Drug controllers want Police powers to curb drug mafia

U Sudhakar Reddy

The Drug Control Administration (DCA) offi-cials in the state are not empowered to arrest drug traffickers and cannot book cases under the stringent Narcotic Drugs and Psy- chotropic Substances Act.
As such, drug peddlers go scot free as DCA’s hands are tied up due to legal con- straints. Drug controllers in the state want amendment to the Act empowering them in the wake of rising cases of diversion of pharma inter- mediary products for mak- ing narcotic drugs.
Only the police, the Direc- torate of Revenue Intelli- gence (DRI), Narcotic Drugs Control Bureau and customs officials are empowered under this act.
The DCA assistant direc- tor (Vigilance and Intelli- gence), Mr K. Rajabhanu, says, “to punish the offend- ers, a thorough investigation needs to be conducted and evidence collected to strengthen the prosecution.
As per the suggested amendment, the burden of proof shall lie with the person possessing alleged spurious drugs. This is already in vogue in UP West Bengal.” The state government has to notify granting powers to the drug inspectors on par with the police to enforce NDPS Act. Drug controllers are also demanding powers to arrest without warrant.
They have also asked for immunity from prosecution as the drug offenders are fil- ing false cases against the officials. Meanwhile, Cen- tral Drugs Standard Organi- sation has announced a reward scheme to curb the menace.

Top guerrilla: Ashanna the task master of CPI Maoists

U Sudhakar Reddy
AP's `most wanted' forty two year old Ashanna alias Takkelapalli Vasudeva Rao hailing from Warangal district in AP is the task master in guerrilla warfare of the CPI Maoists. Ashanna led the teams that executed attacks on VVIPs in the state. He is Andhra’s most wanted Naxal.
He is accused in the clay- more mine blast attack on former CM N. Chandra Babu Naidu at Alipiri in Tirupati in which Naidu survived with injuries. He is also accused in the killing of former Home minister E Madhava Reddy. Ashanna also pulled the trigger on IPS official Ch Umesh Chandra.
Hailing from a lower mid- dle class family in a for- ward caste in Telangana region, Ashanna is a grad- uate, was active in the Rad ical Students Union and then went underground 20 years ago. He is married to another dalam member.
"Ashanna is known for his military tactics. He uses Ak-47s as well as smaller weapons. He is suspected to be hiding outside Andhra but returns to carry out operations," said an intelli- gence official.

Naxals 'retired hurt' in AP, looking for comeback

U Sudhakar Reddy

Naxals, who once thrived in Andhra Pradesh, are today fighting for their survival in the state. Although Maoists from AP play a major role in the central committee of Maoists, as well as in the committees that rule the red bastions, including Dandakaranya, they have become insignificant within the state. While 2008 saw 96 incidents of violence by Naxals in Andhra , the following year this number fell to 56. Their downfall began in 2004 after the Maoist Communist Centre and People’s War merged to form the CPI Maoists and held talks with the government, giving the police a peek at the latest faces of the extremist forces. Later encounter killings, heavily paid informants, covert operations, rewards to those of them who opted to surrender, neu- tralising of frontal organisations and sym- pathisers, development acitivities in their territories and better intelligence gathering by the AP special intelligence branch that deals exclusively with Naxals, began taking a toll on their numbers.
The elite commando force, the Grey- hounds have had a lot to do with the suc- cesses of the police, such as in the elimina- tion of top Maoists leaders like Patel Sud- hakar Reddy. But the scene is very different on the national level as a majority of the members of the Maoist central committee, including its general secretary, Mupalla Lakshman Rao (alias Ganapathy), are from AP. Also, of the 30 or so central committee members, around a dozen are from AP.
They include Ramakrishna, Cherukuri Raj Kumar, Mallaojula Venugopal, Pulluri Prasada Rao, Modem Balakrishna, J. Narasimha Reddy (alias Jampanna), Mallo- jula Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji, Varanasi Subrahmanyam, Satyanrayana Reddy (alias Kosa), and Chalapati.
The central committee that looks after political affairs, and the central military commission that takes care of military affairs, are both dominated by Telugu- speaking Maoists. The Maoist central mili- tary commission functions under the direc- tions of the central chief, Ganapati. Central military commission in-charge, Nambala Keshava Rao (alias Basavaraj) and others.

