, 2006, a Turkish hacker had attacked the same site.

Playing politics with police

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
30th Nov 2008
Andhra Pradesh has over the years witnessed several controversies over postings of senior cops.
Terrorism requires precise intelligence gathering and incisive police response. But many a time, radical steps taken by police administration to tune its response to terrorism have been hampered by politics.
Also, officers of integrity who have the skills to deliver the goods are sidetracked in favour of those who enjoy the confidence of their political masters. This also affects motivation and response.
In Andhra Pradesh for instance, right from the appointment of the directorgeneral of police to district SPs, the will of politicians always prevails over sincerity and efficiency of officers. “Preventive measures always invite criticism, more so from political parties and leaders,” said the former DGP, Mr R.K. Ragala. “Police excesses are their constant refrain.” “Police should be loyal to the Constitution and the law of the land,” said Mr M. Padmanabha Reddy, a retired all-India service officer who was the pioneer in promoting police reforms. “Instead they are now loyal to politicians. The story of AP is no different.” Lack of political will and absence of focus on essential tasks adds to the sordid picture. For instance, an elite anti-terror outfit was thought of in AP way back in 1994 but came into being only last year in the form of the Organisation for Counter Terrorist Opera tions or Octopus.
“These elite organisations too become pawns in the hands of bureaucrats and politicians,” said the former Hyderabad police commissioner, Mr V. Appa Rao.
And even after it was formed, the Octopus was unable to focus on its assigned task. Political interference and squabbles in the police department plagued the unit from the start. The senior IPS officer, Mr A.K. Mohanty, who was posted as DG of Octopus last year, was unceremoniously removed. In a perturbing manner, the government allowed the efficient officer to become a victim of internal bickering even when Octopus was at a nascent stage. Also, after setting it up, the government denied full strength and resources to Octopus. It was only after the Mumbai attacks occurred that the blast cases of the city were transferred to the Octopus on Friday.
“Some political parties do not want Octopus to be active,” said a senior police officer. “So the government was going at snail’s pace.” The elite force was supposed to have 1,600 personnel when it was set up in October 2007. But the appointment of staff has been slow. “Also, this unit requires committed personnel and that needs to be looked into,” said the senior cop. As of now, the Octopus is only involved in gathering information on terror modules. “It urgently needs a strike force,” said an official. It is not just Octopus which has become a victim of political and bureaucratic squabbles. The state has over the years witnessed several controversies over postings of senior cops.
Recently, Mr S.S.P. Yadav was appointed as DGP by sidelining senior officer, Mr P.V. Naidu. The shifting of Mr M.V. Krishna Rao from the post of Hyderabad police commissioner to a non-focal post is another example.
Aggrieved by the political interference in police, the Supreme Court in 2006 had asked the Centre and states to amend their Police Acts.
“Many states are still following the archaic Indian Police Act made by the British way back in 1861,” said Mr Padmabaha Reddy.
“The objective of the SC order was to free the police from the clutches of politicians. Because of political pressures the police could not make headway in many terror cases. The best examples are the Macca Masjid and twin blasts in Hyderabad.” However, one section of police officers says that however efficient and apolitical the police is, terror attacks cannot be totally predicted. They point out apredict attacks. “More than a thousand places in India are on the hit list,”said Mr Appa Rao. “No agency can provide blanket protection to these places all the time.” He added that it would be difficult to prevent all terror attacks but police could respond effectively if there was coordination between various security agencies.
(with G Diwakar)

