Zahira kin recalls trial horror

Mumbai (PTI): Nafitullah Sheikh, brother of Zahira Sheikh, told a Gujarat police team on Tuesday that he and his family were regularly visited since a month before the Best Bakery trial began by people who said accused were close to the local MLA and that nothing would happen to them.

?All the persons arrested as accused in the Best Bakery massacre whom you all have named are MLA Madhu Shrivastava?s and Bhattu?s (Chandrakant Shrivastava) men. Nothing will happen to them. The government is theirs, the police are theirs. You all will be killed. There will be no one left to give evidence,? Nafitullah told the police, narrating the threats.

The Gujarat police team arrived here on Tuesday to record the statement of the key witness in the Best Bakery case, Zahira Sheikh, and his family in a suit on alleged threats to them by Madhu Shrivastava.

?The duo of Rehemtullah and Lal Mohammad (Shrivastava?s men) took me to a place near Alpana Talkies on the pretext of showing me some scrap,? Nafitullah said. He, instead, was taken to a hotel owned by Bhattu. Both Madhu and Bhattu were sitting there with their henchmen and warned him against giving evidence. Otherwise, he and his family would be killed, Nafitullah was told.

A mob had killed 14 people in Best Bakery on the outskirts of Vadodara on March 1, 2002. The accused were acquitted by a fast-track court in Gujarat after Zahira withdrew her statement. But the apex court has ordered a fresh trial in Maharashtra which is expected to begin on Wednesday.

HC panel to clear organ air

New Delhi (PTI): Delhi High Court has set up a high-level committee to suggest measures to end exploitation of poor people in the process of organ donation and examine feasibility of creating a fund to give incentives to honest donors.

Justice Manmohan Sarin has asked the committee, to be headed by the Union health secretary, to review provisions of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, and submit its report to the Centre within four months.

The committee will examine the available data on organ transplants and the working of the authorisation committees and ?make its recommendations on the composition of authorisation committees and changes, if any, required to ensure timely permissions?, the order said.

Driver tries to kidnap cop

Ahmedabad (PTI): An autorickshaw driver has been arrested on charges of trying to abduct a traffic police inspector.

Patrolling inspector D.K. Sindhi asked Ibrahim Wali Mohammad to stop after he noticed excessive fumes coming out of the autorickshaw.

Sindhi suspected that the vehicle was being run on kerosene and, after getting into the autorickshaw, asked Ibrahim to take it to the nearby towing station. When the driver failed to persuade Sindhi to let him go, he tried to drive off at a high speed with Sindhi on the back seat, but failed.

Aid for Russia

Moscow (PTI): India will provide medicines worth $50,000 to Russia for the victims of the terrorist attack on a Beslan school. Over 330 people, including children, were killed in it.

Rare linga found

Srinagar (PTI): A rare ek-mukh linga dating back at least to the sixth century was recovered during an excavation in Pulwama district. The deputy director of archives, archaeology and museums has said it was found in Kasbhayar, known as Kaspapyros in ancient Greek records.

Telgi records

Mumbai (PTI): The CBI will produce medical records of Abdul Karim Telgi, the mastermind of the multi-crore stamp paper scam, before a court on Wednesday. Judicial magistrate S.R. Jaisal passed the order on Monday after remanding Telgi in judicial custody till September 28.

Gopal respite

Chennai (PTI): Madras High Court has discharged the petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government challenging the Central Pota Review Committee?s order directing the state to furnish copies of documents to Nakkeeran editor R.R. Gopal charged under the anti-terror law.

Nepalis rescued

Kathmandu (PTI): Indian fishermen have rescued eight Nepalis who went missing after their boat capsized in the Narayanai in Nawalparasi district bordering Uttar Pradesh.

Himachal Pradesh will soon introduce a special package to attract Britishers whose family members had links with India during the colonial era. The state will participate in the proposed food festival in London to promote the package.