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Noida killings rock Indian polity : Mulayam bends, decides for CBI probe

	January 08, 2007

Giving in to pressure from most political parties and other groups, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav decided on Friday, Jan. 5 to seek a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the gruesome killings of children and women at Nethari, in Noida, and the murder of Kavita Rani, a lecturer in Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Meerut. Addressing a news conference in Lucknow, Yadav also announced that the families of the Nethari victims would be allotted housing plots and the Government would look into their demand for jobs. Earlier, the state Government had announced Rs. 5 lakh each as compensation to the kin of those who died in the sordid episode of sexual abuse and killing of children and women and dismemberment of their bodies by two persons, suspected to be psycopaths. Police inaction and perhaps negligence and connivance played a major role in the killings continuing for over two years.



Observers say that the Chief Minister’s move, conceding a CBI inquiry, is aimed at putting an end to allegations that his Samajwadi Party Government was trying to sweep the two incidents under the carpet in a bid to shield influential persons. Mulayam Singh Yadav criticised the Opposition, especially the BJP and the Congress, for what he called politicising the Nethari killings. He said the parties are playing politics over the dead bodies of children. There had been a strong demand from these political parties and others for a CBI inquiry in view of the failure of the Noida police to act on reports of missing persons.



Referring to the letter written to him by State Governor T.V. Rajeshwar and the demand from the Opposition as the reasons for referring the cases to the CBI, the Chief Minister asserted that his Government was not insensitive to the case of children’s killings and the murder of the Meerut University lecturer, who was allegedly in a liaison with two Ministers and a former Minister. The University teacher’s body is still to be recovered.



Mulayam Singh Yadav said that the impression that he was opposed to the CBI inquiry was unjustified. He claimed that the state police had nearly solved the Nethari killings case as well as the suspected murder of Kavita Rani.



The Chief Minister denied that his younger brother and PWD Minister Shiv Pal Singh Yadav had described the Nethari killings as a “small and routine” incident. He claimed that Shiv Pal Singh never made the remark, and said that a section of the media was trying to blow the issue out of proportion.







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Such incidents keep happening : CM’s brother



Several newspapers and other media had reported PWD Minister Shiv Pal Singh Yadav’s remarks after his visit to Noida on Thursday, Jan. 4. He reportedly described the Nethari murders as “a small and routine” incident. Shiv Pal Singh Yadav who was the first Uttar Pradesh Minister to visit Noida after the recovery of bodies of about 20 persons, most of them children, in the drain near a house in the upcoming most modern town of UP, described the incident as “chhoti-moti ghatna.” He said such small incidents keep happening.



Shiv Pal Singh Yadav also sought to defend the police, despite the fact that the state Government had dismissed six policemen and suspended another three, including a Sr. Supdt. of Police, for their negligence in the case.



The Minister insisted that it was the UP police that unearthed the case. He said, “acting on the directions of the Government, the police had worked out the case. The case has already been solved. If it is handed over to the CBI, there will only be a delay.”



Opposition parties criticised the Chief Minister for not visiting Noida even though he spent some time in New Delhi, just a few kilometres away. Reports say that he did not visit Noida because of the socalled Noida jinx, apparently any Chief Minister who visits Noida, loses the next election. Mulayam Singh Yadav had gone to Noida as Chief Minister in April 1995 and lost the election two months later. Perhaps, Mulayam Singh Yadav did not want to take a chance this time as Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are to be held by May this year.



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Accused taken to Gujarat for narco test



Meanwhile, the two accused in the Nethari killings, Moninder Singh Pandher and Surender Koli, have been taken to Ahmedabad for narco analysis and brain mapping tests. The narco analysis and brain test are being carried out at the Forensic Science Laboratory in Gandhinagar.



Meanwhile, more gory details of the way in which the missing children were killed and their bodies disposed of are coming in. The police are waiting for the results of the narco tests to say whether the details are correct or not.



Police inaction and negligence are also becoming apparent. One report is that the prime accused in the serial killings, Moninder Singh Pandher was arrested about a year ago on the complaint of local residents who suspected his involvement in the disappearance of their children. But he was able to walk out of the police station the same night, allegedly after paying a bribe of Rs. 2.5 lakh to the police.