Cyberabad police commissionarate area- crime hub of the State

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

Cyberabad police commissionarate limits with IThubs emerged as the crime centre in the State as per the latest report ofState crime Records Bureau for the year 2009.Cyberabad beat Mahabubnagar in number of murder cases and toppedin dacoities, robberies, kidnapping and criminal breach of trust andburglaries.Cyberabad is second to Hyderabad in Theft cases, total cognizablecrime, cheating and crime against women.Hyderabad also gained notoriety in crime standing in number oneposition in the state with 16424 total cognizable crimes, 4867 theftcases, 1685 cheating and 46 counterfeit currency.West Godavari topped in the rape cases with 110 women sexuallyassaulted followed by Khammam and Cyberabad.In road accidents Cyberabad topped followed by Hyderabad and EastGodavari.Hyderabad Cyberabad are also lagging behind as most of the cases areeither under investigation or pending for trial.In the State every day 40 persons are killed and 163 injured per day inroad mishaps.As many as 31093 cases are pending for trail and 2942 are pending forinvestigation in Cyberabad where as in Hyderabad 11456 are pendingfor investigation

LET man saw Osho Ashram video in Karachi

By U Sudhakar Reddy

Lashkar-e-Tayyaba operative Shaik Khaja, alias Amjad, who was arrested by the state police on January 19, confessed during his interrogation that he had watched the visuals of Osho Ashram while he was in a terror camp in Karachi in Pakistan.
A powerful blast ripped through Pune’s famous German Bakery near the Osho Commune on the city’s North Main Road on Saturday evening, killing 11 people and injuring more than 35. A Jewish prayer centre is also located near the bakery.
The Mumbai Anti Terrorism squad had interrogated Khaja and was in the know of this.
Highly placed sources in the Counter Intelligence cell of the AP police said Khaja confessed that LeT elements had surveyed not just the ashram but also RSS offices in Kolkata and Kanpur and several oil refineries.
A senior cop said that the blast in the German bakery bore resemblance to the Gokul Chat blasts of Hyderabad and could be the handiwork of an Indian Mujahideen module. Khaja was also in contact with Indian Mujahideen chief Amir Reza and met two other terror operatives — Riyaz and Iqbal Baktal — in Karachi after the Gokul blast. Both Riyaz and Iqbal are still at large.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad was put on high alert following the blast and security has been beefed up in the city and the transport terminals. Anti-sabotage checks will be intensified.
The bomb disposal aquad will also increase anti sabotage checks at public gatherings on Sunday.

Hyderabad terror suspects in Karachi project

U Sudhakar Reddy

Hyderabad is a hot spot for terror recruitments, say counter-intelligence sleuths. The capture of terror recruiter Shaik Khwaja alias Amjad last month, the man who admitted he had reconnoitered Hyderabad and its oil storage depots, has raised fears that the city’s five year long tryst with terror is set to continue. And that Pune is just a pointer of more to come.Khwaja of Moosrambagh, Hyderabad, linked to both the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and the HuJI, is wanted for his involvement in the October 2006 suicide bombing at the Hyderabad Police Task Force office - where the bomber and a constable died - and the Kolkata fake Indian currency notes case.Khwaja’s confessions that he had recruited youth from Hyderabad and Maharashtra for the Pakistan-based LeT, was an eye-opener. He had seen several “missing” Hyderabadi youth in the terror camps in Karachi and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. When the Mumbai Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) came to interrogate him, he reportedly even identified terror suspects from pictures shown to him.Khwaja confessed to cops that he, another absconding terrorist belonging to the Indian Mujahideen (IM), Bada Sajid from Hyderabad, and Amir Reza Khan were present when a retired officer of the Pakistan Army showed them video clippings of the Osho Ashram of Pune (German Bakery that was blown up in Pune on February 13 is located near the ashram), the Blue Synagogue in Mumbai and the RSS headquarters in Nagpur and in Kolkata, oil refineries in Chennai and Hyderabad and the headquarters of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Delhi. Khwaja also said LeT operatives conducted a recce on Gujarat and Hyderabad police HQ in a plot to bomb them.Khwaja’s confessions only serve to re-confirm that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and Harkat-ul Mujahideen Islami (HuJI) of Bangladesh have strong links in Hyderabad. The ’Karachi connection’ of 21 missing terror suspects from Hyderabad is the biggest worry for the cops after it emerged that the Pune blasts may have been carried out as part of the Karachi Project with the involvement of absconding or new recruits of the Indian Mujahideen, guided by the LeT. With the several national institutes and defence installations, the communally sensitive Hyderabad has the added lure for terrorists of being an IT hub. The city has always been on the terror radar.

