Woman gives birth in airplane toilet - then leaves the baby aboard

A woman has given birth to her baby in a toilet on an airplane - and then left the child behind in the rubbish bin when she disembarked.The Samoan woman gave birth in one of the plane's toilets during the Pacific Blue flight to Auckland on thursday, New Zealand media reported. It is believed the infant was found by an airline worker in the toilet rubbish bin more than an hour after the plane landed.Authorities only discovered something was wrong after the mother approached them saying she had misplaced her passport. They noticed she was pale and blood-stained.Pacific Blue crew are mystified at how the birth took place unnoticed, the Chief Officer's Network reported.The flight is only three and a half hours long - meaning that for a passenger to go missing for a long time could reasonably be expected to be noticed.Both mother and child are now recovering in hospital in New Zealand.

It is unclear whether the woman tried to return to the plane to reclaim her baby. Police and the airline are keeping a tight lid on their investigation.But police are investigating whether the mother, who is unnamed, abandoned her newborn child - and there could be criminal charges pending.

'Police are currently investigating the mother's actions... A likelihood of this investigation is a criminal prosecution,' a statement said.Pacific Blue said the woman's visa form was being examined to see how she boarded the plane at such an advanced stage of her pregnancy.The airline states that passengers who are more than 36 weeks pregnant must have medical clearance to fly. Gates-Bowey said 'the mother and baby are both well and at (a maternity ward in) Middlemore Hospital and back together.

'The Pacific Blue airline said in a statement yesterday: 'A female guest gave birth on board our flight DJ94 from (the Samoan capital) Apia to Auckland this morning.''We are relieved to have been informed that both mother and child are reunited, are well and are now being looked after in hospital,' the statement added.News agency New Zealand Press Association quoted an unnamed Auckland Airport staffer saying it was not known if other passengers and crew on the Pacific Blue flight from Samoa noticed the woman was in labour.It quoted the airport staff member saying that 'the baby was found on the aircraft' after landing.

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Lock on counter terrorist funding; State Bank of India installed Anti Money Laundering (AML) software Amlock

In order to ensure the  loyalty of its customers and counter terrorist funding, the  State Bank of India (SBI) has installed Anti Money Laundering (AML) software Amlock from 3i Infotech, an Indian software company.

Money laundering is the practice of disguising illegally obtained funds so that they seem legal. It can also refer to companies sending money offshore through accounting tricks to book profits there and avoid taxation.

The implementation was carried out in order to monitor the suspicious transfer of money and comply with AML measures. AML software will be implemented across the State Bank Group, consisting of SBI and its six associate banks - State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Indore, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore - totalling more than 16,000 branches across the country.

B S Bhasin, chief general manager for banking operations and principal officer for KYC/AML, State Bank of India, said, 'State Bank of India is delighted to partner with 3i Infotech to implement AMLOCK, its Anti Money Laundering Solution. We at SBI are in sync with global awareness for matters related to anti money laundering, and this partnership is a step to have an efficient technology system to keep pace with the global changes and meet regulatory and statutory obligations.'

M B Battliwala, senior general manager of 3i Infotech, told IT Examiner that Amlock recognises the pattern of suspicious transactions and makes the monitoring process easy, removing the need to examine millions of transactions.

Battliwala, however, refused to disclose the contract amount, calling it confidential. However, he said the Amlock software only recognises the pattern and does not detect offenders.

In India, the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act was made effective on 1 July 2005. Section 3 of the Act describes the offence of money-laundering as covering those persons or entities who directly or indirectly attempt to indulge or knowingly assist or knowingly are party or are actually involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime and projecting it as untainted property.

Section 4 of the Act prescribes punishment to the offender, with a minimum imprisonment of three years which can be extended to seven years. The offender is also liable to pay a fine of Rs 500,000.

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Father killed four day's old daughter to taught a lesson to wife

Niranjan Kumar a 29-year-old software engineer employed with Cisco in Bangalore has been charged with killing his four-day-old daughter by throwing her into a well because his wife had refused to abort the child. Chennai police have arrested him.
Niranjan Kumar allegedly harassed wife Sangeetha, 22, to have the abortion so she could continue working.

Fed up, Sangeetha moved to her parents’ home in Chennai seven months ago. But Niranjankumar kept up the pressure, urging her through emails to abort the baby. He is also alleged to have demanded Rs 5 lakh in extra dowry.