Raju bought 3,800 acres

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
23rd jan 2009
The CID has found out that ex-Satyam boss, Mr Ramalinga Raju, had transferred most of his shares in the company to his brother, Mr B. Suryanarayana Raju and mother, Mrs B. Appala Narsamma.
Further, sleuths informed the sixth additional metropolitan magistrate court that Mr Ramalinga Raju had confessed to purchasing huge tracts of lands in and around the city in his name as well as that of his family members by diverting funds.
The lands were purchased with the help of one Mr Akula Rajaiah, who is believed to have been the mediator.
CID officials who scrutinised land documents seized from the houses and offices of Mr Ramalinga Raju, his family and associate firms such as SRSR Holdings estimated that around 3,400 acres of land were purchased.
These lands had been bought up in the names of Mr Ramalinga Raju’s family members, companies and other benami identities. There were 478 acres in name of Mr Akula Rajaiah and 312 acres in names of Mr Suryanarayana Raju and Mrs Narasamma.
Lands had also been bought in the name of one Jayasree. CID officials are checking her links with Mr Ramalinga Raju.
Most of the lands were bought in 2006 and registrations were spread over many months. There were also some purchases in 2008.
“We have seized four boxes of documents from SRSR Holdings and SRSR Advisories,” said a CID official.
Officials said the modus operandi was very simple. Mr Rajaiah used to buy lands from farmers and get general power of attorney in his name. Later, he sold the lands to Mr Ramalinga Raju’s family.
“They also bough lands through government auctions as well as through realtors,” said the CID official.
Meanwhile, CID officials who visited Satyam Computer Services came face to face with the umpteen grievances of employees.
“The company had not paid the medical insurance premium for the employees and so they will not get treatment facilities,” said an investigator. “Older employees are nervous about the prospect of being sacked.” Meanwhile, raids are continuing in the Satyam Shivam Sundaram block where Mr Ramalinga Raju and front firms have houses and offices.

Raju land dealer held

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
25th jan 2009
Ramalinga Raju’s brother ordered top aide to hide land documents
Mr D. Venkata Gopala Krishnam Raju, a top aide of Ramalinga Raju, has told police that he had been ordered to hide all original documents relating to land transactions.
He claimed to have the documents for every land purchase of the Raju family. According to his confession, he was instructed by Mr B. Suryanarayana Raju, the brother of the Satyam founder, Mr B. Ramalinga Raju, to hide the papers.
Mr D.V.G.K. Raju is general manager (administration and commercial) of SRSR Advisory Services Private Limited.
The documents which were seized after his arrest reveal that Mr Raju had been buying the land since 1992. The pace increased in 2000, and speeded up in 2006 and 2007.
CID sleuths seized five boxes of original land documents pertaining to 147 benami companies that are suffixed by Agro Farms and Green Fields Private Limited. Police also seized a CD containing statements of properties and polythene covers containing original share certificates. Most papers were seized from the house of Mr D.V.G.K Raju at Tulasi Apartment in Madhuranagar.
The documents were shifted from flats in Sundaram Block in Ramaraja Nagar, the guest house of Mr Suryanarayana Raju in Pet Basheerabad, Mango Garden belonging to Mr Ramalinga Raju at Pet Basheerabad, and Flat No. 308 of Manjari Apartments in Somajiguda and Flat No. 507 of Gulraj Apartments in Somajiguda.
“Mr Suryanarayana Raju personally came to the office and instructed me to shift and conceal documents. I and ano-ther colleague, Mr K.V.V. Krishnam Raju, general manager, shifted them in a involvement in the Satyam fraud on Friday.
The arrest was shown by the cops only after the family members of Mr Krishnam Raju complained to the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) that he was missing since January 21.
The documents pertaining to property bought by Mr Krishna Reddy showed Mr Gopala Krishnam Raju as director of Fincity Investment. He was authorised to sell 750 sq.yd. and received cheque for Rs 4.5 crore.
Sources said Mr Gopala Krishnam Raju invoked the private attendance clause and stayed away at the time of presenting documents in the sub-registrar’s office at Banjara Hills.
As per the clause the seller or the buyer or both can claim exemption from physical appearance at the sub registrar office citing “genuine reasons.” The registering authority will have to go to the absent party to obtain thumb impressions and take a declaration of execution of deed with the other party.
Informed sources said other documents were also presented at the sub-registrar’s office making use of the private attendance clause on January 15.
In such a case the registering authority would have to run from one address to another to obtain thumb impressions of the sellers.
When the issue was brought to his notice, Mr Aravind Reddy said: “We will check if the due process was followed.”

