Musharraf granted bail

ISLAMABAD: Beleaguered former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf was on Monday granted bail in a case related to the death of a cleric of the radical Lal Masjid during a 2007 military operation, paving the way for his possible release after over six months of house arrest. Additional District and Sessions Judge Islamabad directed Musharraf to submit two surety bonds of Rs 1 lakh each.

The ruling means the 70-year-old is on bail in all the cases, including the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, the killing of Baloch leader Akbar Bugti and the imposition of emergency in 2007, brought against him since his return to the country from self-imposed exile in March. “He has been granted bail. He will be a free man soon,” Musharraf’s lawyer Illyas Siddiqui said. Musharraf is still on the Exit Control List, which bars him from going abroad, but his party claimed he would return to active politics.

“Whether his name is on the list or not, he is not going to leave the country. He will hit the streets soon and start his political campaign. He knew what he was getting into when he came here and hence there is no question of him going out,” Aasia Ishaque, spokesperson for Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League party, said. The police has already declared him “innocent” in the murder of cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi.

Advocate Tariq Asad, representing the prosecution, described the grant of bail as “unlawful” and said it would be challenged. Musharraf, who returned to Pakistan to participate in the May general elections, has been under arrest for nearly six months at his palatial farmhouse, guarded by nearly 300 security personnel, including soldiers and snipers.

Later, after submission of surety bonds in the Supreme Court, when he was closer to possible release, Islamabad police had arrested him last month in the Lal Masjid case. Musharraf, who was then army chief and President, had ordered the crackdown on extremists holed up in the Lal Masjid in 2007. About 100 people, most of them extremists, were killed in the operation.

On the orders of the Islamabad High Court, a case was registered against  Musharraf on September 2, charging him with the murder of Rashid and his mother. The case was filed after Rashid’s son filed a complaint with police and approached the courts. The trial in the case is scheduled for November 11 at Mr Musharraf’s farmhouse which had been turned into a sub-jail due to security reasons

Musharraf granted bail

ISLAMABAD: Beleaguered former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf was on Monday granted bail in a case related to the death of a cleric of the radical Lal Masjid during a 2007 military operation, paving the way for his possible release after over six months of house arrest. Additional District and Sessions Judge Islamabad directed Musharraf to submit two surety bonds of Rs 1 lakh each.

The ruling means the 70-year-old is on bail in all the cases, including the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, the killing of Baloch leader Akbar Bugti and the imposition of emergency in 2007, brought against him since his return to the country from self-imposed exile in March. “He has been granted bail. He will be a free man soon,” Musharraf’s lawyer Illyas Siddiqui said. Musharraf is still on the Exit Control List, which bars him from going abroad, but his party claimed he would return to active politics.

“Whether his name is on the list or not, he is not going to leave the country. He will hit the streets soon and start his political campaign. He knew what he was getting into when he came here and hence there is no question of him going out,” Aasia Ishaque, spokesperson for Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League party, said. The police has already declared him “innocent” in the murder of cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi.

Advocate Tariq Asad, representing the prosecution, described the grant of bail as “unlawful” and said it would be challenged. Musharraf, who returned to Pakistan to participate in the May general elections, has been under arrest for nearly six months at his palatial farmhouse, guarded by nearly 300 security personnel, including soldiers and snipers.

Later, after submission of surety bonds in the Supreme Court, when he was closer to possible release, Islamabad police had arrested him last month in the Lal Masjid case. Musharraf, who was then army chief and President, had ordered the crackdown on extremists holed up in the Lal Masjid in 2007. About 100 people, most of them extremists, were killed in the operation.

On the orders of the Islamabad High Court, a case was registered against  Musharraf on September 2, charging him with the murder of Rashid and his mother. The case was filed after Rashid’s son filed a complaint with police and approached the courts. The trial in the case is scheduled for November 11 at Mr Musharraf’s farmhouse which had been turned into a sub-jail due to security reasons

Raid at financial institutions in capital city

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A raid is being conducted at the financial institutions in the capital city. The raid is conducted at 22 centers by a team led by city police commissioner under the name ‘Operation Blade 3’.  Cheques worth Rs 38 lakhs and promissory notes were seized from an institution near medical college hospital in the city.

Raid at financial institutions in capital city

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A raid is being conducted at the financial institutions in the capital city. The raid is conducted at 22 centers by a team led by city police commissioner under the name ‘Operation Blade 3’.  Cheques worth Rs 38 lakhs and promissory notes were seized from an institution near medical college hospital in the city.

