Sub Inspector Creates A Gundaraaj Kind of Situation In Mayabunder

Sub Inspector Creates A Gundaraaj Kind of Situation In Mayabunder


Maybunder, Aug. 4: In what can be termed as Gundaraaj (rule by threatening) in Mayabunder, the residents have complained that that a Sub Inspector of Police posted at Mayabunder Police Station has been threatening the general public who come with complaints in the station. There are also incidents when the sub inspector entered the houses of local villagers without search warrant especially when only females remained at home.


The Sub Inspector named Sanjay Kumar, a new recruit in the A&N Police was posted in the Police Station Mayabunder almost a year ago. People complain that since the time he joined in the police station, he has created a monopoly like situation among the villagers.


The people have complained that after the Sub Inspector joined, he initiated a game of gambling during the Subhash Mela which was held in the month of January. The game called gugudia was his brain child to mint money in a short time. The game was later opposed by the political parties and it had to be stopped. It is learnt that investigation is still pending in the matter.

In another incident, the officer entered a lady’s house at Mayabunder without any search warrant, alleging that the lady has illegally sawn timber in her possession. But when the lady opposed the officer by asking him to produce search warrant, he abused the Karen lady by using filthy language and even threatened her for the consequences. The lady had even lodged a complaint in the Police Station but no action was taken against the officer.


During the month of May 2009, an accident case was registered at the Police Station after a tree fell on top of a truck which was parked near it. It was a construction site in which a contractor named Kannan was proceeding with the work. It is learnt that the officer Sanjay Kumar who was appointed as the Investigation Officer in the case demanded bribe of Rs. 50,000/- from the Contractor. The contractor on the other hand had filed a complaint against the officer at the Police Station, which still remains under investigation.


On another occasion in the month of July 2009, the officer had seized Venison from a Karen person. The officer later arrested the villager and badly manhandled the villager at the Police Station.


It was again in July, a Karen lady had lodged a complaint against the Executive Engineer APWD that the Engineer used to harass her in the office and even had cut the pipe line of her house without serving any notice. It is learnt that instead of enquiring the matter with the Executive Engineer, Sub Inspector Sanjay Kumar went to the office where the lady is posted and threatened her openly to take back the complaint. The best part is that till date no enquiry has been conducted in the matter.


The villagers of Mayabunder have also alleged that this officer had high level contacts in the department and this is the reason the senior officers do not take any action against him. “If such things continue, there will be a time when we will be forced to take law in our own hands”, said a villager while talking to our reporter
Source: http://andamanchronicle.com/content/view/1328/27/

More gold bars emerge from Suresh’s locker

CHENNAI:
Published : 08 Aug 2009
Central Bureau of Investigation officials have recovered one kg of gold in the form of several bars (biscuits) from a bank locker of the former chairman of Chennai Port Trust, K Suresh, taking the total recovery of gold during the probe to five kg.

According to CBI sources, of the four lockers that were registered in Suresh’s wife’s name, only one had been searched till now. The process of checking the remaining lockers got delayed due to bank employees’ strike. Besides some indiscriminating documents pertaining to his property details in Chennai, the CBI also recovered gold bars and jewels weighing more than a kg from the first locker, sources said.

Inquiries in the State Revenue department revealed that Suresh had bought property at Kottivakkam in June this year. The land’s value is said to be around Rs 5 crore.

According to Income Tax department sources, Suresh in his I-T returns declared Rs 5 to 6 lakh as annual income and in the latest return he filed his annual income as Rs 9 lakh due to accumulated arrears after the implementation of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.Inquiries with jewellery shop owners in T Nagar have revealed that Suresh’s wife was very fond of buying different gold jewellery and she used to visit these marts every week.

“She used to come (to our shop) in her husband’s official car and make every purchase payment in cash only,” a jeweller said on condition of anonymity.

Likewise, enquiries in the port trust revealed that Suresh had spent nearly Rs 1 crore on imported furniture and other luxury goods for his new home at Choolaimedu. His new house also had a 102-inch mega Samsung television worth Rs 90,000, an ultra-modern refrigerator worth Rs 60,000 and 16 imported air conditioners.

In all, the CBI officials have recovered around five kilograms of gold from Suresh’s house till now besides properties worth crores. CBI expects to unearth more assets after searching the remaining three lockers.

41 fishermen families ostracised from village

Fishermen from Mamallapuram waiting outside the DGP’s office in the city to hand over a petition regarding their ostracization from their village.