Bank funds do not exist: SFIO

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
24th jan 2009
I Officials are trying to locate where Rs 1,733 crore disappeared I The team began its probe into the scam on the basis of Reg- istrar of Com- panies report
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office has found that the New York branch of the Bank of Baroda did not have the Rs 1,733 crore shown in the records of Satyam Computer Services.
SFIO officials are now trying to find out where the money went. In a petition filed before the sixth additional chief metropolitan magistrate court on Friday, the SFIO said that the bank statement showed that the alleged ‘trial balance’ in current account number 00120559 was non-existent.
Trial balance is the final balance of each account after all expenditure has been calculated.
According to the SFIO, the ex-Satyam chairman, Mr B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother, Mr B. Rama Raju, were the key decision makers for utilisation of such funds. Hence it was neces sary to record their statements.
The SFIO asked the court to give permission to record the statement of the accused in six days as per section 240(2) of the Companies Act 1956.
However, the court refused to entertain the SFIO’s petition seeking permission to interrogate the Raju brothers and the former chief financial officer, Mr Vadlamnai Srinivas, and asked the agency to come back with the relevant sections.
The SFIO said it began the investigation into the Satyam scam on the basis of report submitted by the Registrar of Companies.
“Financial statements, statutory returns and other records of Satyam prima facie appear to contain serious misstatements,” it said in the petition. “An attempt was made to utilise the stated cash reserves of the company to acquire controlling interest in two other companies owned and controlled by persons closely related to the promoter director.”

CID finds Raju city land deals

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
24th jan 2009
Crime Investi gation Department (CID) sleuths have ferreted out details of the land deals undertaken by Mr Ramalinga Raju, his family members and associated firms.
They are now trying to trace out the source of the funds used for these land transactions.
This newspaper has obtained exclusive access to the details of 487 acres of land purchased by Mr Raju in the name of several benami firms. These lands were bought in Ranga Reddy district between 2006 and 2007. Mr Ramalinga Raju and his family members had bought around 487 acres in the name of several benami companies. These plots were bought in Loyapalle and KB Pally of Manchal Manda in Ranga Reddy district from May 26, 2006, to April 2007. It was during the same period that massive insider trading of shares occurred.
The CID, which unearthed it, is now trying to trace the source of funds used in the land transactions.
On April 27, 2007, around 35 acres at Loyapalle was registered in the name of Mandamalika Greenlands, a benami firm of Mr Raju. The land was purchased from six farmers.
Aryaka Agro Farms bought 53 acres on August 22, 2006, and on May 26, 2006, Karaveera Agro Farms bought 47 acres, Gowrdhanagiri Agro 44.25 acres and Mrugasira Agro 50.37 acres. Mangalaprasta Agro and Ketumala Agro bought 52 acres and 45 acres respectively on June 3, 2006, and Vardhamanagiri bought 54 acres on August 22.
On September 20, Nagagiri Agro and Panchapadi Agro bought 54 acres each and Nandanagiri purchased 53 acres. The money for sale deed transaction was paid from Karur Vysha Bank in Jubilee Hills.
Nandanagiri Greenlands got 53 acres registered in its name in KBPally on September 20, 2006. It paid Rs 21.95 lakh as sale consideration through a cheque on account number 14511152370 of Karur Vyshya Bank.
The stamps and registration department also found that around 240 land transactions were undertaken in the name of Mr Raju alone in the State.

