SOUTH ASIA
Liquor Brothers Ponty, Hardeep Chadha Killed In Clash
New Delhi: The bloody gun battle that left liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his estranged brother Hardeep dead here Saturday came within hours of another clash between the aides of the two estranged siblings, police said Monday, after quizzing over 100 people.
“Ponty Chadha’s men had earlier in the day tried to forcibly take possession of another property in Bijwasan (south Delhi). This triggered off the final clash between the two brothers,” a police official said.
He said that two of Ponty’s aides, Madan Rana and Vijay alias Malik, had been arrested in the first clash over a disputed property at Bijwasan that took place three hours ahead of the gun battle at a farmhouse in south Delhi’s Chhattarpur Saturday. “There was tension in the family for the couple of days before the shootout killings. Efforts were on to find a compromise,” Joint Commissioner of Police Vivek Gogia told reporters.
The blood bath that occurred Nov 17 between the Chadha brothers over the issue of possession of a disputed farm No.42 situated in Chhattarpur ended in both the brothers losing their lives. One security person was injured.
Gogia said that initial investigation revealed that tension had been brewing between Ponty and Hardeep for the past couple of days before the Chhattarpur shootout.
He said the property dispute had not reached the court and their mother and community elders were trying to find an amicable solution to end the disagreements.
Gogia said police were awaiting post mortem, ballistic and forensic reports to ascertain who fired at whom.
A team of ballistic and forensic experts had collected evidence from the farmhouse that was at the centre of the controversy between the two brothers. The property is said to be worth Rs.200 crore.
Till now police have questioned 100 people, including employees, guards and personal security officers, of the Chadha brothers. “Some other people, who were also present at the disputed farm along with Ponty Chadha, have been questioned,” he said.
Talking about the sequence of events Saturday, Gogia said that 30-40 men led by Ponty reached the Chhattarpur farmhouse and beat up some of Hardeep’s men, took away their mobile phones and locked them up in the farmhouse. They also fired in the air.
When Hardeep, who was attending a meeting in Noida, adjoining Delhi, learnt about this he rushed to the Chhattarpur farmhouse where a heated argument erupted between the two brothers.
Police investigations also showed that when Ponty’s security manager Narendra tried to intervene in the argument, an angry Hardeep opened fire.
On reaching the spot, police found Hardeep’s body lying in a pool of blood while Ponty had been rushed to Fortis hospital by his men. Eight people, including a personal security officer and driver of Ponty, and six of Hardeep’s aides were at the spot.
Police also recovered two pistols from the scene which were registered in Hardeep’s name. Investigators said that they did receive an anonymous call informing them about the fight at Chhattarpur around 12.15 p.m. but confirmed that the caller was not Hardeep. They received two more calls even after the police team had reached the spot.
SOUTH ASIA
Pakistani Anti-graft body wants travel ban on Nawaz Sharif, kin
Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog has asked authorities to place ousted premier Nawaz Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law on the Exit Control List to prevent them from leaving the country.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) sent a formal request to the ministry of interior. The interior ministry officials confirmed that the NAB wrote that names of Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar should be put on the Exit Control List (ECL), which listed individuals not allowed to leave Pakistan.
The NAB argued that as the trial of the three nears its conclusion, it is feared that they would leave the country.
Earlier, a similar request to place name of finance minister Ishaq Dar on ECL was not accepted, allowing him to go to London and never return.
Sharif, 68, and his family this week filed an application with the accountability court seeking a fortnight’s exemption from personal appearance from February 19 onwards to let them go to London to see Sharif’s ailing wife. Three cases were filed against Sharif and his family last year, including Avenfield properties, Azizia & Hill Metal Establishment, and Flagship Investments.
Maryam and Safdar are accused only in Avenfield properties case. The NAB had filed two supplementary references against Sharif, his sons Hasan and Hussain regarding Al-Azizia Steel Mills & Hill Metal Establishment and Flagship Investment cases.
SOUTH ASIA
Pakistan “breaches obligations’ on nuclear arms reduction, UN court told
The Hague: Pakistan is violating its “obligations” to the international community by failing to reduce its nuclear arsenal, the Marshall Islands told the UN’s highest court on Tuesday.
The small Pacific Island nation is this week launching three unusual cases against India, Pakistan and Britain before the International Court of Justice.
Majuro wants to put a new spotlight on the global nuclear threat, its lawyers said yesterday, by using its own experience with massive US-led nuclear tests in the 1940s and 1950s.
“Pakistan is in breach of its obligations owed to the international community as a whole,” when it comes to reducing its nuclear stockpile, said Nicholas Grief, one of the island nation’s lawyers.
DeBrum warned that even a “limited nuclear war” involving the two countries would “threaten the existence” of his island nation people.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.
In 1998, the rival neighbours both demonstrated nuclear weapons capability.
The ICJ’s judges are holding hearings for the next week and a half to decide whether it is competent to hear the lawsuits brought against India and Pakistan — neither of which have signed the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
A third hearing against Britain — which has signed the NPT — scheduled to start on Wednesday will be devoted to “preliminary objections” raised by London.
The Marshalls initially sought to bring a case against nine countries it said possessed nuclear arms: Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States.
Israel has never admitted to having nuclear weapons.
But the Hague-based ICJ, set up in 1945 to rule in disputes between states, has only admitted three cases against Britain, India and Pakistan, because they have accepted the ICJ’s compulsory jurisdiction.
Pakistan’s lawyers did not attend Tuesday’s hearings.
It did however file a counter-claim against Majuro’s allegations saying “the court has no jurisdiction to deal with the application” and insisting that the case is “not admissible”, said ICJ President Ronny Abraham.
SOUTH ASIA
Bangladesh to drop Islam as official religion following attacks on Hindus
New Delhi: Bangladesh is likely to drop Islam as its official religion following a series of attacks on people from other faiths in the country. The country’s Supreme Court is hearing a plea challenging the status of the official religion of the country to Islam.
Bangladesh, which was declared a secular country after its formation in 1971, was declared an Islamic country following a constitutional amendment in 1988.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, the plea has challenged the declaration of Islam as the national religion of the country.
The move is being supported by leaders from the minority communities like Hindus, Christians and Muslim minority Shiites.
Bangladesh has 90 per cent of Muslims, 8 per cent Hindus and remaining constitutes Christians and Muslim minority Shiites.
In last month, a Hindu priest was hacked to death following an attack on a temple in Panchgarh district. Two others were seriously injured in the attack. There have been several lethal attacks on writers and bloggers.
According to a report in the Independent, Islamist groups Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh and Ansarullah Bangla Team are believed to have carried out at least seven attacks on foreign and minority people in Bangladesh in the past year.
