Burdwan, 9 July: A middle-aged factory worker today threw acid on a young girl who used to work as a domestic help at his residence. The locals caught him and handed him over to police.
Lalita Paswan (18) was attacked by Rajen Saw, a Group-D worker at the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, this morning.Saw approached the girl and threw an acid-filled bulb.
Locals rushed to her rescue when they heard her screams.     sns

Usha Ramanathan
In December 2011, when the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) readied its report on the National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 to be placed before Parliament, there were as yet no reports on authentication – viz., on how the biometrics collected during enrolment would be used in identifying a person.
Among a few pieces of the puzzle that was presented to the SCF was a statement from the Planning Commission, in which the UIDAI is located, that read: "It is well acknowledged that there will be failures in authentication for various reasons. After proof of concept studies (PoC) on authentication, appropriate policies and processes will be developed to take care of situations where failure occurs for various reasons .. The choice of using the authentication services is left to the third party service provider … Concerned agencies will have to develop policies and procedure to handle such exceptional situations .."
That is, there would be problems in authentication, no one could anticipate the extent of the problem because it was still untested, and responsibility would be diffused among service providers if authentication did not work.
This was a strange position to be adopted by an agency that had launched a nationwide project to biometrically de-duplicate and identify the entire population.
The Standing Committee had also seen an interview with the Mission Director and DG of the UIDAI, Mr R S Sharma, in Frontline in November 2011, where he had said: "Capturing fingerprints, especially of manual labourers, is a challenge. The quality of fingerprints is bad because of the rough exterior of fingers caused by hard work, and this poses a challenge for later authentication. … Issuing a unique identity will not be a major problem. But authentication will be, because fingerprint is the basic mode of authentication."
In January 2012, a document was put out by the UIDAI which was incensed by a statistic that the Standing Committee had referred to which estimated that the "failure to enrol" would be as high as 15 per cent.
The UIDAI tried explaining that these were "misconceptions", that they could "state with confidence" to the contrary, and that "it is now safe to conclude" that biometrics will work over the entire population.
Except – they were relying on their Proof of Concept on enrolment which, as their own report reveals, (see earlier report dated 6 July 2013) does not convince that the system can deal with the complexity of the population.
More damning still, Prof Ramakumar, the expert who had provided the statistic was drawing on an estimation made by a company, 4G Identity Solutions, which is partnering with the UIDAI! He quotes them as saying: "It is estimated that approximately five per cent of any population has unreadable fingerprints, either due to scars or aging or illegible prints. In the Indian environment, experience has shown that the failure to enrol is as high as 15 per cent due to the prevalence of a huge population dependent on manual labour." And, the DG and Mission Director’s interview stands unrebutted.
The first report on "authentication accuracy" was released in March 2012.  This would indicate whether persons can be identified by their fingerprint. The PoC involved about 50,000 UID number holders.
It was carried out "in a controlled manner using different authentication devices.
The collected data was sent to the UIDAI Technology Centre. Further statistical analysis was performed at the Centre." This was a UIDAI exercise, and a statistic emerged from it: "accuracy of 96.5 per cent can be achieved using one best finger and 99.3 per cent can be achieved using two fingers" up to three attempts. "Accuracy," the report went on to say, "could be further improved by using the additional factors such as one-time-password (OTP), demographical data or second modality such as iris." A separate study was recommended to check that out.
What do these statistics mean? What is the `best finger’? What are two fingers in three attempts? What else does the report say? The "best finger" first.
Though all 10 digits are captured during enrolment, not all fingers work equally well when they have to be used to authenticate a person.
So, when enrolment is done, the report said, a person would have to go through a "best finger detection" (BFD) process, because: "The best finger to be used for authentication depends on the intrinsic qualities of the finger (ex. ridge formation, how worn out they are, cracked, etc.) as well as the quality of images captured during enrolment process and the authentication transaction."
Someone in the team that prepared the report clearly had a sense of humour: this description is accompanied by the sketch of a wrist and fingers, with the index finger pointing skywards with a bow tied to it as a sign of how special it is!
The fingerprints are sorted on the basis of "match scores" by comparing them with what has been enrolled and stored. This helps to rank the fingers: rank 1- best finger, rank 2- second best finger. "Further," the report reads, "the fingers are labelled Green, Yellow, or Red – depending on their suitability for single finger authentication." In addition, it continues, "some residents could be determined to be not suitable for reliable fingerprint authentication".
About the devices, there is the profound statement: "The best set of devices did much better than the good set of devices, which did much better than the rest of the devices." "In online authentication system, providing multiple attempts of the same finger was seen to improve resident’s chances of successful authentication." And the inference that was drawn was that "the resident learns to place fingers appropriately over multiple attempts". And, "residents in the 15-60 years group showed best authentication accuracy". The young and the old are somewhat troublesome. In sum, for those whose fingerprints work, if they have a best finger, or two yellow fingers, and more fingers are used, and if labelled matching works, and best devices are used, and when there are high quality fingerprint images, and immediate feedback, then …. fingerprint authentication may work 99.13 per cent of the time. That is the value of the statistic.
Then, multimodal authentication with both fingerprint and iris, OTP, buffered authentication, multiple attempts and with different fingers – these are recommended, "to not only improve accuracy but also to ensure inclusion."
The recommendations harbour the underlying unease about the capacity of fingerprints to identify the entire complex of people in this country.
That explains why, even as the report starts out, it says "although currently only fingerprint biometric is being offered … it is likely that in the near future iris biometric authentication will also be supported." And, in conclusion: "Low cost iris capture devices are becoming available in the market. A combination of fingerprint and iris is expected to improve accuracy by a factor of 10 to 100, while reducing failure to enrol (red fingers) rate by a factor of 10. A detailed study such as this should be done on iris authentication."
In the meantime, this report lends context to Mr Nilekani’s statement at the Centre for Global Development in Washington in April this year about having "created huge opportunity for fingerprint scanners, iris readers".
(The author is an academic activist. She has researched the UID and its ramifications since 2009)

