Andhranews

Hyderabad, Sept. 16: The State government may have bitten off more than it can chew in the Gurukul Ghatkesar Trust lands issue.While it is trying to evict residential plot owners from the land in Madhapur terming them illegal purchasers, the fact remains that a major chunk of the land was purchased by a government agency itself.

Out of 627 acres belonging to the trust, the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corporation, a State government undertaking, had purchased 167.11 acres. Later, the Swamy Ayyappa Cooperative Housing Society purchased 140.50 acres and the Visweshwaraya Engineers Cooperative Housing Society purchased 49.24 acres.

In the remaining land, a popular cine actor developed Annapurna Gardens in 6.30 acres and Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s brother and Kadapa MP Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy constructed a two-storeyed building for a software company. In fact, Discom authorities erected a separate transformer for providing uninterrupted power supply to the company.

A prominent Telugu film producer, a Telugu Desam leader and a couple of Congress legislators also have stakes in the lands belonging to the Trust.The film star entered into compromise with the endo-wments department for an amount of Rs 3.88 crore in May 2005. He also paid 25 per cent of the price seeking regularisation, but the amo-unt was returned to him af-ter the controversy erupted. It was in 1982 that the AP Housing Corporation purchased the land for housing needs.

However, it was later transferred to the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation. Between 1998 and 2000, APIIC allotted the land for Hitex Exhibition Centre, Hyderabad International Convention Centre and Emar Properties for construction of star hotels such as Novotel. “If we are illegal purchasers, then the State government, too, falls in the same category,” said K.V. Rao of Swamy Ayyappa Society. “If our houses are to be demolished, then all these structures should also be demolished.”

Registrations of the lands purchased from the Trust were allowed up to 1999. Later, the government declared all the registrations done up to September 2000 as “null and void.” Meanwhile, sources in the chief minister’s office said that Dr Rajasekhar Reddy had asked the revenue department to find ways to regularise the constructions in the trust land.

Hyderabad, Sept. 16: Children grow well if they get a well-balanced nutritional diet during the schooling years.A study conducted by the city-based National Institute of Nutrition showed micronutrient-rich supplement would increase tissue growth and skeletal shell in apparently normal children.

Schoolchildren who receiv-ed micronutrient-rich food recorded growth of up to three cm in height and four kgs in weight during a 14-month study as compared with children fed with regular normal diet. The city-based reserach institute carried out the study among residential sc-hoolchildren, between six and 16 years of age, in Hy-derabad. In all, 268 children were selected randomly from two classes of each grade (1 to 9) and were provided a micronutrient-enriched beverage.

While 146 got the micronutrient-rich beverage, 122 children received a placebo drink. Bone parametres and bone area at various sites and the entire body were measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the beginning and end of the study. After 14 months, increments for height, weight, fat-free mass, percentage of fat, whole-body bone mineral content, whole-body bone area and bone mass density at the neck of the femur were significantly greater in the supplemented group than in the placebo group.

NIN deputy director Veena Shatrugna, who conducted the research study, told this correspondent that diets in the boarding school provided 745 mg/d of calcium, including the calcium from milk used to reconstitute the respective supplements. This is the first time that data on bone parametres in children between the ages six and 16 years is reported from India.

The baseline values appear to correspond to reported values from the West. In addition, the beneficial effects of an additional calcium intake of 224 mg with other micronutrients in the supplemented group compared with the placebo group have been demonstrated, she pointed out.

The children in this study belonged to middle-income group from the semi-urban areas of Hyderabad with apparent adequate intake of energy and protein, but intakes of vitamin A, iron, folate, thiamin, and niacin were less than 60 per cent of recommended dietary allowance and calcium intakes were only 700 mg/d which is much below the Western RDAs.

Hyderabad, Sept. 16: The State government is likely to go back on its promise to allot developed plots in the growth corridor to those whose lands were acquired for the Outer Ring Road project.Instead, the government is planning to compensate them with agricultural land and certain amount of cash.

Sources said that the cabinet sub-committee finalising the compensation package was working out the payment in two categories. People who lost 80 per cent or more of their land will be given 25 per cent of the land lost and Rs 10 lakh per acre. For the second category, a uniform price of Rs 20 lakh per acre will be paid. About 1,200 acres are estimated to fall in the first category.

