CBI seeks custody of Amit Shah in Sohrab case

AHMEDABAD: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to seek seven-day custody of former Gujarat minister Amit Shah, arrested in connection with the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a staged shootout in 2005, sources said on Monday.

The CBI's demand for remand and Shah's bail plea is expected to come up in court on Monday.

CBI had July 23 produced a 30,000 page chargesheet and accused Shah of murder, abduction and conspiracy in the staged shootout case.

Shah has been in judicial custody since July 25 when he surrendered.

Deadlock in Parliament over price rise ends

The week-long logjam in Parliament over the issue of spiralling prices ended today with both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha resuming their normal functioning.

The stalemate ended after the opposition gave up its demand for a motion to discuss the issue under rules that entail voting and agreed for passing a resolution after discussion in both Houses.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said the House will discuss the issue tomorrow.

In the Rajya Sabha the discussion will take place on Wednesday.

The consensus was reached at an all—party breakfast meeting called by Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee.

As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled for the day, the Speaker said she had been informed that the treasury benches and the opposition had reached an agreement.

She expressed hope that the House would start functioning without any disruption.

The issue of price rise had rocked Parliament during almost the entire first week of the Monsoon Session with an angry opposition seeking to censure the government in both the Houses.

The deadlock had remained unresolved even after the Lok Sabha Speaker rejected notices of adjournment motion on the issue.

The opposition has been blaming the government for failure to control rise in prices, particularly of food items and petroleum products. The general inflation has remained in the double digit while prices of food items were increasing by 9.6 per cent.

Resolution

There were reservations from the opposition on the wording of the resolution which was initiated by the government.

“They were not using the word ‘common man’, so we objected. Now the words ‘adverse impact of inflationary pressure on the common man’ have been included in the resolution,” Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said.

However, the government did not concede the opposition demand of including “price rise” in the resolution, arguing that the issue was a continuing phenomenon which could not be stopped and instead the term “inflationary pressure” should be used.

With the opposition and the government agreeing on the discussions, both the Houses of Parliament were expected to function normally. The two Houses had remained paralysed since the session began last Monday with the Opposition clashing with the treasury benches on the issue.

“This is a recognition of the protests launched by the opposition parties,” Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta said.

Those who attended the meeting included Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her counterpart in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, Janata Dal (United) President and NDA convenor Sharad Yadav, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh and Ramgopal Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party leader SC Mishra, All Indian Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M. Thambidurai, CPI (M)’s Sitaram Yechury and Basudev Achariya and CPI’s Gurdas Dasgupta.

From the UPA side, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK leader T..R. Balu, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, his deputy Prithviraj Chavan and V. Narayansamy attended the meeting.

During the hour—long meeting, the opposition pressed hard for changing the wordings of the resolution.

“Now there is a resolution with consensus. Pranab Mukherjee read out the resolution. Opposition had certain disagreements. Government accepted those demands,” SP chief Mulayam Singh said after the meeting.

Kashmir: 15 dead since Friday, curfew continues

SRINAGAR: Curfew remained in force in the entire Kashmir Valley on Monday which has been hit by a fresh wave of violence since Friday.

One person identified as Tariq Ahmed, who was hit by a teargas shell three days back in Bijbehara in south Kashmir, succumbed to his injuries last night, police sources said.

With his death, the total number of people who died in the Valley since Friday has gone up to 15 which includes eight persons who were killed in separate incidents yesterday.

Security forces maintained a tight vigil across all the ten districts in Kashmir to maintain law and order, the sources said.

In New Delhi, the Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS) had met last night for the second time in a month to take stock of the situation.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister has appealed for calm and asked political parties and leaders to cooperate with the Government for return of peace in the state. He has vowed to deal sternly with law breakers and the perpetrators of violence, asserting that he will not allow them "to win".

Among those killed in protests yesterday were four civilians who had died when a mob last night set afire a police station, where explosives and a LPG cylinder were kept, triggering a massive blast in Khrew area on outskirts of Srinagar city. A fifth person succumbed to injuries later in the night while another was in a very critical condition, police had said.

A mob had also laid siege to the police station, 20 kms from here, and started pelting stones after which additional forces were rushed to the area who rescued the police personnel in the police station. Army personnel were involved in the rescue work.

Protesters had also attempted to set afire a police post in Khrew and take away the weapons. As the crowd refused to calm down, police fired at them leading to the death of a woman identified as Afrosa.

In other incidents, two persons were killed as police opened fire to disperse mobs who blocked a national highway on the city outskirts.

The situation in saffron-rich area of Pampore turned ugly when agitators blocked NH-1A at a number of places by erecting barricades from Pantha Chowk to Pampore, a police spokesman had said.

The mobs blocked the highway at Galandar, Kadlabal, Barsoo, Frastabal and Pampore and also torched office-cum- residence of a tehsildar. They set afire a police vehicle and damaged several others.

The protesters snatched weapons from local court guards and also indulged in heavy stone pelting on a police station and security personnel, the spokesman had said, adding the situation turned worse when suspected terrorists fired on the personnel from amongst them.