Noapara Metro:The newly-built Noapara Metro station on northern suburbs Kolkata will be thrown open from on Wednesday. Minister of state for railways Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, will inaugurate it at 1 p.m.     sns
42 injured: At least 42 persons were injured on Tuesdaywhile a matador turned turtle on Bamuner More in Kakdwip. Ten seriously injured were admitted to Kakdwip hospital.     sns
CESC work: The CESC will carry out urgent maintenance work at its Agarpara Distribution Station on Thursday, 11 July, 2013.Power supply may be interrupted in Agarpara, Panihati, Sodepur areas.     sns
Youth&’s body found: Police today found the body of a youth from a drain at Bhattanagar in Howrah. The deceased, Ujjawal Biswas(42), was a land broker and a resident of Ballitalla of Bhattanagar.     sns
3 injured in clash: Three persons were injured in a clash that ensued between Forward Bloc and Trinamul Congress supporters at Nilganj Talveria near Barasat in North 24-Parganas this afternoon.     SNS
Four die:  Four persons travelling in a Scorpio Jeep, were killed when it lost control and hit the back of a truck. The deceased are Tanmay Kumar Mitra , Purnima Mitra, Bhabhani Prasad Dey and Ashish Bagat.
Constable dies: A police constable and a crane operator were killed in a road mishap on NH-2 in Burdwan on Tuesday. Constable Hriday Ranjan Mal was on night duty when the police van was collided with a lorry.
Youth dies in mishap: Mayur Kundalia, (30) died after he fell from  a moving bus near the crossing of Strand Road and MG Road.  He was taken to a city hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