On March 9, Sangeetha’s parents informed Niranjankumar she had delivered a girl. Last evening, the engineer arrived at the hospital with his father and mother, chatted with his in-laws and wife in a way that hid his real feelings, and took the mother and child to his parents’ home in Chennai.

But around 3am, Sangeetha woke up to find her baby missing. After she told Niranjankumar, he is alleged to have replied: “The baby is sleeping inside the well.”

When a perplexed Sangeetha asked what he meant, Niranjankumar said he had flung the baby into the well because she had refused to listen to him and abort. A hysterical Sangeetha informed her parents, who filed a police complaint.

Fire services personnel, brought in by the police, later recovered the infant’s body, wrapped in a towel, from the well. The police said Niranjankumar had admitted to the crime. He is said to have told officers he killed the baby to teach his wife and in-laws a lesson. His parents are also being questioned to find out if they were involved.

Sangeetha’s father R. Balasubramaniam said he and his daughter had been fooled by Niranjankumar’s “kind words” at the hospital yesterday. “We really believed he was a changed man and loved his daughter. So, we allowed our daughter and the baby to go with him,” Balasubramaniam said.

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Madras chief justice worried over lawyers' strike

Chief Justice of the Madras High Court H.L. Gokhale Wednesday expressed concern over the difficult situation arising out of lawyers agitating nationwide while a section of advocates here returned to work after a long break.

"Lawyers are creating difficulties by agitating on various issues solvable amicably through peaceful dialogue. This is happening not only in Tamil Nadu but also on a nationwide basis and is a cause for concern," Gokhale said.

Gokhale was addressing subordinate judicial officers on the sidelines of a training session within the precincts of the high court.

"The misunderstandings within the legal fraternity must end quickly. Further, the need of the hour is continuing with complete honesty and high moral standards amongst all officials of the court, which include judges and lawyers alike," Gokhale added.

Work in the courts, however, remained paralysed as most of the lawyers stayed off work against the backdrop of the city police prosecuting over 100 lawyers for burning copies of the interim report on the law and order situation that prevailed in the court premises for three days since Feb 19.

An interim report was submitted to the Supreme Court by retired apex court judge B.N. Srikrishna last week after a probe. He had faulted the behaviour of lawyers and police personnel alike.

"Our strike will continue till police officials who assaulted our brethren illegally and brutally are brought to book. Further, those 30 odd advocates belonging to the ruling party will be removed from all posts in lawyers' independent bodies," Madras High Court Advocates' Association president Paul Kanagaraj told reporters.

Meanwhile, over 30 lawyers owing allegiance to the ruling DMK and those representing various wings of the government returned to work.

"We have understood the gravity of the situation and litigants' travails and therefore decided to return to work from today (Wednesday). The rest of our brethren should hopefully give up their confrontationist attitude and emulate us," R.S. Bharati, who heads the DMK lawyers' wing, told reporters upon returning to work following a ruling party decision.

Two separate benches of the Madras High Court are scheduled to hear cases pertaining to the lawyers' strike following police action against them and the pelting of Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy with eggs last month.

During police baton charges Feb 19, several lawyers and a judge were injured.

Last week, advocates in Tamil Nadu and the neighbouring union territory of Puducherry rejected Justice Srikrishna's probe report.

Protests by lawyers have been underway for almost two months now expressing solidarity with the suffering ethnic minority Tamils of Sri Lanka at the hands of the island nation's army.

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Punishment should be matching the severity of a crime

The Supreme Court has recommended that courts award punishment matching the severity of a crime, in accordance with the criminal justice system's principle of "proportionality between crime and punishment".
While imposing a sentence, the courts must also strike the right balance between the objectives of reforming a criminal and making it an effective deterrence for others from committing a crime, a bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and Mukundakam Sharma ruled.
"Undue sympathy (to criminals) and imposing inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law," said the bench. It added that "society could not long endure under such serious threats".
"It is, therefore, the duty of every court to award proper sentence having regard to the nature of the offence and the manner in which it was executed or committed."
The bench gave the ruling while restoring a 10-year jail term to a Rohtak native Raj Kumar who had been convicted by a trial court for a murderous bid on a man called Raj Swarup and causing him grievous injuries. He and three accomplices were held guilty of of assaulting Swarup and his two sons as they were on their way to attend a court hearing.
As a result of the assault, the victim suffers from a permanent loss of memory.
The Supreme Court restored the sentence of the trial court after setting aside a Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling, which had reduced the sentence to seven years without assigning any reason for it.
"Anything less than a penalty of greatest severity for any serious crime is thought to be a measure of toleration that is unwarranted and unwise," the bench said.
A mismatch between the severities of crime and punishment makes punishment unjustifiable, said the bench, adding that "uniformly disproportionate punishment has some very undesirable practical consequences for the society".
Maintaining that "protection of society and stamping out criminal proclivity must be the object of law", the bench said that this objective "must be achieved by imposing appropriate sentence".

