Postal era begins for Bihar Gangsters and other criminals

Gangsters and other criminals in Bihar are shunning mobile phones and emails and turning to postal letters and couriers to run their rackets, threaten people and extort money, say police. The reason: letters help them avoid the police radar while phones are easy to track.

"They are reluctant to use mobile phones and emails to establish contact with their associates or issue threat to demand extortion, fearing that police will catch them, using its technology network," a police officer said, not wishing to be identified.

"Now they have adopted old methods to give us a slip," said the officer posted in police headquarters here. He did not want to be named.

According to police, gangsters and criminals are using ordinary post and courier services to protect their identity and keep their location secret.

"After we arrested some hard-core criminals by tracking their movement through mobile surveillance, they have become shy of using cellphones," said the officer.

Another officer said in the last few months, they came across several instances where criminals in many districts sent letters or couriers to issue threats.

"It was revealed during investigations in few cases that criminals or gangsters lodged in jails across the state are using letters to run their network," said the official, who too did not want to be identified.

The inmates, he said, send letters outside the jail through visitors or after bribing the guards.

However, Maoist guerrillas in rural Bihar have been using letters to threaten contractors and traders.

It was common in Bihar for criminals to use mobiles to issue threats or demand money from businessmen, traders, doctors, contractors and even legislators and members of parliament.

"Using mobile surveillance, police cracked many cases and arrested many criminals," said another officer.

Bihar's tech savvy police chief Abhyanand is known to employ innovative ways of policing and ordering officials to use mobile surveillance to check and control crime.

Police are probing several cases, including the murder case of Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh from June last year, where the main accused has been found using letters to communicate with his men.

"After we arrested half a dozen suspects through mobile surveillance, the main accused stopped using mobiles," a police official said. Police are yet to arrest the accused Abhay Pandey and Nand Gopal Pandey.

Use of letters to issue threats was spreading among inmates in Patna, Gaya and Munger jails, said police.

They opted for the alternative after police, using voice spectrograph tests, found five inmates of Munger jail demanding extortion on phone.

Pakistani team learning success of polio drive in Bihar

Impressed with success of anti-polio campaign in Bihar, a four-member team from Pakistan is here on the invitation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take tips about the programme particularly in minority Muslim dominated areas.

On the start of five-day polio eradication drive in the state beginning today, the Pakistani team visited Samanpura in Raza Bazar area here to see for themselves the success of the programme among Muslim community.

Pro-Pak cyber vandals hack, deface Bihar tourism site

Unidentified cyber vandals hacked the official website of Bihar tourism, heaped abuse on Indians and posted the slogan, ‘Pakistan zindabad’. The hacking of website www.bihartourism.gov.in was discovered on Saturday. Official sources said it was
significant the hacking came so soon after the Hyderabad twin blasts on Thursday.

“A message posted by the hackers read: Indians beware, stop abusing us or else we will retaliate…,” said a senior police officer. “The server was located within seven minutes of detection of the defacement, around 1 pm”, he claimed.

Sources claimed the hackers had also posted images of Hyderabad blasts. But this could not be confirmed.

The state administration rushed into damage control mode by removing the abusive messages from the site. An official said the data logs indicated the postings originated from a private company based in Jaipur.

“The site was immediately blocked and postings were removed,” said a shocked Bihar tourism minister Sunil Kumar Pintu.

The national informatics center (NIC) and a Mumbai-based firm, which had designed the website, had been alerted and asked to take remedial action to avoid a recurrence of the incident, Pintu told.

News of the hacking went viral on the internet, with users venting their outrage over the attack by poating messages on Facebook and Twitter.

Bihar director general of police (DGP) Abhayanand confirmed the incident. “I have asked IG (economic offence unit) Praveen Vashista to conduct an inquiry into the episode”, he told HT.

Contacted Sunday afternoon, Vashista said he would initiate action as soon as the matter was referred to him.

Bihar village’s irony: Rising wages help fight hunger

Khedu Ram and hunger had long been friends. When he was young and needed more food to keep working, hunger wouldn't leave his side. Some 30 years ago Khedu and his wife had six to feed.

The choice was often between eating and feeding the children. No amount of work earned enough. Soon his wife died. But their four children lived. They lived to see a better time. "No one, not one soul, in this village is hungry any more," says Khedu, his deep-set eyes showing no emotion, at Chhapwa in East Champaran, Bihar.

Khedu is over 60 years old. He does not remember when he was born. Nor does his son Bhikhari. The boy and this writer used to be village pals. That was in the early 1980s. Khedu was a young man then, a much fuller frame moulded by hard physical toil. He looked 30.

"My wife hardly ever had a full meal in her short life," says Khedu, a member of the "Chamar" caste, who has spent his years well under the poverty line, however imaginatively you draw it. "I wish she were alive today. Between Bhikhari and I, we feed a family of 11 now."

Stove's Burning

Bhikhari Ram, whom the free village school along with free lunch could not educate, fathered nine children. Eight alive. His wife does some seasonal farm work. But she has little time to spare from childcare and cooking two and a half kilo of rice for lunch and two and a half kilo of atta for dinner. Where does all this grain come from?

Who is keeping Khedu's stove burning? "We have two red ration cards," says Khedu. "Between father and son, we get about 60 kg of rice and wheat a month." The rest they buy from the open market, he says. Has Khedu discovered prosperity at the sooty bottom of a rice pot? "For us, to be poor is to be hungry," he says, starkly. "Look at this sweater, this new towel."