press trust of india
Chennai, 9 July
Accusing the Centre of maintaining a “stoic and apathetic silence” over the issue of attacks on Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has urged it to summon the Sri Lankan envoy and “strongly advise” Colombo on this matter lest the attacks should exacerbate the situation.
Referring to the latest “high-handed and illegal abduction” of 21 Indian fishermen by the Lankan navy on 6 July, she told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a letter yesterday that the fishermen from Rameswaram in the state were learnt to have been remanded till 17 July.
The letter was released to the media today.
She recalled the various instances of apprehensions in the past one month and also their release after “illegal detention” even as five fishermen have been in custody in a Lankan jail since November 2011 “on foisted charges.”
“These rapacious onslaughts of the Sri Lankan Navy upon innocent and unarmed Indian fishermen are perpetrated with a view to intimidating and browbeating them to prevent them from venturing out to the fishing waters in the vicinity of Katchatheevu (ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974), which my Government has always claimed to be a part of the traditional fishing areas of Indian fishermen.”
“Such unprovoked and violent acts of the Sri Lankan Navy unfortunately remain uncountered by the Government of India. This will only exacerbate the situation and create more unrest amongst the fishermen community of Tamil Nadu,” she told Singh.
The Chief Minister recalled she had mentioned in an earlier letter that the Ministry of External Affairs continues “to maintain a stoic and apathetic silence,” on this matter and that it appeared as if no effort had been taken to engage Sri Lankan government in any dialogue to solve this “vexatious issue.”
Miss Jayalalithaa said the numerous incidents of arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, especially in the recent past, need a strong and co-ordinated diplomatic response by the Centre  at the highest level.
Miss Jayalalithaa has been fighting for the cause for some time now.

press trust of india
Kochi, 9 July
Kerala High Court today stayed all further proceedings against former Left Democratic Front minister Jose Thettayil in a sexual harassment case.
The order was issued by Mr Justice P Bhavadasan on a petition by Mr Thettayil seeking to quash the FIR registered against him in the case. The court also issued notice to the complainant and said she would be heard on Thursday. The Judge observed that prima facie no offence is disclosed in the complaint against Mr Thettayil. Mr Thettayil, JD-S MLA from Angamally, is the first accused in the case while his son, Mr Adarsh, is the second accused.
Aluva Police had on 22 June registered a case against Mr Thettayil and his son for sexual harassment based on the complaint of a woman that she had been sexually harassed by the father and son.
Mr Thettayil, who was the transport minister in the previous LDF government, had contended that he has not committed any offence punishable under IPC Section 376 (rape) and the averments and allegations of the woman were absolutely false.
“It is reliably understood that the woman had been instigated by some prominent leaders of the ruling political Front to fabricate a false case and to file a frivolous complaint against the petitioner and his son with the ulterior motive to tide over the political crisis prevailing in the state,” the plea had stated said.
“The inordinate delay in preferring the complaint is a tell tale circumstance buttressing the above suspicion. Still the police even without ascertaining the veracity of the allegations registered the crime on extraneous considerations,” the petitioner submitted.
Even if all the allegations are true, it will disclose only a consensual relationship on the initiative taken by the woman intended to trap the accused people, which will not constitute an offence under IPC 376, the petitioner stated.

Srinagar, 9 July: Army’s General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Northern command Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra called on Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra in Srinagar on Tuesday and discussed the overall security scenario in the state, in a meeting that lasted more than an hour, an official spokesman said.
The spokesman also said that the two discussed certain recent incidents of militant violence and related issues concerning internal and external security management, infiltration from across the LoC, and the overall security scenario in the state.
They also discussed issues relating to the security of the ongoing yatra to the 3,880 metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, the spokesman added.