The bench enhanced Raj Kumar's jail term to 10 years, saying that he was personally responsible for causing the grievous injuries from a sharp-edged weapon.
The bench, however, did not enhance the sentences of his other two co-convicts as they were not responsible for causing as ferocious injuries as those caused by Raj Kumar.
Recommending the synchronisation between the needs to reform a criminal and to deter a criminal from committing an offence, the bench said: "In operating the sentencing system, law should adopt the corrective machinery or the deterrence based on factual matrix."
"By deft modulation sentencing process be stern where it should be, and tempered with mercy where it warrants to be."
"The facts and given circumstances in each case, the nature of the crime, the manner in which it was planned and committed, the motive for commission of the crime, the conduct of the accused, the nature of weapons used and all other attending circumstances are relevant facts" to help determine the sentence, the bench said.
"For instance a murder committed due to deep-seated mutual and personal rivalry may not call for penalty of death, but an organised crime or mass murders of innocent people would call for imposition of death sentence as deterrence."

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A light to Sex workers

Naseema, the young daughter of a sex worker in this north Bihar district headquarters town, has set a unique example with her dogged determination to bring a new ray of hope for the hapless residents of the local red light area.

Brought up at a brothel in Chaturbhuj Sthan, the infamous red light zone here, Naseema took a vow to rescue those, who were forcibly dragged into prostitution, and devoted herself voluntarily to provide a dignified life to the local sex workers.

After forming a voluntary organisation 'Pracham', Naseema started encouraging the sex workers to give up the oldest profession in the world and choose alternative ways and means to earn their livelihood.

Realising the plight of sex workers, most of whom felt suffocated in the prevailing atmosphere, 26-year-old Naseema started helping them out by providing them with alternative sources of income, which were readily accepted by the hapless women as it also ensured them a dignified life.
   
Naseema has so far been able to change the course of life of over 50 sex workers and their children, born at the brothels of Chaturbhuj Sthan.

Inspired by Naseema's example and determination, the sex workers are gradually giving up their hated profession to embrace the new respectful and dignified life.

Despite facing a lot of obstacles from various quarters at the beginning of her pioneering work, she arranged various trainings for the sex workers in a small rented room near the town's red light area.

Encouraged by her efforts and in their own desperation to quit the profession slowly but steadily, a large number of sex workers started joining the new training courses in stitching, knitting, screen painting and other alternative jobs.

Naseema also started a small library for lending books and magazines to sex workers free of cost, besides enabling them to read and write.

These former sex workers have now formed several cultural and drama groups and with her help they even organise street dramas and small public performances in the red light areas to motivate their former co-workers to give up prostitution.

According to Naseema, 'only those who have experienced the pain and agony of sex workers could bring about a change in their lifestyle and environment.' She also believes that prostitution can never be abolished by force and hopes that instead of abruptly closing down the red light areas without providing any alternative source of income to the sex workers, the administration should come forward with attractive rehabilitation packages.

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Chennai :Prostitution racket busted

Prostitution racket busted

Officials of the Central Crime Branch (CCB)-Chennai police on Friday raided a house in Madambakkam near Tambaram and arrested two persons Mumtaz (37) and Kumar (37) who were allegedly running a prostitution racket there. A case was registered and the two were remanded in judicial custody.

A CCB team led by ACP Jayakumar, on receiving specific information, raided an apartment in Madambakkam and nabbed the couple. A 19-year-old girl, found there, was rescued.

According to police, Mumtaz alias Mariammal, a native of Thoothukudi, moved to Chennai a few years ago. In Chennai, she met Kumar, who was working at a bakery in Tambaram, and the two began running a prostitution racket.

They were allegedly supplied women by a woman living near Pallikaranai who had brokers in various parts of the state.