The sub-committee chaired by Finance minister K. Rosaiah will meet on Sunday to give final shape to the package. It will brief Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy after that. It is estimated that the compensation package will amount to a whopping Rs 1,000 crore.
Of the total 6,750 acres being acquired for the project, 950 acres belong to the government and 300 acres is forest land. All the rest of the land has been acquired from people.

A member of the sub-committee said that the rethink occurred because of the opposition criticism that the government was destroying livelihood by acquiring agricultural lands. “The idea is that the farmers can continue their profession in the alternative agricultural land,” said the sub-committee member.

In the meeting of the sub-committee, there was a general feeling that the package should be more sympathetic to those who lost more than 80 per cent of their land. “People who lost 50-60 per cent land in the project will get an unimaginable appreciation for the rest of the land abutting the ORR,” said a minister.

“In such cases, the government need not provide alternative land and will just pay compensation,” the minister added. There were also apprehensions on the capabilities of Hyderabad Urban Development Authority to provide developed plots.

Hyderabad, Sept. 16: The State government has sought a direction from the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal to Karnataka to restrict water levels in Almatti dam between June and August, in view of delayed and decreased inflow into the State which force the postponement of the crop calender here.

The State is filing a petition before the Tribunal to that effect, while giving clarifications to various issued raised by the latter in the interim orders given on May 19, 2004. Advocate on Record for the State government T.N. Rao, in his petition, has pointed out that the delayed and decreased inflow into the State was affecting the crop yield and also exposing the crops to cyclones at the time of harvesting.

Mr Rao quoted an affidavit filed by Prof Ramprasad of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, at the instance of Karnataka government, which admitted that there would be delayed inflow into Andhra Pradesh by three months due to construction of Almatti Dam and that the dependability of Srisailam Reservoir would also come down.

“Due to delayed releases, the command areas under Nagarjunasagar and Prakasam Barrage, which was 19.57 lakh acres before the construction of Almatti dam in 1997-98, has come down to 0.7 lakh acres of paddy and 1.98 lakh acres of dry crop during 2002-03. The Kharif wet crops are affected in the post-Almatti period even in dependable years,” Mr Rao pointed out

Hyderabad, Sept. 16: The Congress on Saturday admitted that farmers in the State were hard-pressed for electricity in view of the acute shortage of power and increase in demand from the agricultural sector. Though Opposition parties have been blaming the Congress government for acute shortage of power and consequent drying up of Kharif crop, the Congress leadership in the State has thus far remained quiet.

With the Congress activists from districts mounting pressure, the APCC on Saturday announced that farmers in some districts had indeed been put to inconvenience. The APCC has decided to set up a kisan cell at Gandhi Bhavan and form committees at mandal level to ensure that farmers get seven hours of power a day. The State government has agreed to appoint staff on temporary basis to repair transformers. The APCC has also convened a meeting of DCC presidents on September 23 to discuss the problems of farmers and suggest remedial measures to the government.

APCC chief K. Keshava Rao told reporters at Gandhi Bhavan here that instructions had been given to the Congress cadre to meet farmers for a first-hand assessment of the problems they have been facing. “The government should ensure that seven hours of power is supplied to farmers. It should also take measures to curb sale of spurious seeds and fertilisers,” Mr Keshava Rao said. He, however, rejected the demand of the TRS and the TD for 12 hours power supply to the farm sector.

Hyderabad, Sept. 16: The most notorious criminals in the Cherlapally Central Prison have come forward to donate their eyes after death. According to jail authorities, 425 out of 925 convict prisoners have given their written consent to donate eyes. B. Venkanna, a resident of Khammam district, who was convicted for life for murder, said “Most of us have committed murders in a fit of rage. We too have hearts. So, we have volunteered to help others to see this world through our eyes.” According to jail officials the prisoners want to give their consent letters on Gandhi Jayanti.

K. Santosh Reddy of Sur-yapet, who was involved in a faction killing, said “For the past 30 months, I am in jail. Usually, people think that the prisoners are notorious. This perception has to be changed. We want to donate our eyes.” Meanwhile, the Lok Adalat, conducted in the prison on Saturday, has settled cases relating to at least 199 persons. They will be released from Monday over the next month based on their sentences.