G Saravanan
Published : 04 Aug 2009

CHENNAI: Life has changed a lot for 41 families of Mamallapuram fishermen village in the last 10 months, as a land dispute among the villagers has now snowballed into a major issue and divided them into two rival camps.


The elected fishermen head of the village Bhoopalan had ostracised these families for not ‘obeying’ his orders five months ago and even asked the remaining villagers to avoid speaking to them. The village has 300 families and all of them are engaged in fishing and its allied activities along the Mamallapuram areas for several decades.

It all began in October last year when the villagers quarreled over land donated to them by a private hotel in the neighbourhood a few years ago. The hotel had donated 1.5 acres, which was to be equally divided among all the families there.

However, village head Bhoopalan, under the influence of local land sharks, hatched a plan to do away with 91 families claiming that they were not permanent residents of the village.

While the 91 families unitedly met different officials to solve the problem, nothing worked as Bhoopalan maintained ‘close connection’ with many higher officials and even the local police (Mamallapuram) resisted filing any complaint against the village head.

According to villagers, Bhoopalan, using his dirty tactics, manipulated his position as a permanent village head for the past several years. During 2004, he was thrown out of the post for financial malpractices, but he returned to the post using his clout.

As time passed, Bhoopalan using his money and muscle power to drive a wedge in the unity of the rival group and weaned away 50 families to his fold. Bhoopalan ostracised the remaining 41 families and used every available method to indirectly force them out of the village.

But they resisted his atrocities, and in April, met the Kancheepuram district collector with their grievances.

In the last five months, though atrocities against these 41 families kept increasing, but the promised action from the government machinery never reached them.

To air their grievances directly to the top police official of the State, all the affected and ostracised families reached Chennai on Monday and tried to meet the DGP in his office. An Additional Director General of Police received their complaint and assured them of speedy redressal.

When contacted, Bhoopalan rubbished every accusations against him and said that everything in the fishing village is normal. When asked about the land issue, he refused to respond.

Dead ship sank ex-Chennai port chief’s fortune

Dead ship San Giorgio I that was berthed at the Chennai port about two years ago.

G Saravanan
Published : 08 Aug 2009

CHENNAI: Chennai Port Trust’s former chairman K Suresh, whose house was raided by the CBI a few days ago, landed in trouble mainly because he allegedly allowed a ‘dead’ ship San Giorgio, carrying 12,800 cubic metres of expensive teak timber worth over Rs 10 crore, to dock in the harbour, causing a loss or Rs 20 crore to the port.


The ship was carrying the cargo, belonging to Singapore-based Olam International Limited, from the Port of Overndo in West Africa to the Tuticorin port, was actually towed into the port as its engine had developed a snag mid-way. With the Tuticorin port refusing permission for the ship to berth, it was towed into the Chennai port and berthed at WQ1 bay on April, 17 and the unloading of the cargo was completed on May 5.

It was in letting the ship in that every written rule was flouted, a clearing and forwarding agent explained. The decision to allow a ship to berth has to be taken at the daily berth meetings, chaired by top port officials, but the name of the San Giorgio never figured in any of the meetings in April 2007, the agent said.

“Besides, every ship entering the port has to be guided by pilot and moving tugs. It was not followed in San Georgio’s case,” the agent added. The dead ship was allowed to berth after Olam International Limited gave an undertaking to pay full vessel related charges and vacation of the berth soon after completion of unloading. The cargo owner also executed an indemnity bond for a sum of Rs 35 lakh.

But when the cargo owner failed to pay, delivery of cargo was suspended on May 5, though 621 of the total 2865 logs had been removed by the owner from the port.

Though the Major Ports Act empower the port authorities to take drastic steps to collect its dues by even selling the ship, nothing was done about it and the charges were allowed to accumulate to Rs 20 crore. The Port management did not take any concrete decision even when a Bangaladesh-based company was prepared to buy the ship for a good price.

Prior to that, the ship had a tumultous journey after it sailed on July 15, 2006 from the Port of Overndo. It was expected to deliver the cargo at Tuticorin in 30 days but the ship’s original owners Sandele Navigation Corporation sold the vessel to Exclusive Marine Inc midway and when the engine stopped functioning neither of the companies made efforts to repair it.

