FSL confirms the role of ammonium nitrate in Mulund blast

Mumbai,Saturday, March 15, 2003: Maharashtra State Forensic Laboratory (FSL) today confirmed that the commonly available ammonium nitrate was used in the March 13 explosion in a suburban train at Mulund which claimed 11 lives.Director FSL Dr Rukmini Krishnamurthy said that ammonium nitrate was used with a chemical +initiator+ in the blast. The nature of the detonator was similar with the Ghatkopar blast, Krishnamurthy said adding in the Vile Parle blast also the same chemical was used but with a +missile+, which was missing in both Mulund and Ghatkopar blasts.Earlier this morning, she held a detailed meeting with the NSG team, headed by Major Randip Singh for two hours.

According to Krishnamurthyas a preventive method to check the movement of ammonium nitrate in the market, FSL has suggested to government that since the ammonium nitrate is easily available the purchase of the chemical has to be controlled by ensuring the authenticity of the purchaser+. The authorities should make sure it goes to the right hands and every buyer should be made accountable, she said adding that it should be done on the same lines as that of the chemical Acetic Anhydride.
In 1980s when the narcotic boom was prevailing in the city, the FSL had suggested for a controlled buyers concept which was implemented seriously by the government.Acetic Anhydride was used in the conversion of opium to brown sugar and many households in the city were involved in such jobs, she said.

Iraq submits report on VX nerve gas

United Nations,Saturday, March 15, 2003: Iraq has submitted a report to the United Nations Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix, claiming that Baghdad does not now possess VX nerve gas, diplomats said.The 25-page report "The Fate of VX and Chlorine in Soil" submitted to Blix Friday, is now being studied by the inspectors. It only documents production and destruction of VX stocks but does not give information or documentation about anthrax that Iraq was also expected to give, officials said.
Inspectors are asking Iraq to hand over its stocks of VX nerve agent and anthrax or provide evidence to support its claim that it had unilaterally destroyed all stocks in 1991.The report, said officials, is half in English and half in Arabic. It is in response to questions raised by Blix about lack of full accounting of its stocks of VX and anthrax.

Iraq has been saying that it has lost some of the documentation on destruction of these two deadly agents but wants the inspectors to judge the amount destroyed from the contamination of the areas where it was destroyed. But inspectors are not sure that such a methods would enable them to determine the quantity destroyed. UN estimates that Iraq had 21,000 litres of VX and 10,000 liters of anthrax at the time the last gulf war began. Iraq has declared 8,445 ltrs of anthrax but says VX never went beyond the experimental stage.

UK court refuses divorce to Indians for "sham" marriages

London,Saturday, March 15, 2003: Five Indians married to British citizens were refused "quickie" divorces by a UK court which termed their marriages as "sham" and said they were aimed at gaining residency. The couples had entered "marriages of convenience" to allow one partner to stay permanently in Britain, and once residency had been gained, they sought divorces, Justice Wilson of High Court Family Division, sitting in Manchester, said. In each marriage, one partner was a British citizen and the other an Indian national. In one of the cases, the couple parted within five days of the wife gaining residency, according to the divorce petition. In the rest, the marriages were alleged to have broken down between two and four months after residency was granted. The judge said the cases were a serious misuse of immigration and divorce laws. He refused to grant the divorces and ordered that his judgement be sent to immigration officials. The cases were referred to the High Court after similarities had aroused suspicion. Justice Wilson said he believed that they had been masterminded by the same broker.

Vadodara tense after violence; 20 injured, 132 arrested

Vadodara, Mar 15 The Situation in the city remained tense but under control after more than 20 people were injured in police firing and communal violence that broke out yesterday on Muharram and continued till early today. The Police had so far arrested 132 people in connection with the violence and rioting. Besides, two trucks carrying stones, iron pipes and other lethal weapons were seized at Madvi. All the 15 occupants of the trucks were arrested, police sources said. They said the violence, which erupted at around 1630 hrs yesterday during a Tazia procession near Sarasiya Talab, spread to most parts of the city as rioting mobs continued to fight on the streets till early today. Police resorted to firing six rounds at Sarasiya Talab, leaving two people wounded. The injured included Kirti Pandya, a photo Journalist, and ACP Thakur's driver Manji Baremda, who was admitted to the SSG hospital with an injury caused by a sharp-edged weapon at Sarasia Talab. According to Mr Thakur, the situation in the city was tense but under control and combing operation was on to nab the culprits involved in the violence.