Raju brothers arrested finally

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

10th jan 2009
The police arrested Mr B. Ramalinga Raju and his brother, Mr B. Rama Raju, late on Friday night for their multi-year Rs 8,000 crore scam. All the directors and chartered accountants of Satyam Computers and PricewaterhouseCooper have been named as accused.
The Satyam chief financial officer, Mr Srinivas Vadlamani, is likely to be arrested on Saturday, said the CID IGP, Mr V.S.K. Kaumudi.
The Rajus drove to the office of the director-general of police to surrender, but the police arrested them to show “tough action”.
The duo is likely to spend the night at the CID malkhana in the DGP’s office complex or at AC Guards and will be produced in front of a magistrate on Saturday.
The police moved after getting a complaint from one Ms Leena Mangat, a former bank employee in the city, sources told this newspaper. In her complaint which conveniently came at just the right time, Ms Mangat told the CID police that she held 200 Satyam shares and Mr Raju’s actions had cost her heavily.
The DGP, Mr S.S.P. Yadav, told this newspaper that cases had been filed under several sections of the IPC including: ? Section 120B, criminal conspiracy. Maximum punishment if convicted could be imprisonment for life or rigorous imprisonment for two years and more. ? Section 420, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property. If convicted, the Rajus face jail up to seven years and a fine. ? Section 409, criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent. If convicted the sentence is imprisonment for life or up to 10 years, besides fine. ? Section 471, fraudulently or dishonestly using as genuine a forged document.
? Section 468, forgery for purpose of cheating. Punishment is imprisonment upto seven years, besides fine.
An arrest under these sections does not preclude other investigations being conducted into the Rajus’ affairs simultaneously by other agencies. Asked whether Mr Raju will be permitted to appear before the Sebi team on Saturday, he said, “We will see how it has to be done.” Mr Kaumudi said that the Rajus stood to get 10 years in jail if convicted.
Since the offences involved are of serious nature, the Raju brothers may not be able to secure bail for at least 14 days. They will be able to move the bail petition only after the Sankranti holidays.
Though the CID conveniently got Ms Mangat’s complaint against Mr Raju just in time, it delayed taking any action.
Things began moving after the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, returned from Chennai in the evening and convened a meeting with senior officials.
Sources said that Dr Reddy, under immense pressure to clean up the Satyam mess and save India Inc.’s face by showing tough action, gave an earful to senior police officials for not arresting the Rajus. His hand was apparently forced by the Centre which earlier disbanded Satyam’s board and began tightening the screws around Mr Raju.
Besides, sources said Dr Reddy felt hurt when the Opposition began linking his son Jaganmohan Reddy to the Rajus.
The meeting worked out the modalities for the arrest, following which police teams spread out to find the Rajus and located them at their farmhouse at Kompally.
The police drove up there and found to their surprise that the Rajus, armed with legal assistance, were willing to surrender.
The police officials discussed their next action with top officials following which the Raju brothers came to the DGP’s office with a battery of legal experts including Mr Ramalinga Raju’s personal lawyer, Mr S. Bharat Kumar and their aides.
The police barred mediapersons from entering the DGP’s office. The Rajus drove in a convoy of eight cars, four of them Mercedes Benz.
On hearing of the arrest, some investors reached the DGP’s office. One of them, Mr K. Shivashankar, said he had lost Rs 1 lakh in the market.

(with N.Vamsi Srinivas)