Cherlapally Central Prison superintendent Jayawardhan said, “The undertrial prisoners who are going to be released are elated over the settlement of their cases.” Speaking to this correspondent, Shaik Aman, a resident of Talapakatta, said, “I was involved in four cases of house breaking. I have been in this jail for past seven months as an undertrial after the Saroornagar police arrested me. I could not secure bail due to financial problems. Now, I pleaded guilty and I will be released as I have already undergone the punishment.”

Hyderabad, Sept. 16: An abandoned baby who was stolen by an ayah and sold to a couple may finally get a home of her own. Police on Saturday arrested P.D. Sulochana, 38, an ayah of Niloufer Hospital, for stealing the baby and selling her to a childless couple for Rs 10,000.

However, police has taken a lenient view of the couple from Adoni in Kurnool district who bought the baby and has promised to help them adopt her. The 10-day old female infant was found abandoned in the Satavahana Express at Secunderabad Railway Station on August 25. She was shifted to the Sisu Vihar run by the women development and child welfare department and was named Karunasri.

However, she fell sick and was shifted to the Niloufer Hospital on the evening of September 12. But the next morning she was found missing. Police suspected from the beginning that one of the ayahs might have been involved in the incident. Nampally inspector K. Chakrapani said that Sulochana did not go home for two days after the theft in order to keep a tab on the probe and this made the police suspicious.

“We questioned a ward boy who spilled the beans,” he said. “Following this, we questioned Sulochana and later contacted the couple at Adoni”. On interrogation, Sulochana admitted that she took away the baby and gave it to a couple. “But I did not sell her,” she added.
Police learnt that on the night of September 12, Sulochana handed over duty to the other ayah, Suseela. When Suseela went downstairs Sulochana took the baby.”

“There she called up one Shyam and his wife, a childless couple whom she met in the hospital earlier,” said Mr Chakrapani. “On the night of September 13, Mr Shyam and his wife came to her house in a car and she handed over the baby. They paid her Rs 10,000”.
Mr Shyam, a teacher in private school, said that the ayah had told him that the baby was an orphan. “We love the baby very much,” he added.“The couple has no criminal intention so we are going to help them to adopt the baby who has been admitted in Niloufer Hospital again,” said the police.

Hyderabad, Sept. 16: Director-general of police Swaranjit Sen said on Saturday that the police would conduct a DGP’s Cricket Cup. The police would also conduct a ‘Star Nite’ of Bollywood and Tollywood celebrities on the final day of the tournament on October 15.
Mr Sen said that the objective of two day tournament was to bring together all the four wings of the democracy, the legislature, executive, judiciary and the media, together.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy, AP High Court Chief Justice Singhvi and chief secretary J. Hari Narayana would be invited. “To add colour to the tournament, we will be extending an invitation to Tollywood film stars to play the final against a combined eleven formed from the participating teams to entertain the crowds,” he said.

Hyderabad, Sept. 16: Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Mohammed Afsaruddin Khan alias Afsar Nawab was chased and hacked to death in broad daylight at Amberpet crossroads on Saturday afternoon. Nawab, 48, of Amberpet was reportedly involved in a land dispute and his attackers are believed to be his rivals.

Two persons surrendered about half-an-hour after the incident, police sources said. They identified them as identified as Ghore Mahmood and his associate Yousuf. Deputy commissioner of police, east, B. Balakrishna said that Nawab was not involved in any serious offence and that the murder was the fallout of a land dispute.

Police sources said that preliminary investigations into the murder had shown that Ghore Mahmood was one of the attackers. Mahmood is an former historysheeter and was running a gym, Mr Balakrishna said. “At least three persons were involved in the killing,” he added.
Nawab is survived by wife Muktarunnisa Begum, two sons and three daughters.

Nawab’s brother Moham-med Raheemuddin Khan said, “My brother went to Amberpet crossroads aro-und 1 pm and got down from his vehicle to buy paan. They came on a motorcycle and attacked him with swords.” “They killed him in the middle of the road when everyone was watching,” he added.

Mr Khan said that there was court case going on for the past year regarding a property at Amberpet, Nawab’s associates and relatives closed down shops in the locality after the murder. Police went to the spot and dispersed them.

Hyderabad, Sept. 16: Thirty-five Vemula Kumar Goud shot his wife and two children and then killed himself using his licensed weapon at Ghanapur outskirts in Ghatkesar under Cyberabad police commissionerate in the wee hours of Saturday. His son Manjunath, 12, succumbed to bullet injuries. Goud’s wife wife Rajeswari, 30, and daughter Lakshmi, 10, are fighting for life in hospital. Their condition is listed as critical.

