New Delhi: Yasin Bhatkal, the operational head of banned terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM), was planning to carry out a “fidayeen attack in a train having foreigner passengers” in 2011, and members of the outfit had already conducted a reconnaissance of the train, one of his close associates has revealed.
Bhatkal’s plan to carry out new attacks as well as his proximity to Waqas, one of the main suspects in the recent twin blasts in Hyderabad, has been revealed by a senior IM operative Mohammed Danish Ansari in a statement recorded under Section 164 of CrPC.
A statement recorded under Section 164 CrPC is admissible in court as evidence without any corroboration as it ensures that the person would stick to his version.
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Ansari, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Bihar’s Darbhanga district on January 22, allegedly sheltered Bhatkal. He has also named by the Delhi Police in its FIR against a Bhatkal-led module.
Ansari has claimed that he wanted to quit IM as he had fallen in love with a girl, but that infuriated Bhatkal alias Imran, who instructed him to stay put in Delhi. “Imran said if I can’t make weapons then I should become a fidayeen attacker. He told me how his people have conducted reconnaissance and found a train in which foreigners would be travelling. Imran said he was going to place the bomb but then asked me if I wanted to do it”.
In May 2011 when he finally quit, Bhatkal escorted him to his village in Darbhanga and threatened him of dire consequences if he spilled the beans to police. The IM operative has said that besides his love affair, the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy Seals was another factor that impelled him to disassociate himself from the IM. “I saw the news on TV and I got scared that if a man like Osama could be killed then I will also have a similar end,” Ansari said.

Bangalore: It’s a matter of time before the double-decker train will start running between Bangalore and Chennai. With safety clearance in, the train is waiting for the railway board to fix a launch date soon, officials said.
They said the train will start operations anytime this month as it’s a budgetary commitment of 2013-13.
“Clearance has been received from the commissioner for railway safety of South Western Railway division. We are waiting for the railway board to give us a date but it’s sure to start chugging before March 31,” said Anil Kumar Agarwal, divisional railway manager, Bangalore.
The train reached City railway station on Friday on its second set of trial runs from...
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Chennai. Extensive trials were conducted between Bangarpet and Bangalore City railway station. “There were a few technical aspects which were asked to be corrected. Now things are fine,” Agarwal added.
The double-decker train will run ahead of Brindavan Express on the same route during the day.
The train will have 12 coaches each with a seating capacity of 120, more than that of Shatabdi Express and Brindavan. It’s fitted with a special chasis of German make that prevents coaches from piling up during collisions.
TIMINGS
Departure from Chennai –
7.25am
Arrival (estimated) at Bangalore City—1.20pm
Departure from Bangalore City—2.40pm
Arrival (estimated) at Chennai—8.45pm STATIONS
Bangalore City, Bangalore Cantonment, Krishnarajapuram, Bangarpet, Jolarpettai, Ambur, Katpadi, Arrakonam, Perambur, Chennai Central
FARE (Blr-Chennai)
Rs 440 (adult)
OPEN SPACE: The 12-coach train will have seating for 120 persons

Bhubaneswar: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) increased its freight loading and passenger carrying capacity during the first four months of the current financial year and also surpassed the proportionate loading target fixed by the Railway Board, official sources said.
During the first four months from April to July, ECoR loaded 42.44 million tonne of freight which is 13.3 per cent more than the corresponding period of last fiscal and 0.2 per cent more than the target during the period. The railway loaded 37.45 million tonne of freight during the period. Similarly, during the month of July only, the railway surpassed the loading target and loaded 11.09 tonne of freight which is 13 per cent more than the corresponding period of last year and 4.1 per cent more than the target. In July 2011, ECoR carried 9.81 million tonne of freight.
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During the first quarter, the ECoR earned a total revenue of Rs 2788.68 crore, which was Rs 726.34 crore more than the figure achieved in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal by registering an increase of 36.54 per cent. This spectacular growth was achieved despite constraints like disruption in train movements due to agitations, rail roko, yard remodeling works and extremist activities in the revenue generating areas, they said.
The major commodities carried by the railway were coal, iron ore, finished steel, fertilizers, foodgrains, cement and other freight loadings. On the passenger front, ECoR carried 21.90 million passengers during the first quarter which is 2.91 per cent more than the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
During this period of last year, ECoR had carried 21.28 million passengers. Similarly, on the revenue front from passenger carrying, the railway earned rupees 202.49 crores by registering an increase of 4.82 per cent than the corresponding period of last year. During the 1st quarter of last fiscal, ECoR had earned revenue of Rs 193.18 crores from passenger front only.