Rajnath to visit USA: BJP president Rajnath Singh will directly convey to the US lawmakers, think tanks and policy makers his party’s policy on Afghanistan at the Capitol Hill later this month. pti
Tharoor&’s office attacked: Union Minister Shashi Tharoor’s office in Thiruvananthapuram was attacked on Tuesday allegedly by activists of All India Youth Federation, the youth wing of the CPI. pti
Bike thieves held: Two persons, Monu (23) and Jitender (24), were arrested from West Delhi’s Bakkarwala village  for allegedly stealing motorcycles from various localities of the Capital, police said today. pti
Himachal earthquake: An earthquake of moderate intensity measuring 5 on the Richter scale rocked parts of Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday but there was no report of any injury to people or damage to property. pti
Chavan slams Modi: Slamming Narendra Modi&’s  “Gujarat development model”, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today said it was a marketing technique adopted by his NRI friends. pti
Tuskers die in Assam: Two wild elephants died on Tuesday in Assam’s Nagaon and Udalguri districts, forest department sources said. One was a three-month-old calf, while the other one was a male adult.    pti
Porter&’s body at LOC: Amid exchange of fire with Pakistani troops, Army on Tuesday found the body of a civilian porter killed in a blast triggered by suspected militants along the LOC in J&K&’s Poonch district.     pti
Vaishnodevi pilgrim: Bal Krishnen (52) of Gujarat died of heart attack en route to the cave shrine of Mata Vaishnodevi in Trikuta hills of Reasi district, police said on Tuesday. His body was handed over to his kin. pti
Smugglers arrested: Three persons were arrested for allegedly smuggling an ‘ashtadhatu’ (eight metals) statue of Lord Buddha in Sirsia area on Indo-Nepal border, SSB sources said on tuesday. pti
SP names candidates: The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday declared candidates for two seats for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The candidates are Mr Gorakhprasad Paswan and Mr Harivansh Sahay Khushwaha.     pti
High-priority dists: Noting that progress in reduction of maternal and child deaths is uneven within states, the Union Health Ministry has identified 184 high priority districts in need of funds and medical care. pti
Faculty vacancies: Expressing concern over 38 per vacant teaching positions in Central universities, President Mukherjee, has asked the ministry of human resource development to fill them up. sns
Amarnath darshan: With Amarnath yatra entering the 13th day today,  over 1.57 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine, even as a fresh batch of 1,951 devotees left for the journey today. pti
Advani case: A fresh case of attempt to murder was today registered against Mohammed Haneefa, held in connection with planting a pipe bomb allegedly targeting BJP leader L K Advani in Tamil Nadu in 2011. pti
Doctor rape case: A 31-year-old doctor practising with a private hospital was arrested for allegedly raping a Dalit nurse on the pretext of marrying her in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district on Tuesday. pti
Fee structure:  Bombay High Court has held that the government would have no say in controlling fee structure of private unaided schools, which do not get grant-in-aid but spend huge amounts for students. pti
Killed in accident: Awadh Bihari Pandey (70) was killed and five others injured when their jeep overturned and hit a tree in Tardilla village on Tuesday morning, police sources said in Ballia. pti
Delhi Lt Governor: Najeeb Jung, a former IAS officer, took over as the new Lt Governor of Delhi on Tuesday when the capital is grappling with a lot of issues like the safety and security of women. pti
GPSG Act soon: Goa CM Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said the Goa Public Service Guarantee Act making government officials responsible for giving timely service to people will be implemented soon.     pti
3 die in car mishap: Three people were killed when their car fell into a river off a bridge in Kota district, police said on Tuesday. The bodies have been sent to the families after post-mortem, police added. pti
Booked for insulting: Three persons in Moga, Punjab, have been booked for allegedly hurting sentiments of a community by putting up incorrect information about a religion on the internet, police said on Tuesday. pti
Italian marine&’s trial: The trial of Francesco Schettino, captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia cruise ship, was adjourned to 17 July shortly after opening in the Italian city of Grosseto on Tuesday after lawyers’ strike. afp
Gold smuggler held: A man coming in from Dubai was arrested at the Karippur International Airport in Kozhikode for allegedly trying to smuggle in one kg of gold. Anwar, will be produced beforea court today.    pti