Goud of Ram Nagar used to work as a supervisor with an excise contractor. The family had tried to end their lives at a field near their house. In the statement given by Ms Rajeswari and in the suicide note found in their house, the Gouds alleged that they were threatened and humiliated by excise contractor V. Balraj Goud and his brother Venkatesh Goud.
Ms Rajeswari’s father Narasimha Goud said, “I received a call from my daughter around 1 am saying that they were in trouble. We rushed to the spot and shifted them to the hospital.”

Ghatkesar inspector P. Ramulu said, “Kumar Goud had been working with Balraj for the past 15 years. Recently, Balraj Goud slapped Narasimha Goud following a dispute. Angered by this, Kumar Goud had stopped working with Balraj for a month.” “As per Rajeswari’s statement and suicide note they were killing themselves before Balraj eliminated them,” he added.

A case has been booked against Balraj Goud and Venkatesh Goud for abetment to commit suicide. Police said a hunt had been launched for them. Fingerprint experts who were pressed into service by the police ruled out any other angle. The bodies of Vemula Kumar and Manjunath were buried in the land that the family owned near the NTPC plant as was requested in the suicide note.

Hyderabad, Sept. 16: In its efforts to reduce pollution in the Kukatpally Nala, the task force of the Pollution Control Board (PCB) has directed four industries located in Balanagar to remove an unauthorised pipeline through which they were discharging ind-ustrial effluents into a nala.

The industries were asked to make arrangements to treat and dispose of the effluents through effluent treatment plants. This was disclosed on Saturday at a seminar marking the international day for preservation of the ozone layer. The ozone layer prevents the sun’s ultra-violet rays from reaching the earth. Global warming, diseases including cancer and respiratory problems and threat to plants and aquatic life is directly related to the disappearance of the ozone layer.

PCB secretary Rajeshwar Tiwari, said that ozone depleting substances should be discouraged from being manufactured. He also mentioned a list of 95 substances which had been identified as harmful to the ozone layer. U-Foam Mattresses chairman M. Sarangapani said that steps to phase out ozone damaging substances like Chlorofluorocarbon were implemented during foam manufacturing. PCB senior environmental engineer Raghavendra Rao said the Montreal Protocol had asked developing countries to a phase out all ozone depleting substances by 2010. “India is ahead of the schedule,” he added.

New Delhi, Sept. 16: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, under orders from the Congress party to appoint a full-fledged minister for external affairs, has been working overtime to ensure he keeps a level of control over essential elements of foreign policy.The appointment of outgoing foreign secretary Shyam Saran as special envoy for the India-US civilian nuclear energy agreement is one such step in this direction, as it will retain the PMO’s control not just over the nuclear deal, but also allow Washington to deal with a pointperson directly answerable to the Indian Prime Minister.

Pakistan and China also come under the purview of the PMO essentially with the MEA having been reduced to a “filing” body with the policy being determined by the Prime Minister in consultation with his select group of advisers. National security adviser M.K. Narayanan is also the special representative for the border talks with China, and works directly under Prime Minister Singh. Former envoy Satish Lamba is in charge of the crucial Track II process with Pakistan and again works under the Prime Minister.

In fact, even after the Mumbai blasts, the Track II interlocutors kept the doors open and have worked hard to put together an agenda for the Havana meet between Dr Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Pakistan high commissioner Shiv Shankar Menon will be taking over as the foreign secretary from October 1, but as his senior colleagues who have now retired point out, the “takeover will be bittersweet.”

He will not have a free hand on the US, China and Pakistan and will have to work under officials far senior to him. Mr Menon will also face some concealed hostility within the ministry, particularly as he has superseded a large number of officials of whom only a few will be effectively re-located. His appointment has created murmurs of discontent within the MEA, with secretary (east) Rajiv Sikri having put in his papers.

Senior envoys see the present exercise as an effort by the Prime Minister to retain control over some crucial areas of foreign policy even after a Cabinet minister for external affairs is appointed. He told reporters accompanying him on his foreign tour that the appointment would be made shortly after his return. Earlier, he had indicated that a foreign minister would be appointed in early September to represent India at the UN General Assembly.