In what is being called as the biggest ever power failure in India, half of of the country was without electricity supply on Tuesday afternoon. This affected hundreds of trains and lakhs of households and establishments as the grid that connects generating stations with customers collapsed for the second time in two days, highlighting the precarious state of the power sector in the country.
However, confirming the collapse of the northern and eastern grids, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told television channels that power will be restored in an hour.
The blackout which has left 600 million people without electricity in one of the world's most widespread power failures, according to AP.
Power Grid Corp India Ltd sources said that the Tuesday's collapse...
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is the most severe ever in the country. "Grid incident occured at 1300hrs effecting the Northern, Eastern & North Eastern Grid. System under restoration," Eastern Regional Load despatch Centres said.
Central Electricity Authority officials have said that the collapse of three grids is unprecedented. "May take over a day to recover. Three grids - Northern, North eastern, and eastern - have collapsed together. The grids will be restored seperately," officials said.
According to the officials, hydro power plants will be started first. Thermal plants may take the longest to come back on stream. "The entire drill may take a complete day. Situation may be normal by Wednesday," they added.
All power generating stations connected to North, East and North East have been shut down.
Metro rail services in Delhi as well as Howrah, Asansol and Sealdah were stopped because of the unexpected breakdown, and a railways spokesman said that up to 500 trains across the country may have been stranded without electricity.
Officials said north India suffered a 'technical snag' in the grid. Grid management authorities are yet to assess the problem and its magnitude. Power Grid Corp director projects I P Jha told ET that the company officials have been called to the control room.
"We are rushing to the control room. We don't know about the problem yet. It could be a technical snag," Jha said.
Nine states of the northern grid went powerless on Monday after the northern grid failed due to suspected overdrawl by some states.
Kolkata, however, was partly insulated from the outage as the city is supplied by CESC Ltd, which has its own sources also. A top CESC executive told ET that that the city has a shortfall of 400-500 mw.
Monday's collapse of the northern grid, the worst in a decade, was triggered by violation of discipline by states, which drew excessive power, which some officials said was due to political pressures.
(With inputs from Himangshu Watts, Sarita C Singh,Debjoy Sengupta)

A youth died while his elder brother sustained injuries while alighting from Puri-Durg Intercity Express at Balangir railway station in the wee hours of Saturday.
The deceased has been identified as Asim Kumar Meher (21) of Ganga Nagar in Patnagarh town. His brother, Anup Kumar Meher (23), has been admitted to Patnagarh Sub-Divisional Hospital.
While Anup is a student of ICAR, Asim had gone for OJEE counselling and been selected for admission to VSS University of Technology at Burla.
After the counselling, the brothers took the Puri-Durg Intercity Express. Getting up from sleep at Balangir, Asim thought the train was leaving the platform and jumped out only to be crushed under its wheels. Anup was lucky and fell with a thud on the...
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platform.
Government Railway Police have registered a case and the body seized for autopsy.
Intercity rams tractor: One dies, three injured
SAMBALPUR: Three women labourers had a narrow escape while the driver of a tractor died after the Sambalpur-Puri Intercity Express rammed it at an unmanned level- crossing between Maneswar and Hatibari Railway Station at around 6.45 am on Saturday.
While the driver, Kanhu Mirdha (25) of Kumka village under Jujumura block, died on way to hospital, the labourers, Ahalya Mirdha, Uttara Mirdha and Pratima Mirdha, all in early twenties, of the same village have been admitted to district headquarters hospital.
The labourers had jumped from the tractor on spotting the train and sustained injuries.
Later the tractor which had got entangled with the engine was removed and the train left after 25 minutes.
Soon after the accident, locals staged a rail roko demanding a manned level- crossing. The agitation saw the Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express stranded at the spot for over two hours. The impasse was broken after Additional Divisional Railway Manager J Diggi, Senior Safety Officer Pitabas Panda and Senior Divisional Engineer (East) C R Panda assured the agitators to take up the issue with appropriate authorities

If you’re wondering why you can’t book a railway ticket online at 8am when reservations start, blame travel agents who log on in droves and slow down all computer servers except those at the stations. This problem has become so acute that people end up going to agents to buy tickets.
South Western Railway suffers as much as any other division. Touts and agents run a full-fledged business, handin-glove with government machinery which allows them to be the first ones served at counters. “The person who comes at 3am to be first in the queue will be pushed back to being the 20th by 6am when travel agents stroll in. There are also scuffles between ordinary customers and agents who charge Rs 700 extra per person,” complained Mahipal Gadiya of Bangalore.
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Mahipal said agents have places reserved for them in the queue and railway officials at counters are party to this scam. “By the time all the agents have gone, we end up getting tickets on the waiting list. We can’t take on this powerful gang,” said businessman Naresh BP.
“I join the queue for women where there aren't any touts. But the menace affects the entire reservation process,” said Manju Nair at the City railway station around which there are many travel agents. Although there is a separate counter for bulk bookings, agents send their men the previous night to the counters and they block space in the queues of all counters.
FORCED TO GO TO TOUTS
With touts getting priority at the booking counters, the aam aadmi ends up being forced to use their services. “I have a meeting in Delhi and tried to buy the ticket online from my house. Strangely, the server would be down from 8am to 10am and I couldn’t get a reserved seat. I handed over Rs 2,000 to a travel agent. The fare is about Rs 1,400 in an AC coach. What else could I have done?” asked Mukesh Bhan, an HR professional at a private firm in Bangalore.
Indian Railways’ servers slow down when too many users log on to buy tickets. This leaves people only two options — go to the counters the night before they open or pay extra money to an agent.
“When I tried to book my tickets for October-end to Kolkata, four months before the day of travel, I wasted over one hour on the website and couldn't get a confirmed reservation in either of the two trains from Bangalore to Howrah. The server was terribly slow. Finally, I booked a ticket on a train from Chennai. Now, when I try for a Tatkal seat, I have no option but to go through an agent who will buy it at the counter,” said Rajarshi Dhar, market research professional in Bangalore.
OUT OF EXPERIENCE
When my father had
a heart attack, I had
to rush home to Kolkata. I went to an agent who wanted Rs 300 extra but there was no guarantee of getting a ticket. I decided to buy the ticket myself and ended up sleeping the night before on the tar road outside the reservation office at Cantonment station. I hadn’t even taken a jacket with me. — Sumit Roy | STUDENT
I’m now used to carrying my dinner, jacket and bedsheet to the reservation counters at Yeshwantpur station to book tickets. There’s no way to get rid of agents who are all good friends of railway officials. Police dare not move them out, but if you try to break the queue, they'll scold you no end.
— Shivani Shankar | TEACHER