A senior police official said, "This is an important arrest as we have got a lead on one of the major pimps in south Chennai. We are investigating and are confident she will be caught soon. Once this woman is caught, the networks in various parts of the state will become clearer. This big arrest, after the nabbing of Sona Lakshmi, is part of our efforts to shut down prostitution rackets in the suburbs."

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Indian woman gets 8 yrs for forced prostitution in Malaysia

An Indian national has been convicted and sentenced for eight years for forcing a compatriot into prostitution after promising her a job as maid in this Malaysian capital.

R Punitha, herself a prostitute, pleaded guilty before Judge Mohammed Nasir Mordin. She screamed, cried and hit her head when the sentence was announced, the official Malaysian news agency Bernama reported.
She was charged for exploiting S Maruthambal, 33, through force and threats at a house here.
According to the facts of the case, Maruthambal came under Punitha's care after she was sweet-talked by agents in India that she could get a job as a maid in Malaysia.

During her confinement, Maruthambal was forced to provide sexual services to 20 to 25 men daily and her earnings were taken by Punitha. She was also threatened by Punitha that if she refused, her family in India would be killed by gangsters there.Maruthambal managed to escape to the Indian High Commission before making a police report, The Star newspaper said.

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Bangalore city police Planned for Reduction of crime and accidents by 20 percent

Bangalore, The Bangalore city police unveiled an action plan-2009 which aims at Reduction of crime and accidents by 20 percent, establishment of a central data centre and formation of a fully trained 450 strong commando force, among others.

Other initiatives include procurement of additional quantities of modern arms and ammunition and setting up of a New Bangalore City Website, Bangalore City Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari told a press conference.

Police would strive to achieve the targets set under the six branches--administration, law and order. Efforts would be directed towards bringing down the crime rate, fatal and non-fatal accidents by 20 percent, he said.

A Central data system comprising information on all rowdy elements, crimes and criminals, computerisation of unexecuted warrants, summons received from other states would be set up by March next. Inauguration of new Bangalore city website by February 28 was also on the new year resolution list of the police.

The Security and City Armed Reserve department have chalked out an action plan to set up a fully trained commando force comprising 450 personnel and procure additional quantities of modern arms and ammunition by April 30.

The action plan also included implementation of the orders regarding intimation of tenants and controlling places of amusement and public entertainment. Computeristion of information regarding foreign nationals staying in the city and all those absconding would be done by March 31, he said.

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Men kidnapped for illicit sex, prostitution

It is not women alone who are kidnapped in this country for having sex.
Sixty-seven men were kidnapped in India last year for having sex, which was an increase of about 40 per cent from the 2006's figure of 38 men kidnapped for the same.

Cases of five men being kidnapped for prostitution were also reported in the country during 2007 as against 35 in 2006.

What is more shocking is that eight ladies above the age of 50 were among 2,586 women being kidnapped for sex, according to the latest report prepared by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The 'Crime in India -- 2007' report shows that there was a nominal decrease of 12 in the number of women who were kidnapped for sex last year compared to 2,599 in 2006. However, the number of women kidnapped for sex above 50 years was only one.

Women in the age-group of 18 to 30 years were the most vulnerable with 1,608 from the fairer sex becoming victims to kidnapping for sex in 2007 as against 1,488 in 2006.

Cases of kidnapping for prostitution saw 422 women being forced into sex trade along with five men.

As in the above case, women in the age-group of 18 to 30 years were the most vulnerable with 264 women becoming victims to kidnapping for prostitution.

Interestingly, not a single case of kidnapping was registered across the country for selling body or body parts while only 17 cases of kidnapping for begging were reported.

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Korea parents fined for ‘neglected’ son’s sex crime

A South Korean court has fined the parents of a teenage rapist more than $60,000 for failing to supervise their son. The 18-year-old, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, raped a local seven-year-old girl in 2006.

The court said the boy had grown up watching pornography and had imitated a film he had seen during the attack. It said his parents could have prevented the crime with appropriate education, but neglected their duty. The teenager is serving a 10-year sentence for the rape, but a court in Seoul ruled that his parents were also liable for his crime.

A statement said: “The parents could have prevented the crime with appropriate education but failed to show enough attention to their child. “They neglected their duty to raise their child so that he can properly adjust to society.” The girl’s parents were seeking $165,000 in damages. The identities of all the parties involved in the case have been withheld. Analysts say the case raises questions about the extent to which parents can be held responsible for the actions of their children.

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Girl's Basketball Coach Charged With Sex Crime

The Western Guilford High School women's basketball coach has been arrested and charged with taking indecent liberties with a female student.