This did not happen and defence minister Pranab Mukherjee is now representing India at the United Nations. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, sources said, is now convinced of the need to appoint a Cabinet minister for the Indian foreign office. India has been under-represented at important international meetings with the ministers of state substituting for a Union minister.

This has been found to be unsatisfactory with several foreign ministers, including Pakistan’s Khurshed Mehmood Kasuri, pointing towards the need for India to have a Cabinet minister for external affairs. The underlying tension between ministers of state E. Ahamad and Anand Sharma, sources said, has not helped with the latter particularly keen to intervene in policy concerning Pakistan and West Asia that the former has come to look upon as his turf.

Congress party whispers suggest that the Prime Minister is not keen to give up the ministry for two reasons. One, the sources said, it will leave him without influence in essential matters of government, particularly as his Cabinet colleagues do not allow him to intervene in the running of their ministries. Two, the sources added, the minister will be a Congress party member and hence more accountable to the Congress president than to him.

New Delhi, Sept. 16: The four-day long 12th home secretary level meeting between India and Burma concluded in the capital on Saturday with the representatives of the two countries signing an accord on mutual cooperation and understanding. The Indian delegation was led by Union home secretary V.K. Duggal and the 12-member Burma delegation was led by their deputy minister, ministry of home affairs, Brig. Gen Phone Swe.

The discussions centred around India’s security concern and issues related to it, such as activities of militant organisations functioning from Burmese territory on the Indo-Burma border, arms smuggling and drug trafficking from Burma into India. Border management issues, including maintenance of border pillars, border fencing and rationalisation of free movement regime between the two countries were also discussed, the joint statement issued by the two countries said. Earlier the delegation also called on Union home minister Shivraj Patil.

Mr Patil emphasised the need to further strengthen cooperation between India and Burma on various issues of mutual concern, including those related to security, drug trafficking and border management.Sharing Mr Patil’s views, Brig. Gen. Phone Swe requested India to provide training to civil servants and police officers of Burma in India to enable Burma to curb such activities better.

Mr Duggal and Brig. Gen. Phone Swe stated that their discussions took place in an atmosphere of utmost cordiality, reflecting excellent bilateral relations between India and Burma. In his meeting with Mr Shivraj Patil, Brig. Gen. Phone Swe also extended an invitation on behalf of his government to visit Burma.The 13th round of the annual talks will now take place in Burma, it was announced.

Lucknow, Sept. 16: Dressing up Lord Krishna in a pair of jeans and T-shirt in the famous Bankey Bihari temple in Mathura has caused a furore in the township and has led to public outrage in the state. Members of the Yuva Brahmin Sabha and several other organisations, including the district unit of the Samajwadi Party, burnt effigies of the priests in Vrindavan and Mathura on Saturday and demanded action against the offenders.

Sadhus and saints in Varanasi and Hardwar have demanded that the offenders should be booked under the National Security Act because they have hurt the sentiments of millions of Hindus. According to sources, the sewadars in the Bankey Bihari temple on Thursday — Anand Kishore Gosain and Jugal Kishore Gosain — dressed up the idol of Lord Krishna in jeans and T-shirt.

They even made the Lord wear a watch and carry a mobile in his hands. About 10,000 devotees who were present during the morning aarti at the temple saw the Lord in this unusual attire and even complained about it to the sewadars, but nothing happened. The Lord’s attire was again changed in the evening as per tradition. However, a local news channel, called Neo-News, even interviewed the two sewadars who patted their back for this modernisation of the Lord’s attire.

“It is simply blasphemous. How can anyone — least of all the sewadars — make a mockery of the Lord in this manner. The two sewadars responsible for this should be sacked and jailed. We will not let this matter rest and the VHP will shortly be holding a meeting to discuss the issue,” said another sewadar on condition of anonymity. The district administration, meanwhile, has sought a report on the incident.

Jaipur, Sept. 16: In a shocking incident, at least 40 villagers in Chittorgarh district were allegedly forced by the panchayat to dip their hands in boiling oil to prove they had not stolen some foodgrains. Police arrested five village panchayat members in connection with the case and they were remanded to seven days in judicial custody on Saturday.

The Devgarh police station in charge in the district has been suspended. The panchayat of Ranpur village conducted the orthodox agni pariksha (trial by fire) on September 10 after it was found that foodgrains meant for schoolchildren were stolen on August 31, Pratapgarh additional superintendent of police Om Prakash Bohra said. The villagers were told to dip their hands in a pot of boiling oil and those who suffered burns would be “proven guilty”, he said.