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE 
New Delhi, 9 July
Administering a bitter remedy to rein in cheaper inflow of sugar into the country, the government has raised the import duty on the sweetener from the existing 10 per cent to 15 per cent.
The Department of Revenue has issued a notification regarding the duty hike on raw and refined sugar imports, which came into effect from Monday.
The latest move follows representations by sugar cooperatives and farmers to hike the import duty as a bearish trend in realisations has not only hurt the millers but also the cane payments to farmers.
Experts said the increase in import duty may help stabilise sugar prices and in the process help millers to make cane payments, currently estimated at Rs 9,000 crore.
Urging the government to check imports under the open general licence (OGL), the sugar cooperatives had demanded the duty be hiked to 30 per cent.
The sugar cooperatives felt that the inflow of cheaper sugar from countries such as Brazil and Pakistan was influencing  domestic prices.
Sugar prices have been bearish since the beginning of the crushing season in October as millers have been off-loading stocks to pay off the cane dues to farmers.
The rising imports of cheaper sugar under OGL have crossed half-a-million tons and are also influencing the prices, thereby affecting the realisations. Raw sugar imports under advance licensing for re-exports were estimated by the industry at around 1.2 million tons.
Millers blame the build-up in cane arrears to the high cost of production ~ driven by high cane prices and lower-than-expected realisations. 
Since the beginning of the current season in October, sugar millers in UP have been losing about Rs 4-5 a kg as the ex-factory prices have been hovering around Rs 31-32 a kg, while the cost of production is estimated at Rs 36 a kg. 
The recent de-control of sugar sales announced by the Centre has not helped the millers to clear the cane dues as ample supplies in the market have kept the prices of the sweetener low for quite some time now.
The average ex-factory realisations in Maharashtra, which stood at Rs 3,328 per quintal in October 2012 are now hovering a little over Rs 2,800 a quintal.
The increase in imports is despite the domestic output estimated at around 24.5 million tons against the demand for 22.5 million tons.
According estimates made by the industry, the opening sugar balance for the next season starting October is pegged at around eight million tons.
The millers are unable to export the surplus sugar as international prices are ruling lower than domestic prices.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Kolkata, 9 July
Hiring activities witnessed a decline across sectors in June 2013 amid unstable economic conditions of the country.
According to a monthly survey released by job portal Naukri.com, hiring activity in Kolkata has slumped by seven per cent, but a year-on-year analysis reveals that the demand for jobs has increased by two per cent in the city.
The key sectors of Bangalore, ITES & IT, have seen the hiring numbers going down by two per cent and eight per cent respectively in June this year, compared to last month.
However, both the sectors have seen an increase of 47 per cent and four per cent respectively year-on-year.
Mr Hitesh Oberoi, managing director and chief executive officer of Info Edge (India) Limited, said: "The macro-economic environment is still not very robust and the pattern of job creation in this quarter has been quite symbolic of caution and vigilance taking cues from the weakened global economic parameters… Sustainable growth will take time to settle into place."
The demand for jobs in banking and financial services and software services has shown a rise in index value by five per cent and three per cent respectively on a year-on-year basis in June 2013.
Oil and gas and Insurance sectors have seen a marginal growth of two per cent in June’13 compared to May’13.
Other industry sectors such as pharmaceuticals and telecommunications, after a consecutive growth in the first two months of the quarter, are now showing a dip of 27 per cent and 18 per cent respectively for the month of June this year over May last year
The Naukri.com survey also showed that the demand for professionals in HR, sales and accounts also showed a dip in hiring numbers in the range of seven per cent to 12 per cent this month.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE 
New Delhi, 9 July 
The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today gave the go-ahead for strategic initiatives for manufacturing indigenous civilian aircraft of 70 to 100 capacity, transport systems using alternate fuel, and capacity enhancement in steel and textile sectors. 
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the High Level Committee on Manufacturing (HLCM), which was convened here today to discuss a long-term approach to civilian aircraft manufacture, electric and hybrid vehicles and advanced materials and composites. 
 The high Level meeting acknowledged the need for an indigenous civil aviation sector. “The HLCM took a major strategic decision for the development of a civilian aircraft, of a 70-100 seater range to begin with, in India,” said a senior officer of the Prime Minister’s Office. 
 “The idea is to house the development and production in an SPV that would be created for this purpose. The design capabilities in NAL, HAL and other institutions in the country would be utilised for this,” the Committee decided. 
Development and production partnerships with Indian private sector firms as well as overseas institutions was envisaged. “Efforts will be made to leverage the offsets that are available in the defence sector for building critical domestic capabilities in high precision manufacturing and avionics,” the official said. 
A High Level Steering Group under Dr V Krishnamurthy, chairman, NMCC, would work out the modalities of this programme, he said. 
In the alternative fuel based transport, the HLCM endorsed the launch of pilot projects for public transport of electric/hybrid vehicles three wheelers, mini buses, buses in Delhi followed by other metros after obtaining necessary approvals. 
 “Electric vehicles do not generate pollution while moving. They are the key to low carbon transport. India has the potential to emerge as a global manufacturing hub for electric and hybrid vehicles. The pilot projects would be implemented by city specific SPVs.