Turn to Jung Bahadur Thakur, another life member of the below poverty line club. He is from the opposite extreme of the caste divide but is united with his Dalit villagefolk in a tight bond of chronic want. "I am almost 70 and I have seen real hunger in the past," says Thakur. "What you see today is heaven. Do you not notice all the new brick houses?"

There's Work

Thakur and Bhikhari point to MGNREGS, the rural job guarantee programme. Thakur's son has a job card but takes no part in the scheme. Bhikhari has not bothered to register. Both, however, say the scheme has helped change the labour market and, in turn, their lives. "The MGNREG scheme pays just over Rs 100 a day, after 'cuts'. But due to it, daily wages here are Rs 200," says Thakur.

"One can make Rs 5,000 a month right here in the village. That's a lot of food." Bhikhari, still in the prime of his work life, says there is much local work, even in the non-farming season. "There is a lot of construction work. And unlike in the past, wages are now paid promptly."

His baby brother Munna went to Punjab a decade ago. He died of a snakebite working the fields. "He did not want to go but he had no choice," says Bhikhari, his eyes impassive. Villages around here are indeed rebuilding. Thakur has a three-room pucca house, built last year. Khedu Ram has two brick-and-concrete rooms. Both owe in part to another rural scheme, the Indira Awas Yojana.

Telephone boom in Bihar most visible sign of economic growth

One of the most visible signs of economic growth of Bihar could be witnessed through boom in telecom sector as reflected from the fact that on an average every household have two mobile phones now.

According to Economic Survey 2012-13, which was tabled in the state Assembly by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi last week, Bihar has 4.6 crore telephone connections in 38 districts of the state of which mobile phones had a share of over 98 per cent with private operators playing a big role.

Teledensity (number of telephone per 100 population) in urban areas of Bihar stood at 196.24 in 2012, which is more than the national average of 169.55, the survey report, quoting Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, said.

Only Kerala and Odisha were ahead of Bihar in urban teledensity.

But, the same is not reflected in rural areas where teledensity in Bihar in 2012 was 25.58 against 39.22 at the national level, the report said.

Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told PTI that mobile phone has become cheaper and handy for citizens. People wish to remain connected with each other nowadays hence mobile phone has become a necessity, he added.

Modi said there has been tremendous scope for telephone expansion in Bihar which has been surging ahead towards economic prosperity.

The craze for mobile phone could be understood from the fact that in rural areas where there is crisis of electricity, people rush to kiosks to charge their handset, the Bihar Deputy CM said, adding this process is creating income also.

The NDA government under Engineer Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been giving priority to use of IT in the field of sectors catering to needs of common people.

The state government has linked Right to Public Service (RTPS) with mobile information service.

Modi said that the state government with the help of bank has facilitated information regarding payment of taxes over mobile phone. Traders paying tax get information on mobile about it, he added.

State's Information Technology minister Shahid Ali Khan told PTI that all the 38 districts of state would be developed as 'e-districts' by 2014.

Data centre is being established for storing information.

The chief minister has been giving preference to use of IT in the field of governance.

Kumar writes a blog in his own name through which people gets regular information about redressal of their grievances by the government machinery.

Nalanda University gets library gift from Singapore

Singapore will design, build and donate a state-of-the-art library, estimated to cost US$5-7 million (S$6.2-8.7 million), to the upcoming Nalanda International University in Bihar.

This was revealed by Singapore's former foreign minister George Yeo.

Mr Yeo leads the international advisory panel for raising funds for the university. He said the board, led by Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, had approved Singapore's proposal. "People of Singapore are upbeat and keen on making their contribution to the university project," added Mr Yeo.

India's external affairs minister Salman Khurshid has also offered funds. He said a special provision of funds will be made in India's upcoming budget for the university.

Many countries, including Singapore, China, Thailand and Japan, have showed keen interest in helping the university that had existed till 1197 and at its heyday was once home to over 10,000 international students and scholars from Korea, China, Japan, Persia and Turkey. It was the centre of higher learning in Bihar then and had been supported by patronage from the Hindu Gupta rulers as well as Buddhist emperors. The ruins of the university still remain on site and Professor Sen has urged for the site to be included in the UNESCO heritage list.

The project to rebuild this ancient university was an initiative of India's former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2006. According to the board's plans, the university will be built on a vast area of 446 acres in Rajgir, 10km from the site of the ancient Nalanda University located in south-east Patna.

Eight architectural companies, six from abroad and two Indian companies, have shown interest in designing the university and have already submitted their proposals to the board. The vice-chancellor of Nalanda University Dr Gopa Sabharwal said the short-listed firms would be called to make their presentation by April.

The new Nalanda International University will offer residency facilities to students and teachers, much like its predecessor, and offer courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with social sciences.

The university is set to begin academic activities from the 2013-14 session from rented premises with two subjects - historical studies and environment and ecological studies.

Prof Sen who is also the university's chancellor said: "There has been some delay but things will be back on schedule. The two faculties with which we will start the academic session are the School of Historical Studies and Archaeology and Environmental Studies and Ecology."

Jilted lover chops off girl's nose in Kishanganj district

A young girl's nose was chopped off by her jilted lover, who also made an unsuccessful attempt to rape her in Bihar's Kishanganj district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Sunday when the youth finding the girl alone in her house here tried to rape her.

The girl resisted him and the youth in a fit of rage chopped off her nose with a sharp weapon, the police said.

The youth, who was in a relationship with the girl, was opposed by her family.

He was arrested after the incident and a local court sent him to jail, while the girl is under treatment.

Her mother had filed a complaint with the police a month ago that the girl was being pressurised by a neighbour to marry the youth.

The police had arrested the neighbour but the youth kept harassing the girl, the police said.