Greensboro police said Karl Wells turned himself and was released on a written promise to appear.

Police said the alleged incident happened on Oct. 30. Greensboro Capt. Janice Rogers said the girl's mother called authorities after seeing a text message on her daughter's phone.

Greensboro police said the investigation was continuing and anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at 373-1000.

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teen prostitutes:change their future

"I'm their mother," says the founder of a Los Angeles shelter for teen prostitutes. For almost three decades, Children of the Night has focused on helping girls recover from their past rather than treating them like criminals, Good Magazine reports.

Shelter founder Lois Lois "isn’t like other social-service types," said one LAPD officer. "Lois sees the big picture." Despite the success stories—former prostitutes turned doctor or lawyer—many inexorably find their way back to the streets.

Children of the Night, however, offers a lifeline that never disappears "A girl might go back," said Lee. "But will she call me from the hospital if she is dying with AIDS? Yes. And I will go to her and sit by her bed and hold her hand."

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Sarabjit Singh might escape death sentence

Sarabjit Singh, the Indian prisoner on death row in Pakistan - and some 7,000 others might escape the gallows with the law and justice ministry asking the interior ministry to commute all death sentences to life imprisonment.Law and Justice Minister Farooq H. Naek said Friday his ministry has sent a note on this to the interior ministry, which after considering it, will present it to the cabinet for approval. Hopefully the decision will be implemented “soon”, he added.


According to interior ministry records, over 7,000 prisoners in Pakistan have been sentenced to death by different courts. Among them are 35 women and seven foreigners, including two Indians Sarabjit Singh and Kirpal Singh.

Kirpal’s case is not as high profile as Sarabjit’s. He was arrested in 1991 on charges of fabricating bombs and planning to plant these in Lahore. However, his family members have written several letters to Pakistani authorities saying he crossed the border in a stupor. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a television interview that Sarabjit’s case can be resolved through dialogue.

“Every issue, including this one, can be resolved through dialogue,” the minister replied when specifically asked about Sarabjit, who was awarded the death penalty by an anti-terrorism court in 1991 with the high court upholding this. The Supreme Court rejected his mercy petition in March 2006.

Former military ruler President Pervez Musharraf rejected his mercy petition in March last year but his execution was deferred in April last year for 21 days and again till further orders.Sarabjit’s family members, human rights organisations and the Indian government have urged the president to grant clemency to Singh, who was convicted for his alleged involvement in the 1990 serial bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan that killed 14 people. Singh says he is only a poor farmer and victim of a mistaken identity and had strayed into Pakistan from his village located on the border.

Pakistan’s leading human rights activist Ansar Burney said the interior ministry orders will apply to all prisoners on death row, irrespective of the nature of their crime. “All prisoners who have been awarded capital punishment will benefit from this and their sentences will be converted into life imprisonment,” Burney told IANS.

Burney has for long been lobbying for the move and had also presented a report to Musharraf when he was minister for human rights in the caretaker setup under Musharraf from Nov 2007 to March 2008. “I am really grateful to the government and believe this would be a huge step in recognizing human rights, which is the hallmark of all religions and all societies,” Burney added.

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Terrorist arrested at Lacknow

The Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Uttar Pradesh police on Friday arrested an active member of the Indian Mujahideen from the Gudamba police station area at LUCKNOW.

Mohammad Hakim is an accused in the September 13, 2008, serial bomb blasts in Delhi.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, State ADG, Law and Order and Crime, Brij Lal said Hakim had enrolled as a final year student in an engineering institute in Lucknow.

He was among the 13 accused in the Delhi blasts case, on whom the Delhi police had announced a reward of Rs.1 lakh each, he said.

Mr. Lal said a Delhi police team had reached Lucknow to take Hakim on transit remand.

A team of the Maharashtra police was also in here in this connection.

Hakim was wanted in five cases lodged by the Delhi police in Karol Bagh, Greater Kailash, Tilak Marg and Connaught Place in connection with the serial blasts.

Interrogation revealed that Hakim was known to other IM members, Atif, Shadab, Zeeshan and Assadullah, Mr. Lal said.

A motorcycle, a driving licence and a student identity card were recovered from Hakim, he said.

During the course of investigation into the blasts, five militants — Mohammad Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Mohammad Shakeel, Zia-ur-Rehman and Saquib Nisar — were arrested. Two militants died in a shootout in Batla House in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar.