Raju is a 'C' class prisoner

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
11th jan 2009
Raju brothers perhaps slept on the floor Sent to judicial custody till January 23
Mr B. Ramalinga Raju, who authored the Rs 8,000-crore scam at Satyam Computers, and his brother Mr B. Rama Raju perhaps slept on the floor of the Chanchalguda prison on Saturday with 30 persons accused of petty crimes like theft.
At the end of hours of interrogation by CID police and after being remanded to judicial custody till January 23, the Rajus slept on groundsheets and were provided with woollen blankets at the Chanchalguda jail admission barrack.
“They are lodged in the admission block along with 30 other remand prisoners involved in various offences. There is no separate block for them,” said the Chanchalguda jail superintendent, Mr M. Chandrashekar.
“Our doctors examined them as per the magistrate’s order,” he said. A jail official said, “We did not give them food as they came after the end of supper time.” They may have eaten before they were brought to the jail, he said.
An official said, “They will be shifted out of the admission block on Sunday. We segregate them from those accused in violent offences like dacoities and robberies.” The Rajus will be treated as “C-class” prisoners, just like other prisoners, officials said. “Those involved in dowry harassment and cheating cases are categorised soft cases and put in separate barracks,” he said. That is where the Rajus will land up if their bail applications fails.
Earlier, the Rajus were produced before the sixth additional chief metropolitan magistrate at his residence in West Marredpally on Saturday evening, after 18 hours of grilling by the Crime Investigation Department. The magistrate, Mr Ramakrishna, remanded the Rajus to 14 days in judicial custody. The Rajus were brought to the judges quarters from the DGP office complex, where they spent Friday night, at about 5.45 pm. A group of supporters of Mr Raju heckled the media members there.
Mr A. Shivanarayana, the CID additional director-general of police, said, “We have filed a petition seeking police custody.” The police filed a 15-page remand report which included confession of both brothers. Mr Raju’s advocate, Mr S. Bharat Kumar, said, the Rajus had not filed any bail petition. “The case is posted for hearing on Monday. The police has asked the jail doctors to check the health of my clients,” he said. Mr Kumar told the magistrate that Mr Ramalinga Raju was not well.
Earlier, Mr Raju had complained of chest discomfort after he was arrested by the CID on Friday. In a change of practice, police called in doctors from a corporate hospital, instead of taking them there. The doctors said the Rajus’ BP and cholesterol levels were high.
The doctors said there was no need for hospitalisation.

Probe panel finds evidence

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
14th jan 2009
Centre orders SFIO to investigate Satyam fraud
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has affirmed that the Satyam management led by Mr B. Ramalinga Raju was involved in conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, forgery, cheating and violations of the Companies Act and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rules.
Officials of the SFIO, which comes under the ministry of corporate affairs, found prima facie evidence of mammoth fraud during the inspections they carried out in Satyam offices on Tuesday.
The SFIO, set up in 2003, is a multi-disciplinary agency having experts from financial sector, capital market, accountancy, forensic audit, taxation, law, IT and investigation.
An SFIO team led by Mr Puneet Rastogi has been in the city from January 8. Sources said nearly half of the SFIO staff, including top experts, is part of the team. The SFIO additional director, Mr K.V.S. Singh and joint director (banking), Mr Sudhir D. Samant, also arrived in the city for the probe.
Meanwhile, the ministry issued a formal order under Section 235 and 237 of Companies Act to investigate the Satyam fraud case based on the preliminary report of the Registrar of Companies. The corporate affairs minister, Mr Prem Chand Gupta, said in Delhi the SFIO had been asked to submit its probe report in three months.
A senior official said it was clear that the Raju brothers and promoters forged documents and cheated the investors who lost Rs 10,000 crore in the market.
“They will be probed under Section 628 of Companies Act for falsification of balance sheet and under Sebi Act for fraudulent practices and insider trading,” he added.
“All of them — the broth ers, CFO and regular directors—will face prosecution.” However, the 20-member SFIO team in the city will not look into the assets and liabilities of Satyam and its promoters. It will be focused on the account books. An official said that SFIO will not make any arrests in the case.
“The CID will continue its probe and the court may merge both the cases when the charge-sheet is filed,” he added.
This is the first time the SFIO is taking up a case of this magnitude. It usually takes up cases of closed down companies.