$120,000 farmhouse where Hakimullah Mehsud died

MIRANSHAH: With marble floors, lush green lawns and a towering minaret, the $120,000 farm where feared Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud died in a US drone strike was no grubby mountain cave.

Mehsud spent his days skipping around Pakistan's rugged tribal areas to avoid the attentions of US drones. But his family, including two wives, had the use of an eight-roomed farmhouse set amid lawns and orchards growing apples, oranges, grapes and pomegranates.

As well as the single-storey house, the compound in Dandey Darpakhel village, five kilometres (three miles) north of Miranshah, was adorned with a tall minaret- purely for decorative purposes.

Militant sources said the property in the North Waziristan tribal area was bought for Mehsud nearly a year ago for $120,000-- a huge sum by Pakistani standards by close aide Latif Mehsud, who was captured by the US in Afghanistan last month.

An AFP journalist visited the property several times when the previous owner, a wealthy landlord, lived there.

With the Pakistan army headquarters for restive North Waziristan just a kilometre away, locals thought of Mehsud's compound as the "safest" place in a dangerous area.

Its proximity to a major military base recalls the hideout of Osama bin Laden in the town of Abbottabad, on the doorstep of Pakistan's elite military academy.

"I saw a convoy of vehicles two or three times in this street but I never thought Hakimullah would have been living here. It was the safest place for us before this strike," local shopkeeper Akhter Khan told AFP.

This illusion of safety was shattered on Friday when a US drone fired at least two missiles at Mehsud's vehicle as it stood at the compound gate waiting to enter, killing the Pakistani Taliban chief and four cadres.

The area around Dandey Darpakhel is known as a hub for the Haqqani network, a militant faction blamed for some of the most high-profile attacks in Afghanistan in recent years.

Many left the area during the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan, coming back after the US-led invasion following the 9/11 attacks.

Samiullah Wazir, a shopkeeper in the area, told AFP he would regularly see a convoy of four or five SUVs with blacked-out windows leave the compound early in the morning and return after sunset.

"We thought that somebody very important must be living in this house," Wazir said.

"One day, I saw a man wearing a white shawl entering the house and I thought he looked like Hakimullah, but I thought 'How can he live here because he could be easily hit by a drone strike?'"

But Hakimullah it was and on Friday he returned to his compound for the final time.

"We were closing the shop when his vehicle came and was about to enter the house when a missile struck it," Wazir said.
"Moments later, an army of Taliban came and they cordoned off the area."

$120,000 farmhouse where Hakimullah Mehsud died

MIRANSHAH: With marble floors, lush green lawns and a towering minaret, the $120,000 farm where feared Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud died in a US drone strike was no grubby mountain cave.

Mehsud spent his days skipping around Pakistan's rugged tribal areas to avoid the attentions of US drones. But his family, including two wives, had the use of an eight-roomed farmhouse set amid lawns and orchards growing apples, oranges, grapes and pomegranates.

As well as the single-storey house, the compound in Dandey Darpakhel village, five kilometres (three miles) north of Miranshah, was adorned with a tall minaret- purely for decorative purposes.

Militant sources said the property in the North Waziristan tribal area was bought for Mehsud nearly a year ago for $120,000-- a huge sum by Pakistani standards by close aide Latif Mehsud, who was captured by the US in Afghanistan last month.

An AFP journalist visited the property several times when the previous owner, a wealthy landlord, lived there.

With the Pakistan army headquarters for restive North Waziristan just a kilometre away, locals thought of Mehsud's compound as the "safest" place in a dangerous area.

Its proximity to a major military base recalls the hideout of Osama bin Laden in the town of Abbottabad, on the doorstep of Pakistan's elite military academy.

"I saw a convoy of vehicles two or three times in this street but I never thought Hakimullah would have been living here. It was the safest place for us before this strike," local shopkeeper Akhter Khan told AFP.

This illusion of safety was shattered on Friday when a US drone fired at least two missiles at Mehsud's vehicle as it stood at the compound gate waiting to enter, killing the Pakistani Taliban chief and four cadres.

The area around Dandey Darpakhel is known as a hub for the Haqqani network, a militant faction blamed for some of the most high-profile attacks in Afghanistan in recent years.