HUJI and LET operative Khaja has Pakistan passport

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
The city police has booked a separate case for violation of the Passport Act against Shaik Abdul Khaja, an operative of the Lashkare-Tayyaba and Harkat-UlJihad-Al-Islami (HuJI).
Khaja was arrested recently by the special investigation team in connection with the task force suicide bombing and was produced in the Nampally criminal court on Monday after his remand period ended.
Investigators who seized a Pakistani passport and ID card from him said that his links with the ISI were confirmed.
Police said that Khaja had conducted reconnaissance at Ahmedabad to kill the Guarat assistant commissioner of police, Mr Narendra Ameen, after the Gujarat police killed Mujaheed Salim while arresting Moulana Naseeruddin.
He also revealed to the police that he had been in touch with 20 youth from Hyderabad who are part of a terror network spread over Karachi, Dubai and Riyadh.
Police said that in June 2006 Khaja alias Ghore Bhai, a native of Malakpet, obtained a Pakistani passport illegally. He travelled to Dubai, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia using it. Khaja was in regular touch with ISI agents with the mediation of Rasool Khan Patty, a key LeT operative.
"He was was trained in terror camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and in the LeT headquarters in Muridke," said a police source.
Meanwhile teams of the Kolkata police and the National Investigation Agency are arriving in the city to take Khaja into their custody on prisoner transit warrant for his connection with fake currency rackets.
Police sources said he also confessed to have met Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal in Karachi after the blasts triggered by the Indian Mujahideen.
However, Khaja told mediapersons at the court premises that he was not involved in any blasts. "It is all a creation of the police," he said.

Shocking teen kidnappings in Andhra Pradesh

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

Around 40 kids below the age of 10 years are kidnapped every year in AP while over 180 teenage girls are kidnapped each year.

The tragic death of Vaishnavi, the nine-year-old daughter of a Vijayawada industrialist who was kidnapped on Saturday and subsequently killed by the abductors, has brought to focus the rising number of kidnap cases in the state. In fact, Andhra Pradesh tops the country in the number of abductions of teenaged girls according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
In cases of child abductions, only Delhi and Maharashtra are ahead of the state.
Most of the kidnappings are reported from the Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Vijayawada police commissionerate limits.
The State Crime Records Bureau statistics say that 4.7 per cent more kidnapping cases were reported in 2009 than in the year 2008.
Around 40 children below the age of 10 years are kidnapped every year in the state while over 180 teenage girls are kidnapped each year.
The number of kidnappings is higher in the 18 to 30 age group.
In Delhi, 262 kids below the age of 10 years are annually abducted and 166 teenage girls are picked up. A police officer said, "UP tops in the overall number of kidnapping cases. However, the trend of kidnapping children and teenage girls is more in Delhi, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh."
Many kidnap victims are forcefully put up for adoption or are made to beg on the streets. Others are kidnapped for ransom or revenge. Young girls are generally forced into marriages or pushed into the sex trade.
An intelligence official said, "Ali Bhai, who was involved in several kidnapping cases, is now in the jail.He is associated with the gang of mafia don Dawood Ibrahim."
It has been found that in most cases hired criminals from Guntur and Ongole districts are involved in the kidnappings.
"Seetanagram dacoits are now resorting to hired killings and such kidnappings," said an official.