Though the police officers involved have been sacked or suspended for dereliction of duty, criminal proceedings may be launched against some of them.



The Uttar Pradesh Government earlier in the week constituted a special investigation team (SIT) headed by an Additional Superintendent of Police, to probe the gruesome killings.



Political leaders of all hues, except those of the Samajwadi Party, have been visiting Noida. Congress president Sonia Gandhi visited the area on Saturday, Jan. 6 and utilised the occasion to criticise the state Government for the kind of law and order situation obtaining in the state. She claimed that the UP Government’s decision to hand over the case to the CBI came under pressure exerted by the Congress.



Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee demanded central intervention in the state following the horrific killings of little children in Nethari village. He said in New Delhi, “There is nothing like law and order in the state and the Centre should intervene.” The BJP has been demanding imposition of President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh ahead of Assembly elections in the State.



CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat visited Nethari on Saturday, Jan. 6 and met the families of the victims. In a statement, the CPI(M) said the country sought to know the truth behind the killings and the CBI should ensure a time bound probe into all aspects of the case including the suspicion of involvement of a bigger gang linked to trade in human organs. The party said, “The criminal negligence of he Noida police into the investigation of the missing children and adolescents has been compounded by the utterly insensitive and callous manner in which the UP Government has responded to the national outrage shown by the statement of PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav that it is a “chhoti-moti ghatna” that happens everywhere.”



The CPI(M) said it was a matter of shame that even though 29 children and adolescents were reported missing from the village in the past two years, the Administration showed criminal indifference. This was because the missing children were from extremely poor families, mainly migrant workers from Bengal and Bihar, Karat said. “The class bias and prejudice against the poor by the Administration has clearly shown up.”





Central committee to probe Nethari killings



On Wednesday, Jan. 3, the Centre constituted a high level committee to investigate the killings at Nethari village of Noida and the possible lapses in tracing the missing children.



The four-member panel has representatives from the Ministries of Home Affairs and Women and Child Development (WCD), and the Uttar Pradesh Government.



It will look into the Administration’s efforts to trace the children. It will assess the assistance provided to the affected families.



Besides recommending steps to prevent such incidents, it will go into the modus operandi and the motive of the accused.



The panel has been asked to submit its report in two weeks.



Minister of State for Women and Child Development (Independent charge) Renuka Chowdhury said the enquiry was meant not to point the finger at any Government but to find out why the police and the administration did not respond to the situation.



Chaired by Manjula Krishnan, Joint Secretary WCD Ministry, the panel comprises V. N. Gaur, Joint Secretary (Police), Union Home Ministry; Balvinder Kumar, Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development, U.P., and J. S. Kochher, Director, WCD Ministry.



The National Commission for Women (NCW) has sought a status report from the State Government. In a letter to Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, NCW chairperson Girija Vyas reminded him of the Commission’s one-member inquiry committee report in August 2005 when about half a dozen girls went missing. The parents approached the NCW when the police refused to file an FIR in most cases. The enquiry was conducted by Nirmala Venkatesh, Commission member, and its report was sent to the State Government.





Supreme Court’s ‘NO’ to intervention



The Supreme Court last week refused to entertain an advocate’s plea for its intervention to order a CBI probe into the Nethari killings pointing out that the matter was already being looked into by several agencies including the Uttar Pradesh police. The court declined to take cognizance of the newspaper reports on the incident saying, “We know what appeared in the press”, but it was not something to be mentioned when agencies like the National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for Women and Uttar Pradesh police were already looking into it. The Bench pointed out that the Chief Justice of India-designate K.G. Balakrishnan, who favoured a thorough probe into the case, has ruled out taking suo motu cognizance of the matter.



The Allahabad High Court has asked the Principal Secretary (Home) and Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, to spell out the steps being taken to solve the cases of children missing or abducted in the state. A writ petition filed by Vishnu Dayal Sharma of Agra had alleged that policemen were not taking action in the case of his missing 17 year old son. The court censured the police for ignoring complaints of the common people. It observed, “Poor and resourceless persons, whose children are missing, are cruelly rebuffed by the police which is engaged in other important matters and does not want to inflate its crime record. Unfortunately, these persons lack the wealth to set the police machinery in motion in matters which were the foremost duty of the police to investigate.”