So, the cargo owners towed it to Port Victoria at Seychelles, where a dispute broke out between the crew and the ship owners, who also got into a legal tangle with the financier bank, who obtained an order of attachment of the vessel in the Supreme Court of Seychelles.

But Olam International filed intervening application in the court of Seychelles and towed the ship to Tuticorin and then to Chennai. The ship is still in the Chennai Port.

Relief to Lanka stuck in Chennai port

Published Date: 1-August-2009


G Saravanan

Chennai, July 31:
MORE than 100 containers of relief materials for the internally displaced Tamil people (IDPs) of Sri Lanka that were sent in the fourth phase by the State government, are stuck at a yard at the Chennai port as the recipient nation has not agreed to accept it. According to sources, the containers, loaded with items like dress materials for children, men and women, groceries (including baby milk powder), and life saving medicines, meant for an estimated 80,000 families, are lying at the container yard for two weeks.

The materials had been procured by the State’s Co-optex and Civil Supplies Department for the Lankan Tamils and brought to the port in 100 containers belonging to the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI). The shipment of the containers to Colombo should have happened by July third week itself. It is learnt that the Sri Lankan government is not showing any interest in allowing the Indian Red Cross Society to handle the relief materials in Lanka. Hence the delay in getting permission.
A senior SCI official confirming that the relief materials were lying at the port, said that only a high level diplomatic effort coupled with the Ministry of External Affairs’ intervention could solve the problem.

The unexplained delay has also caused much hardship to the Chennai Container Terminal Limited, operators of the Chennai Port’s first container terminal. According to sources, the delay has increased demurrage charges at the yard, which is now at Rs 45 lakh. The State government’s official responsible for the shipment of relief to Colombo was not available for comment.

City corporation gets ISO certification for 3 facilities

Published Date: 29-July-2009

G Saravanan
Chennai, July 28:
ADDING more feathers to its cap, the 321-year-old Chennai Corporation received ISO 9001:2008 certification from the Guardian Independent Certification Limited, United Kingdom, for its modern slaughterhouses in Villivakkam and Saidapet and its electrical stores in Chintadripet.With the ISO certification, the Chennai Corporation has become the second corporation after Trichy in the whole country to obtain such a certificate for providing high standards in its slaughterhouse operation.
Confirming the latest stride for high standards to Express, Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said, “ISO certificates related to three of its facilities have been approved and issued a few days ago. The certificate would be valid for a period of three years.”M Muruganantham, Chief Executive Officer of the Chennai- based Sri Panickar Management Consultants (SPMC), said, “The consultancy had studied the functioning of the three facilities and developed them as per ISO standards.” The whole process of this certification has begun in January this year and the consultancy had compiled the procedure and brought a quality manual, he added.
After the certification, the consultant would be able to check identification and traceability of goods besides conducting annual checks to see how the systems are functioning at these places.The certification would ensure that services and facilitation for public services were provided properly, and there should be continuous improvement, Muruganantham added.The civic body has also approached the SPMC for ISO certification for its grievance redress helpline (1913) system, also known as complaint cell. The system is expected to get the certification in two months, a senior civic body official added.

Three fishermen in Bangladesh jailPublished

Published on 29-ஜூலை


G சரவணன்
Chennai, July 28:
THE agonising wait for the families of eight missing Kasimedu fishermen continues as information about their whereabouts is not coming in from any official source. However, three of them, Mahendran, Desingh and Thangaraj, reportedly reached Bangladesh and are now imprisoned there.Speaking to Express, Mahendran’s wife, Vijayalakshmi, who has two small children, said it was a phone call that rekindled the family’s hope that her husband was alive and safe.Vijayalakshmi said: “Two weeks ago on one Sunday, out of desperation, I was trying my husband’s mobile number continuously. All of a sudden, I found that his phone was ringing but my further attempts went in vain. Since I am confident that he is safe somewhere, I asked my brother-in-law to recharge his mobile number and my wish finally came true,” she added.Within minutes, Mahendran from an undisclosed location contacted his boat owner Balaji over his mobile phone and confirmed that only three people (out of eight) were able to reach shore and were now in Bangladesh. The message of being alive has been passed almost immediately to the three families and it has brought relief to them. But for the remaining families, their hopes have not faded away and they wish that their bread-winners would also be safe. It may be noted that Desingh, who is now in Bangladesh had returned only eight months ago from Sri Lanka after his boat drifted in high sea and reached northern Sri Lanka. They were rescued by Lankan fishermen and they returned to India after six weeks.