CM has Satyam money, says TD

Hyderabad Jan. 10: The Opposition Telugu Desam on Saturday alleged that the Rs 7,000 crore �missing� from Satyam Computers must be with the family of ex-chairman Mr Ramalinga Raju or the family of the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. The TD politburo member, Mr Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, said that the manner in which Mr Raju surrendered before the police indicated his strong connections with the Congress and the Chief Minister.� �Normally, an accused surrenders before a police station or court, but Mr Ramalinga Raju surrendered directly before the DGP,� he said. �Will the government permit other accused to surrender before the DGP as well?� Police has also registered the case in such a way that Mr Raju would not get severe punishment, he alleged. The TD leader expressed shock at the mega scam and demanded stringent action against Mr Raju.� He also sought a white paper on the Satyam fiasco. �I don�t believe Mr Raju has cooked up accounts,� he said.� �He must have diverted the funds to other businesses or paid off others.� He further added that Mr Raju seems to have distributed the ill gotten wealth to his family members, Maytas as well as politicians. �Satyam is the source of funds for Maytas,� he said. �A thorough inquiry will bring out the truth.� Mr Ramakrishnudu, a former finance minister, denied that the TD favoured the Satyam group when it was in power. �We gave a fillip to the IT industry but the Congress indulged in corrupt practices and irregularities,� he said.� �It was the Congress government that awarded huge contracts to the Satyam group.� The TD leader asked the government to convene an all party meeting to discuss the Satyam scam.

Leena lost Rs 2 lakh due to Satyam

Hyderabad Jan. 10: Police could arrest the Raju brothers of Satyam, thanks to the determination of Mrs. Leena Mangat, a quiet woman who retired from Syndicate Bank a couple of years ago.� Mrs Leena Mangat purchased 200 shares of Satyam and lost about Rs 2 lakh after Mr Ramalinga Raju admitted to corporate fraud. She then filed a case against him. Based on her complaint the CID swung into action on Friday. On Saturday, mediapersons thronged the house of the soft-spoken woman at Ramnagar Colony in Alwal.� However, the Mangats had moved out of the house by then. It is not known where they went.� �She has always been a courageous lady, but this step comes as a big surprise to me,� said Mrs. Uma Devi, wife of Mr Randhir Singh, elder brother of Mrs. Leena Mangat�s husband, Mr Narsingh Mangat. A casual investor in the stock market, Mrs. Leena Mangat belongs to a financially stable family. Her husband retired from business some years ago.� �We are a middle-class family, and she might have invested some money in shares and felt cheated after losing the amount,� said Mr Randhir Singh.� �Money is very important to middle class families.�� �They went out at about 8 am after Narsingh spoke to a television channel,� said Mr Randhir Singh.� �She obviously wanted to avoid the limelight.�

14 arrested by railway cops

Hyderabad Jan. 10: Carrying inflammable objects and explosives in trains is rampant even after fire accidents happened in Gauthami Express and Padmavati Express trains last year.� Filled gas cylinders, kerosene, fire crackers, kerosene gas stoves are being transported in passenger coaches violating safety norms. South Central Railway, which took up the issue seriously, has cracked down on violators and arrested 14 persons recently from various trains including Simhapuri Express and Charminar Express trains. The South Central Railway chief public relations officer, Mr Panabaka Krishnaiah, said the railway authorities had ordered simultaneous raids in all the trains during Sankranti season when trains are usually full.� �People who carry inflammable substances and explosives will be arrested under Section 164 of the Railway Act,� said Mr Krishnaiah. �After the fire accidents in Gautami and Padmavti Express trains, we had advised all officials apart from RPF and GRP to be very cautious and ensure the passengers� safety,� he added.� Meanwhile, the SCR has also made arrangements to clear the extra rush of passengers in Sankranti season. SCR is operating 66 additional trains up to January 19 to various cities including Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Kakinada and Rajahmundry. APSRTC has arranged 4066 buses to cope up with the rush of passengers, the APSRTC regional manager of Ranga Reddy district, Mr S. Ravindrababu said.

Eggs rot as truckers try to intensify strike

Hyderabad Jan. 10: The on-going lorry strike has caused losses to the tune of Rs 100 crore for the poultry industry. Over 30 crore eggs remain unsold at farms, causing grave concern for poultry farmers. The National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) said it will be a death blow to poultry farmers if the lorry strike is not called off in the next 48 hours. �The losses per day will creep up to Rs 17 crore,� said Mr K.V.S. Subba Raju, zonal chairman, NECC. He said the NECC has requested the state government to help the poultry industry. The supply of chicken has been affected too. The strike was called at a time when poultry farmers were clearing debts they incurred due to increase in prices of chicken feed. �There are nearly seven-crore layer birds and another two crore broiler birds on any given day in Andhra Pradesh,� Mr Raju said. �Each bird requires at least 150 grams of feed daily. But feed supply has also stopped due to the truckers strike and farmers have exhausted the stock they had. To make matters worse, chicken feed suppliers have raised prices too. Poultry farmers, who are already in trouble as their produce remains unsold, are paying more for feed to ensure that the birds survive,� he said. Nearly 1 lakh farmer-families are directly involved in the poultry industry apart from another 30 lakh people who are indirectly connected to it.� Andhra Pradesh is a leading producer of eggs in the country. Of the total 5.5 crore eggs produced every day, the state consumes 2.5 crore. The rest of the produce is supplied to West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.� Farmers in East and West Godavari districts are affected the most as their farms produce 2 crore daily

Three men stabbed near Banjara bunk

Hyderabad Jan. 10: Three men were stabbed at the Rameshwar Rao petrol filling station at Road No. 2, Banjara Hills, on Saturday morning. The incident occurred at 10.15 am when about 15 people came in a group to the petrol bunk with bottles and cans to buy diesel. They� were eager to get the fuel because of the fuel shortage following strikes by oil company workers and truckers. When asked to stand in queue, one from the group took out a sword� and stabbed a staffer named Santosh. Two other employees who came to his rescue were also stabbed. All the three received bleeding injuries on their backs. �People reacted on impulse and the situation spun out of control,� said the Banjara Hills police station sub-inspector, Mr Bhupati Gurappa. The attackers have been booked under the Sections 324, 147 and 148 of the Indian Penal Code. The injured men were admitted to the Nikhil Hospital at Srinagar.

