Mumbai probe hopes for CCTV clues

15 July 2011 Last updated at 06:42 GMT Indian investigators looking into Wednesday's blasts in Mumbai have been examining security camera footage for vital clues, media reports say.

An unnamed detective told the state-run DD News that footage from one of the sites revealed "suspicious behaviour of some people"..

The three explosions killed 18 people and injured dozens.

The attacks are the deadliest in India since 2008, when gunmen killed 165 people in a three-day raid in Mumbai.

Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the blasts could have been the work of a "small group" who had "worked in a very clandestine manner".

No group has said it planted the bombs but suspicion among some officials and analysts has fallen on the Indian Mujahideen, a group which has claimed to have carried out similar attacks in the past.

Investigators who are going through the security camera footage and forensic evidence from the three sites are hoping to get a breakthrough, media reports say.

The biggest explosion occurred at the Opera House business district in the south of the city, in an area known as a hub for diamond traders. The detective quoted by DD News said footage from the site showed people behaving suspiciously.

"But until we question them or record their statement, we cannot say anything about their involvement," he added.

"We are calling all those people seen in the footage to get a clear picture of the incident or any details that may help us in the probe."

On Thursday Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the "perpetrators of [the] Mumbai blasts shall be pursued relentlessly and brought to justice quickly".

The other blasts hit Zaveri Bazaar, an area with many jewellery shops, and Dadar district in the city centre.

Mumbai has been targeted many times in recent years.

The 2008 attacks, which focused on two high-end hotels, a busy train station, a Jewish centre and other sites frequented by foreigners, were blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.

The gunmen, nine of whom died in the raid, killed 165 people.

Pakistan-based militants were blamed for the November 2008 attacks and peace efforts between the two countries were derailed. Pakistan's government was quick to condemn the latest bombings.

View the original article here

India police probe Sai Baba cash

22 June 2011 Last updated at 16:58 GMT By Swaminathan Natarajan BBC Tamil Sai Baba was buried with state honours Police in India say they have asked two members of a trust linked to guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba to explain the source of a large amount of cash.

They say they recovered 3.5m rupees ($80,000) from a car in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh on 19 June.

Police say the trustees have been given three days to respond to their request.

One of the trustees has told the BBC the money was donated by "alumni" of Sai Baba's educational institutions. Sai Baba died in April, aged 84.

He said it was in order to build a tomb in memory of him.

In a separate development, Sai Baba's Sathya Sai Central Trust said it had recovered a large quantity of money and cash from his "personal chamber".

"About $2.5m of cash, 98kg of gold and 307Kg of silver were recovered and deposited in the bank account of the central trust," a statement released by the trust said.

Followers of Sai Baba believe he had magical abilities to produce objects out of thin air, visit people in their dreams, perform miracles and cure terminal illnesses.

But his critics say that many of these activities were publicity stunts. They say that he was a persuasive fraudster who used his huge popularity to avoid being investigated over allegations of murky financial practices and sexual abuse.

These charges were always strenuously denied by the guru and his huge number of followers and were never proved.

Police officials have asked trustees RJ Ratnakar - who performed the last rites of Sai Baba - and Madras-based industrialist V Srinivasan to explain where the money came from.

Mr Srinivasan confirmed to the BBC Tamil service he had received the police notices.

"Notices, not summons, have been received today from the Inspector of Police for a statement in connection with a case registered by the police against certain persons," he said in an e-mail.

He said the recovered cash was part of a much larger sum that will be spent on the construction of the tomb.

"This is just an advance," Mr Srinivasan said. "The money was intercepted when it was being transported to the Bangalore-based contractor."

He added that he would "wholeheartedly welcome" any police investigation and indicated his willingness to co-operate with the concerned agencies.

View the original article here

India's BJP demands 'bug probe'

22 June 2011 Last updated at 11:22 GMT Pranab Mukherjee is one of the most senior ministers India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded a probe into an alleged security breach in Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's office.

The Indian Express newspaper has reported that "planted adhesives" were found in Mr Mukherjee's office last year, pointing to an attempt to bug it.

The paper said investigators found the adhesive to be a "sort of chewing gum".

Mr Mukherjee said investigations had "found nothing" and urged the media not to waste time on "bogus things".

"In respect of news item regarding bugging in my office, the Investigation Bureau looked into it and found there is nothing in it," Mr Mukherjee said on Tuesday.

However, opposition BJP leader Sushma Swaraj described the reported bugging as "India's Watergate", and demanded to know whether the government was spying on its own minister or if a "corporate house" was doing so.

"In either case, it is a matter of grave concern. It is India's Watergate and needs to be thoroughly investigated," Ms Swaraj said.

In its report on Tuesday, the Indian Express said Mr Mukherjee had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last September asking for a "secret inquiry" into what he called a "serious breach of security" in his office.

The newspaper said that "planted adhesives" had been found at "16 key locations" in the office.

No microphone or recording device had been found, Mr Mukherjee reportedly wrote to the prime minister.

The newspaper said that the Intelligence Bureau had investigated the complaint and said that the adhesives were a "sort of chewing gum".

Some of the gum was apparently marked by lines which could have indicated they had at some point held recording devices.

Mr Mukherjee, 76, is the most senior member of the Congress-led federal government and one of India's leading politicians.

View the original article here