New Delhi, 9 July: Left and Right-wing national trade unions have come together to support the indefinite strike launched by Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), Chennai, workers on 3 July night against divestment of five per cent equity in the Central PSU.
In a statement issued here today, the unions including the Congress-backed INTUC, the RSS-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Left unions AITUC and CITU, said the repeated divestment of equity in Central PSUs such as the NLC amounted to gradual privatisation of the energy sector components, oil and natural gas, electricity and coal.
The national trade unions have told the Central government to reverse the decision.     sns

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, 9 July
The Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram will be meeting officials of top American companies such as Walmart, Boeing and Lockheed Martin during his US tour to sell India’s growth story and attract investments to combat the falling rupee.
The minister, who left on a four-day long tour last night, will also hold bilateral talks with his US counterpart Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.
Mr Chidambaram’s US programme include meetings with Walmart Asia CEO Scott Price, Boeing International president Sheperd W Hill, Lockheed Martin International CEO Pat Dewar, Microsoft’s general counsel and executive vice-president (legal and corporate affairs) Brad Smith, among others.
The minister&’s overseas visit comes at a time when the rupee has taken a beating and had touched an all-time low of 61.21 to a dollar yesterday.
The huge outflow of foreign funds to the tune of $7 billion alone in June following concerns over tapering of bond purchases by the US government is putting pressure on the rupee.

Press Trust of India
BHOPAL, 9 JULY: Disgraced former Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Raghavji was today arrested here following sodomy allegations levelled against him by his domestic servant Rajkumar Dangi, police said.
“Raghavji has been arrested from a flat in Koh-e-Fiza locality in old city area of Bhopal where he was hiding,” Inspector General (IG) Bhopal Range Upendra Jain told PTI.
The door of the flat was locked from outside and Mr Raghavji was inside, police said.
Acting on a tip-off, police reached the flat some time back and knocked the door. “When nobody responded, police broke open the door and found Mr Raghvaji,” the IG said.
After his formal arrest, he is being brought to the Habibganj Police Station, where an FIR against him had been registered two days back.
Soon after the registration of an FIR, Mr Raghavji, who celebrated his 79th birthday on Sunday, went missing from Vidisha.
The FIR was filed by his servant, who alleged that Mr Raghavji abused him for the last three-and-a-half years on the promise of getting him a government job.
Mr Dangi later confided in the suspended BJP leader, Shiv Shankar Pateria about his ordeal, who asked him to record the act.
The victim prepared 22 purported CDs, which showed Mr Raghavji in the act, including one in Rewanchal Express Train.
After the exposure of the CDs, Mr Raghavji resigned from the Cabinet. He was expelled from the BJP on Sunday.
The CDs has left BJP government red-faced which is aiming to score an hat-trick in the assembly elections due later this year.
 

Government hikes import duty on sugar to 15 per cent from 10 per cent.

Press Trust of India
KOCHI, 9 JULY: Coming out in support of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Congress leader A K Antony today ruled out any change in the state government on the solar panel scam issue.
Antony said the opposition CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front has been making allegations against the Chief Minster, which has crossed the “lakshman rekha”.
“There is no political crisis in the state. None need to think that there will be a change of government’, the defence minister, who was in Kerala to attend the funeral of his sister at Alapuzha, told reporters here.
“When the solar allegations cropped up, the government had ordered investigation. Let the investigation be over. There are laws and courts. The investigation process is going on. Now the opposition is unleashing violence and trying to force the chief minister to resign. That will not happen. There is no political crisis”, he said.
The funeral of Sister Infant Teresa (80), eldest sister of Mr Antony, was conducted yesterday.