NHRC asks for factual report



The National Human Rights Commission, in the mean time, has asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to submit a factual report on the murder and abuse of children in Nethari within two weeks. The panel said officials of the state administration found responsible for prolonged negligence of routine investigation and civil functions should be sacked forthwith. A notice sent by the NHRC to the state Government pointed out that at least 38 children are reported missing from Nethari village in the last 30 months, but only 19 cases have been registered.



Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh and Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party have demanded Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s resignation for the police laxity in detecting the serial killings in time.



The Congress party described the serial killings in Nethari as a blot on civilization and said that the Noida police cannot do justice to the investigation. Party spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said that while the Uttar Pradesh police is definitely insensitive and inefficient, there are also suspicions that it may be involved or may have connived in the crime. She said that according to the party’s information, 98 children were missing from Nethari locality and not just 38. Pradesh Congress president Salman Khurshid who visited Noida twice last week said, the police and administration were totally insensitive to the plight of the victims. He said the incident has once again illustrated the complete lack of governance in Uttar Pradesh.



Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati who visited Noida on Dec. 31, demanded a CBI probe into the recovery of skeletons of little children. She blamed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav for the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and wanted the Centre to impose President’s Rule in the state. Mayawati said Mulayam Singh Yadav should immediately step down as Chief Minister owning up moral responsibility for the ghastly incident.



Angry protests in Noida



Anguished parents of missing children, many of them now said to have been killed, fought pitched battles with the police in Noida last week. Angry villagers pelted stones at the police officers outside the residence of Moninder Singh Pandher who along with his servant Satish Koli, allegedly sexually abused children and brutally murdered them. The crowd also hurled stones at a doctor’s residence nearby alleging his complicity in the killings. The doctor was allegedly involved in a kidney racket busted by the police two years ago.





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Centre to push for law on sex abuse



In the wake of the Noida killings, the Centre has decided to speed up a law that will for the first time make abuses against children a punishable and non-bailable offence.



The Offences Against Children Bill, drawn up earlier last year, will be sent to the cabinet soon. “The Ministry of Women and Child Development has sent a note on the Bill to all ministries. It will soon be put up before the cabinet,” an official said. The bill seeks to make most offences against children - physical abuse, trafficking and economic exploitation - non-bailable.



The bailable offences include corporal punishment and bullying. The Bill was sent to state Governments for suggestions. “It has now come back to the ministry and the Government is keen to pass it as soon as possible,” said an official. Under the act, “persistent and continued physical abuse against children” will earn a seven-year imprisonment, or a fine of not less than Rs 10,000.



Over 100 children are missing from Noida where skeletal remains were found in a drain. Crime in Uttar Pradesh, of which Noida is a part, has long been rampant, but offences against children in the state are among the country’s highest.



“Uttar Pradesh has reported the highest number of cases (439), which is over 36 per cent of the total cases in India,” says a 2005 study conducted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.



The Noida killings have turned the attention to the neglected sections of the population. The Ministry for Women and Child Development is trying to set up a National Commission for Children, a plan pending for two years. “Had there been a commission for children, it could have summoned the authorities (in Noida),” an official said.



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Chief Minister busy laying foundation stones



Even while the Noida cauldron was boiling, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister unveiled a package for building bridges with the masses on Wednesday, Jan. 3. Mylayam Singh Yadav inaugurated a record number of 172 bridges and laid the foundation stone of 140 more on a single day, sitting at his official residence in Lucknow. He had earlier inaugurated 140 bridges and laid the foundation stone for 247 others.



With the latest spree, a total of 312 bridges are claimed to have been completed in the three years of the Samajwadi Party rule in the State so far from 2003 to 2006. These bridges have been built on all the main rivers of the State including the Ganga and the Yamuna.



Yadav told a select gathering of ministers, officials and media persons at his residence the masses were quite aware of his development initiatives.



Yadav minced no words in attacking the Central Government for its “non-cooperation” and stressed that despite the heavy odds the entire cost of the bridges had been borne by the State Government.



Another point of focus of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh last week was the protest against the execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Thursday, Jan. 4, was observed as black day by the party in protest against the execution. Samajwadi Party workers took out protest marches in several cities.