Six terrorists were arrested in Mumbai.

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Software application help the police to combat the hi-tech world of crime and terror

"The software application, which is in a pilot stage, will help the police and other law enforcement agencies to combat the fast emerging hi-tech world of crime and terror," the Ranbir Singh, Wipro's general manager said in a statement. 

Wipro Infotech has developed an integrated software for the police to combat crime and terror, the IT bellwether announced said.

According to anouncement for government and defence, the software will enable real-time information sharing between the various police units. The online application covers all activities related to the day-to-day functioning of police departments, including the back-end processes of administration, finance and stores.

"We see a huge role for IT in combating high crime rates effectively. The processes have been automated to ease the tasks of administration and record-keeping, thereby bringing in operational efficiency across the police department," Singh said.

The application also has a citizen interface through which complaints can be raised and the status of a lodged FIR (first information report) can be tracked. The user interface can display content both in English and the local language.

The application has operational modules to maintain records in police stations and agencies dealing with crime, law and order, wireless, traffic, intelligence and counter-intelligence. Wipro Infotech is the business unit of the global software major providing IT and business transformation services in India and West Asia, including the Gulf.

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Strength of Judges per million population may be increased

The Law Commission in its 120th Report recommended that the strength of judges per million population may be increased from 10.5 to 50 judges. The present judge strength in India is 14 per million population (approx.). Government has already increased the Judge strength in the High Courts by 152.

With regard to subordinate judiciary, the Supreme court, in its judgement of 21st March, 2002, in All India Judges’ Association & Ors Vs. Union of India & Ors., directed that an increase in the Judge strength from the existing 10.5 per 10 lakh people to 50 judges per 10 lakh people should be effected and implemented within a period of five years in a phased manner to be determined and directed by the Union Ministry of Law. The Central Government have filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court praying that the increase in judge strength in the Union Territories for which Central Government is administratively responsible be allowed based on workload and pendency of cases. The matter is sub-judice. As directed by the apex court, the Central Government also filed an affidavit indicating the quantum of funds required in compliance of the aforesaid Supreme Court’s judgement irrespective of the category of funds that will be drawn.

All State Governments are also party to this case. Under article 235 of the Constitution of India, the administrative control over the members of subordinate judiciary in the States vests with the concerned High Court and the State Government. Accordingly, the Central Government has requested all the State Governments for taking necessary action to increase the judge strength as per the direction of the Supreme Court and also to fill up the vacant posts of judicial officers on urgent basis.

There is no proposal before the Government to earmark court fee levied by States exclusively for Judicial kitty to augment the strength of Judges.

This Information was given by Minister of Law & Justice, Shri H. R. Bhardwaj in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on April 28, 2008.

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Mumbai police gifted Pakistan ammunition

Mumbai police on Friday gifted Pakistan ammunition to blame the November 26 terror attacks on Indian groups by first saying they wanted to check if the Indian Mujahideen had links with the 10 gunmen and then backing off.

“The demand was erroneously mentioned in the remand application,” joint commissioner (crime) Rakesh Maria said tonight, possibly realising that Pakistan could seize on this to buttress its claim that Indians were behind the Mumbai attacks.

India holds that all the 10 gunmen were Pakistanis trained by the Lashkar, a group nurtured by the ISI, which plotted the Mumbai attacks. Delhi has been pressing Pakistan to hand over the plotters and the trainers.

But earlier in the day, the Mumbai crime branch told a court it wanted to verify if 20 alleged Indian Mujahideen members, in custody for blasts in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore and Varanasi, had ties with the gunmen.

In a remand application filed in court, crime branch officer Ashok Duraphe said a TV channel had aired a phone conversation with gunmen in the Taj hotel during the attacks, in which they were heard asking for the release of Indian Mujahideen members.

“They demanded to set free Indian Mujahideen operatives arrested in connection with the Delhi, Ahmedabad and Surat blasts,” the application said. “Taking into consideration their demand, the possibility of their link to the said recent incidents cannot be ruled out and inquiries to that effect are to be made.”

Six of the 20 accused were produced before the court. The judge extended their judicial custody till January 16.

In the evening, Maria scrambled to control the damage and ended up drawing more attention to the bungle. “We will file a corrigendum in court tomorrow. We will also conduct an internal inquiry,” he said, and stressed there was no link between the Indian Mujahideen and the gunmen.

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