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 16: The Orissa government on Saturday took up the cause of Balram Tudu, a tribal student who could not get admission into IIT, Kharagpur due to an alleged postal delay. It requested the National Tribal Commission to probe into the incident.

It also requested the Centre to intervene and ask IIT Kharagpur to create a seat for Balram as a special case. Balram who had secured 83rd rank in the IIT entrance examination, could not get admission as the intimation letter for counselling did not reach him on time.

The SC and ST department on Saturday wrote to the National Commission and sought a probe into the delay. It also asked the commission to request IIT Kharagpur to create a seat for Balram as a special case. Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik had asked chief secretary Subash Pani to take up the matter with the premier institute.

New Delhi, Sept. 16: Leading writer Vikram Seth launched a campaign on Saturday against a legislation making homosexuality a criminal offence in India, saying the country must fight laws that abuse human rights.In an open letter signed by more than 100 influential Indians and supported by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, Seth said that the law, banning homosexuality had led to public intolerance and abuse of homosexuals in the country.

“This is why we support the overturning of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a colonial-era law dating to 1861, which criminalises romantic love and private, consensual acts between adults of the same sex,” the letter said. The legislation, which came into effect during the British rule in India, bans “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal.”

The novelist, who divides his time between India and Britain, said he launched the drive because he was gay. “The reason why I decided I would participate in this is that I am gay or at least partially gay,” said Mr Seth, author of the best-selling books A Suitable Boy and An Equal Music. Seth, whose writing has touched upon the theme of homosexuality, said that the law would affect millions in a country of 1.1 billion people.

“It (homosexuality) has to be discussed, it’s going to be discussed more and more. One cannot suppress the happiness of 50 or a 100 million people,” he said. The Delhi high court is to hear a petition challenging the law next month. The Indian government, in response to a petition in the Supreme Court, in 2005 said that public opinion in the conservative country did not favour a change in the law.

“It’s a strange argument. The law has to protect the rights of all people regardless of popular opinion,” said gay rights activist Gautam Bhan. “We want to raise public discussion ahead of the court hearing,” Mr Bhan said about the letter to the government and all citizens. “This letter will send a strong message. It will send a message that people care,” Mr Bhan said at the release of the letter at a news conference.

This is the first time such a large number of well-known people have urged the Indian government to act on an issue which has so far largely been taken up by AIDS activists and gay organisations.

Lucknow, Sept. 16: Haji Yakub Qureshi, Uttar Pradesh minister for Haj, is back in news for all the wrong reasons once more.The minister, along with three supporters, was caught by the railway authorities for ticketless travel and had to pay a fine of Rs 14,056 before he was allowed to go.

The minister had boarded the airconditioned coach of the Lucknow Mail at Hapur railway station and was finally caught by the railway authorities at Alamnagar, about half an hour before the train reached Lucknow on Saturday morning. The minister later told reporters in Lucknow that he had a valid ticket with him, but the railway authorities misbehaved with him with the intention of maligning his image.

“I even gave them a photocopy of the ticket, because I feared that they may destroy the original to implicate me. I am writing to the Central government about the incident. The railway authorities acted at the behest of my political rivals who want to defame me. I will reveal their names at the appropriate time,” he said.

The minister added that his name was on the reservation chart at Hapur station and a cabin had been allotted to him in the AC-1 coach. “If I did not have a ticket, how come my name was there in the reservation chart and why was I allotted a cabin?” he asked.

Bhubaneswar, Sept 16 : Police on Saturday arrested eight persons, including a local politician, and seized about half a kg of a yellowish colour material from Digapahandi area in Orissa’s Ganjam district. Those nabbed during the undercover operation claimed the material was uranium.

The police has sent the substance to the Orissa Forensic Laboratory for chemical analysis to ascertain whether it is really uranium and radioactive, as claimed. Police is taking no chances as the Indian Rare Earths Limited, a government of India undertaking located in Ganjam, was not able to identify the substance , which is in the form of round crystals.

“Scientists at IRE did not rule out the possibility that it was uranium. We rushed the material to the forensic laboratory for chemical examination and analysis, Berhampur SP Rajesh Kumar said According to sources , uranium, usually metallic grey or white in colour, could turn yellow or green in colour and have fluorescence when exposed to certain chemicals.