Many left the area during the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan, coming back after the US-led invasion following the 9/11 attacks.

Samiullah Wazir, a shopkeeper in the area, told AFP he would regularly see a convoy of four or five SUVs with blacked-out windows leave the compound early in the morning and return after sunset.

"We thought that somebody very important must be living in this house," Wazir said.

"One day, I saw a man wearing a white shawl entering the house and I thought he looked like Hakimullah, but I thought 'How can he live here because he could be easily hit by a drone strike?'"

But Hakimullah it was and on Friday he returned to his compound for the final time.

"We were closing the shop when his vehicle came and was about to enter the house when a missile struck it," Wazir said.
"Moments later, an army of Taliban came and they cordoned off the area."

Red sandalwood, currency worth Rs 24 lakh seized from 3 Chinese Kochi: About 110 kg of rare red sandalwood along with foreign and Indian currency worth Rs 24 lakh was seized from three Chinese nationals at the Nedumbassery International Airport here as they were about to board a flight to Malaysia early Sunday morning, airport sources said. The trio had taken a flight from Delhi to Bangalore and from there travelled to Kochi by road. Red sandalwood is mainly used in cosmetics. Customs officials nabbed the trio after being alerted by the airport officials who discovered the cash during a search of their baggage.

Red sandalwood, currency worth Rs 24 lakh seized from 3 Chinese Kochi: About 110 kg of rare red sandalwood along with foreign and Indian currency worth Rs 24 lakh was seized from three Chinese nationals at the Nedumbassery International Airport here as they were about to board a flight to Malaysia early Sunday morning, airport sources said. The trio had taken a flight from Delhi to Bangalore and from there travelled to Kochi by road. Red sandalwood is mainly used in cosmetics. Customs officials nabbed the trio after being alerted by the airport officials who discovered the cash during a search of their baggage.

Red sandalwood, currency worth Rs 24 lakh seized from 3 Chinese Kochi: About 110 kg of rare red sandalwood along with foreign and Indian currency worth Rs 24 lakh was seized from three Chinese nationals at the Nedumbassery International Airport here as they were about to board a flight to Malaysia early Sunday morning, airport sources said. The trio had taken a flight from Delhi to Bangalore and from there travelled to Kochi by road. Red sandalwood is mainly used in cosmetics. Customs officials nabbed the trio after being alerted by the airport officials who discovered the cash during a search of their baggage.

Shweta Menon alleges molestation, MP denies

Kollam (Ker): Actress Shweta Menon was allegedly molested by an "elected representative" from the area at a function here, sparking strong protests from the Malayalam film fraternity and women outfits, which demanded stern action against the politician. Though Shweta did not reveal the identity of the politician who allegedly harassed her at the President's Trophy boat race last evening, media footage showed Congress MP N Peethambara Kurup from the area touching her but the lawmaker today strongly denied having committed such an act.

The actress, however, stood by her charge. Speaking to reporters in Kochi, she said, "I was really humiliated. I stand by the statement I made yesterday." Police are yet to register a case in connection with the incident, based either on the complaint the actress claimed to have orally made to the District Collector or by taking note of media reports. However, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is learnt to have spoken to the Collector on the incident. "It is totally untrue. I am telling this since my name has come up in a section of the media in connection with the incident," 73-year-old Kurup, representing Kollam in the Lok Sabha, told the media here Saturday.

He said it was extremely painful that his name had been dragged into the unfortunate incident and he was confident of proving his innocence with the backing of strong proof. "For the time being it needs to be seen only as a politically motivated move when elections are approaching. It is painful that any kind of malicious attack could be unleashed against me just because I am a politician," he said. 
Condemning the incident, state Women's Commission Member Licy Jose hinted at the possibility of the panel making a suo motu inquiry into the incident.

Actor Innocent, also president of Malayalam film artist association AMMA, said Shewta had called him and said it was an "elected representative" who harassed her. "Let her reveal the name of the person. But she has said it was an elected representative," Innocent said. On the possibility of her lodging a formal complaint about the incident, Shweta said "I have spoken to Innocent uncle... If any action is required I will do that after consultation with AMMA." When asked about it, Mohanan, however, said he had not received any complaint from the actress. Responding to queries by reporters, she maintained: "Whatever I wanted to say (about the incident) I have told the collector." She did not elaborate on the incident. Leaders of various women outfits voiced protest over the incident and wanted the authorities to take strong action against the culprit.