Press Trust of India
MADURAI, 9 JULY: A fresh case of attempt to murder was today registered against Mohammed Haneefa, arrested in connection with planting of a pipe bomb allegedly targeting BJP leader L K Advani in Tamil Nadu in 2011.
Haneefa, allegedly involved in the making of the crude pipe bomb, was arrested yesterday by a team of Crime-Branch CID police, who raided his hideout on a tip-off, from Batlagundu in Dindigul district. One person who was staying with Haneefa managed to escape.
Police also seized explosive materials, including one kg of detonator powder, which were identical to the stuff used in the pipe bomb, from Haneefa.
Haneefa allegedly attempted to attack DSP Karthikeyan with deadly weapons when he along with other police officials reached the hideout to arrest him, police said.
However, Mr Karthikeyan managed to save himself. In the meanwhile other policemen overpowered Haneefa and pinned him down before arresting him, police said.
Police registered an attempt to murder case against Haneefa.
Haneefa is among the three prime accused in the case and two others, including “Police” Fakruddin, were absconding.
Eight persons, including seven who allegedly provided help to the main accused including in procuring raw materials for making the bomb, were arrested so far.
The pipe bomb, planted under a bridge at Aalampatti near Tirumangalam, about 30 km from here, was found and defused hours before Mr Advani’s ‘Jan Chetna Yatra’ was to pass through the route on 28 October, 2011.

Press Trust of India
NEW DELHI, 9 JULY:
With Congress projecting the food security bill as a game changer, Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of its Chief Ministers and PCC chiefs on 13 July to discuss the issue.
The meeting called days after the government rushed through an ordinance on the key measure is an indication that the party is keen to pull out all the stops in propagating the food security scheme that will provide right to cheap food grains to 82 crore people.
This will be the first major gathering of Congress leaders after the party’s Chintan Shivir in Jaipur in January this year.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme and the Food Security Act are being considered as major moves by the Congress ahead of the 2014 general elections as was the farmers’ loan waiver scheme and MNREGA announced in UPA-I. The loan waiver and MNREGA schemes were credited among other issues for the return of UPA to power in 2009.
Food Minister K V Thomas yesterday gave a detailed briefing over the ambitious food security measure to AICC General Secretary Ajay Maken and party spokespersons. Mr Maken is the chief of the AICC communication department.
Congress-ruled Delhi, where Assembly polls are due later this year, is all set to become the first state in the country to roll out the food security scheme.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had yesterday said that the programme will be launched on 20 August, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Party leaders have already hailed the food security measure as a game changer in the Lok Sabha battle.
Reports had it that several states including Congress -ruled Karnataka, BJP-led Chhattigarh, SP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and JD(U)-run Bihar could see early roll out of the programme.
The bill has been the pet project of Congress President Sonia Gandhi who is also UPA Chairperson.
Billed as the world’s largest social welfare programme, the government had last week decided to issue an ordinance to give nation’s two-third population the right to get 5 kgs of foodgrains every month at highly subsidised rates of Rs 1-3 per kg.
Since, the validity of an ordinance expires in six weeks from the commencement of Parliament session, it is set to be brought for a discussion and passage in the upcoming Monsoon Session.
The government has been maintaining that the food security programme, when implemented, will be the biggest in the world with the government spending an estimated Rs 125,000 crore annually on supply of about 62 million tonnes of rice, wheat and coarse cereals to 67 per cent of the population.
As per the ordinance signed by President Pranab Mukherjee, the new food security programme should be rolled out within six months. The rules for implementation of this programme will be framed separately by the Centre and the respective state governments.
BSP, which supports the UPA government from outside, has termed the measure as an “election gimmick”, while another outside ally Samajwadi Party has opposed it, saying it was “anti-farmer”.
Even before the President’s approval came, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav accused Congress of indulging in vote- bank politics and said its intentions were not good.
“The ordinance has been brought keeping in mind the Lok Sabha polls. The intentions of Congress are not good and my party would look into it and see that interest of farmers is not harmed. Congress is only doing vote politics,” Mr Yadav had said.
Justifying the government taking the ordinance route for the measure even when the Monsoon Session is on the cards, Congress Communication Department in-charge Ajay Maken had, however, said, “This may be a life saver, life changer for many people. So delay even by a single minute or day, God knows how many lives it could cost”.