AP Police rule out judicial probe in Azad killing

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Police on Sunday said there was no need for a judicial probe into the killing of top Maoist leader Azad in a gunfight but promised a comprehensive police inquiry to clear all doubts.

"There is no need for any such inquiry," state police chief R.R. Girish Kumar said when asked to comment on demands from various quarters for a judicial probe.

He, however, promised comprehensive investigations by the police.

Reiterating that Azad was killed in a "real" exchange of fire with police in the forests of Adilabad district last month, he said allegations by Maoists that the gunfight was staged were "baseless".

Girish Kumar declined to comment on Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement that Azad was murdered.

He alleged that frontal organisations of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) were "unnecessarily taking a point in the post-mortem report and blowing it up in a disproportionate manner".

He said Maoists were following a standard operating procedure (SOP) to lay the blame on the police for each and everything.

"There is growing concern that outfits of Maoist organisations are trying to make false allegations and accusations at various forums and put the entire paramilitary forces and police in the dock," he said.

"When somebody from their cadre misses an appointment, immediately they file writ petition or habeas corpus petition in high court or human rights commission saying that police have abducted or kidnapped him. When the person appears they keep quiet," the police chief added.

An exchange of fire took place between police and armed Maoists in the jungles of Adilabad district on the night of July 1-2 in which Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad was killed.

Pak cricketers just want money, women, food: Bookie

A lot of Pakistani cricketers are "just looking for money, women and food" and very few of them have any love for the game, claims the bookie arrested for alleged 'spot-fixing' in the England-Pakistan Test here.

Mazhar Majeed, the bookie who has made sensational claims of bribing Pakistani cricketers for bowling no balls in a sting operation by a British tabloid, claimed a lot of players were only bothered about money.

"You'll find there's only a few players who are genuine and who are actually here for the love of the game, and there's not many believe me. A lot of them are just looking for money, women and food," Majeed has been quoted as saying in the video tapes of the sting released by 'The News of the World'.

"How much they're getting paid is a joke. I came from a football background and I can see the difference in football and cricket. It's huge.

Majeed claimed cheating was not confined to match-fixing alone and that ball tampering had also become regular in the Pakistan team.

"I used to go out on the pitch to give the players their drinks. Whenever we couldn't get a wicket I'd have a lump of Vaseline on my hand. Shake their hand.

"They'd put it on one side of the ball and the ball would suddenly start in-swinging," he said.

Majeed revealed that he wanted Salman Butt to continue as captain for long as possible.

"I give out the information the night before or morning. What's going to happen at the end of the fourth day. But now we are not going to do any results for the next two games because we want Salman Butt to be captain long term," Majeed stated.

With folded hands, Farooq raises J-K autonomy demand

With UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister P Chidambaram listening, National Conference chief and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Thursday asked the government to re-look into his proposal to grant autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir.

Participating in the debate on the situation in Kashmir in the Lok Sabha, Abdullah made a strong pitch for autonomy, even appealing to Gandhi with folded hands. But neither Gandhi nor Chidambaram, who both sat in the front row — Abdullah was in the second — betrayed any emotion.

Abdullah took care not to embarrass the UPA government by making a direct demand for autonomy. He referred to a conversation he had with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee after J&K Assembly had passed and sent the proposal to the Centre.

“Vajpayee told me it was not possible and that there was strong opposition but when I asked him if he had read it, he confessed he hadn’t. I pleaded with him to take a look at it and tell me the criticism in the proposal. I said I was willing to change anything which was objectionable,” Abdullah said, hinting that the UPA government should not adopt a similar approach.

He then went on to state his views on the country’s federal structure, saying that India will become a true federation only when states have their own powers and the Centre its own.

Playing to the gallery, Abdullah asked MPs to listen to the heartbeat of Kashmiris. “We want a solution within India. We don’t want to separate from India,” he said. He also appealed to media persons present in the House, forcing the chair, more than once, to ask him not to address anyone except the chair.