Raju bought land for sons

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
13th jan 2009
The Crime Invest igation Department (CID) suspects that Satyam exboss Ramalinga Raju might have diverted the company funds for purchasing assets in companies floated by his sons.
CID sleuths termed the Satyam scam a “monumental fraud” while seeking custody of the Raju broth ers before the sixth additional chief metropolitan magistrate on Monday.
Police have impounded the passports of the Raju brothers as well as the exchief financial officer, Mr V. Srinivas, and are seeking details from banks to freeze their accounts.
The CID also felt that such a gigantic fraud could not have been perpetrated without the connivance of other directors.
According to the investigating officer, the deputy superintendent of police, Mr Balaji Rao, attempts were being made to trace the investments of Raju brothers in other companies.
In the written statement before the magistrate, Mr Balaji Rao said that the two “high profile brothers” had several offices in many foreign countries. “The investments and properties acquired by the accused in many countries are to be elicited,” he said. “They have accounts in various banks in India and abroad, all details have to be collected and scrutinised.” The CID said the brothers had admitted to Rs 8,000crore fraud and Mr Raju had also confessed that his family owned 100 acres of farmland in West Godavari, Krishna and Ranga Reddy districts apart from a grape garden of 20 acres in Ranga Reddy district.
In its remand diary, the CID alleged that the Raju brothers were responsible for fabrication of records and manipulation of accounts books of the company. “It is not possible for a single individual to commit such a massive fraud without the connivance of other directors,” the agency said. “The role of directors and chartered accountants has to be probed.” It turned out, however, that the CID has lifted news reports of banks declining to comment on freezing of Satyam accounts verbatim in the remand dairy.
CID officials have named as witnesses, Mr Karthik Sankaran, 36, a businessman and resident of Golconda Crossroads, Mr Abbas Hussain, 40, of Begumpet and Mr V. Narendar Reddy, a senior assistant in sub registrar office, as witnesses.
Meanwhile, Mr Anil Uttarwar, the head of Maytas Infra’s corporate communications, said that the claim of CID on Mr Raju diverting Satyam funds to companies of his son was false.

Maytas to be probed : Minister PC Gupta

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
20th jan 2009
The Centre has extended its ongoing probe into the Satyam fraud to cover Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties promoted by the family of Mr B. Ramalinga Raju.
The development came after investigators in Hyderabad reported that the Maytas firms had got hundreds of crores of rupees from a Mauritius-based entity, and that it was alleged by investigating agencies at Satyam funds were used to finance Maytas land purchases.
“The government has approved and authorised the SFIO (Serious Fraud Investigation Office) inspectors to obtain such books, records, papers as they deem necessary from Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra,” the corporate affairs minister, Mr Prem Chand Gupta, told reporters in Delhi.
The SFIO investigation will cover all aspects whether they are directors, board members, banks, creditors, debtors and “whenever they (investigators) feel there is doubt in their mind, they can always expand (scope of probe) it.”
Meanwhile, Mr P.K. Madhav, the chief executive officer of Maytas Infra, resigned on Monday. He is already facing charges in a case relating to defaulting of payments by Nagarjuna Finance, where he was previously employed.
The minister said, “inspectors investigating the matters relating to Satyam have informed about the apparent nexus between the events that have taken place in Satyam and Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra.” On whether the government would supercede the board of Maytas Infra — Maytas Properties is a privately held firm — Mr Gupta said, “whatever is required, government would definitely look into that.” The SFIO has already found that there is huge flow of funds, estimated at hundreds of crores of rupees, from a Mauritius-based firm into Maytas Infra. They are now in the process of tracking how the funds moved.
SFIO officials inspected the account books and documents of eight companies including Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties which are owned by Mr Raju and his family. An official of SFIO said, “Our report says that it is suspected Satyam money was diverted to purchase land for Maytas companies.
The six other companies are not of much interest for us. They are either merged or taken over by Satyam.
SFIO sources said hundreds of crores of money has been pumped into Maytas from Mauritius.
Meanwhile, sleuths of Enforcement Directorate and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence sleuths met Registrar of Companies and sought details on the Satyam case.
Sleuths are also looking into hawala angle in the entire episode.