Truth labs a hit among couples

Hyderabad Jan. 10: Many people in the city prefer to approach the truth labs to investigate cases and clear doubts rather than go to the police or courts. Individuals, corporates, banks and financial institutions are keen on conducting polygraph tests. Companies are using them to test the integrity of probable employees while husbands and wives are also approaching truth labs to clear various doubts about marital fidelity. Recently, for instance, the daughter-in-law of a respected business community member was �put to test� to verify her chastity. The new trend was discussed at a national polygraph workshop organised jointly by the University of Hyderabad with the truth labs here on Friday.� Mr K. Koshi, Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development, stressed on the need for investigators to be more technically advanced to meet growing threats such as terrorism, especially in the wake of recent incidents.� Mr Koshi expressed his keenness in providing training to the police down to the grassroots level. The Vice Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad, Dr Seyed E. Hasnain, also spoke.� The history of polygraph use was discussed in detail by Dr. Bibha Rani Ray, Director of Centre of Forensic Science Laboratory, in the CBI, New Delhi.

State readies cyber cafe laws

Hyderabad Jan. 10: The state government has readied a draft legislation to monitor goings-on in cyber cafes. An ordinance will soon be issued to regulate cyber cafes, following which a Bill would be introduced in the Assembly during the Budget Session in early February. A senior police officer said that a new law was necessary in the absence of any Central regulations concerning cyber cafes. Other states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have also enacted their own laws.� �Cyber cafes are being used by terror groups for communication and many other indecent activities are also happening there,� the officer said.� He pointed out that in some cafes, webcams were being used to shoot couples in intimate moments and these shots were being used to blackmail them. The new law makes licensing compulsory for cyber cafes. The owner of the caf� also should give an undertaking and indemnity bond. Apart from maintaining log records of the visitors, they should take their pictures using a webcam and store them. It may be mentioned that an email sent to media after the Jaipur blasts in the name of Indian Mujahideen had been traced to a cyber caf� in Ghaziabad.� In November last year, terrorists had reportedly used a cyber cafe in Delhi to sent email warnings minutes before bombs went off in court premises in Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad.� These incidents brought cyber cafes under the scanner by the police.� At present, just about anybody can walk into a cyber caf� and start browsing. Most cyber cafe owners continue to turn a blind eye to police directives.

PM assurance to Satyam staff

Hyderabad Jan. 10: The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, gave a firm assurance on Saturday that the Centre would take all steps to protect the interests of the 50,000-odd employees of Satyam Computers. Dr Singh gave this assurance when the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, called him up in the evening and briefed him about the action taken by the state government including the arrest of former chairman, Mr B. Ramalinga Raju. The Prime Minister told the Chief Minister that the new board would have government representatives as members and its top priority would be running the show. �Let the dust settle down,� he is reported to have said. �The Centre will take care.� Sources said Dr Reddy stressed the need for smooth functioning of the company which had thousands of employees, large clientele and several projects in hand. He informed the Prime Minister that the Criminal Investigation Department was looking into various aspects of the scam including cheating, fudging of figures and criminal breach of trust. The government is keen on having the state chief secretary on the board. Officials told the Chief Minister that this would help in the better day-to-day functioning of the company. Besides, it will create a feeling among employees that state was also coming to their rescue, sources added. �We have to make a clear distinction between the company and the management,� said the Chief Minister. �Though the management got involved in some fraud, employees and shareholders should not suffer.�

State may consider CBI help

Hyderabad Jan. 10: The state government is considering involving the Central Bureau of Investigation in the probe into the Satyam fraud in view of its massive repercussions. It was not clear whether the government would hand over the case to the CBI or wait for the Central agencies to take a call. the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, on Saturday said that the CID probe would not come in the way of investigations by other agencies including the CBI or Sebi. Defending the award of contracts to Maytas Infra, the Chief Minister said the company was like any other contractor who obtained works through bidding. �Mr Nama Nageswara Rao, a Telugu Desam leader, and Mr Bollineni Krishnaiah, a BJP leader, also got irrigation works in our government,� he said. On allotting Rs 120 crore work to Maytas in Kadapa, the Chief Minister said it would facilitate speedy completion of work and at no stage the government had increased the project cost. Asked about the government paying Rs 300 crore to Maytas Infra to shift the Machilipatnam port project, the Chief Minister he said the amount would be paid not at one go but in staggered spells. The Chief Minister ridiculed the Opposition charge that the government had �helped� Mr B. Ramalinga Raju by arresting him. The Telugu Desam had stated that Mr Raju�s arrest would hamper investigations by other agencies. �This is the worst criticism from the Telugu Desam,� the Chief Minister said. �If he (TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu) is denied breakfast at home, he would hold me responsible,� Dr Reddy said. He asked why Mr Naidu was not vociferous in his criticism against Mr Ramalinga Raju. The Telugu Desam would have criticised the government of shielding Mr Raju if the arrest did not take place on Friday, he said. He recalled that when the then US President, Mr Bill Clinton, visited the city, Mr Naidu ensured that Mr Raju shared the dais even as top industrialists like Ratan Tata sat in the audience. �There was talk that Mr Naidu had stakes in Satyam but we never made an open accusation as there was no evidence,� he said.