Movie inspired blast plot?

The Perpetrators of the Saturday blasts that have claimed 46 lives so far seem to have been distinctly influenced by the plot of Contract, directed by Ram Gopal Varma - which released 10 days ago - police sources told HT.

In the film, the main villain, Sultan, outlines his plan of first setting off low-intensity explosions in crowded places, and then, when the injured throng the nearest hospital, triggering a much bigger blast at the hospital itself.

In Ahmedabad too, there were 19 relatively less lethal blasts at first, which saw the injured being rushed to hospitals. These were followed by two deadly high-intensity explosions at two hospitals - the Civil Hospital and the LG Hospital - that killed 27 people.

"The modus operandi was unique," Ashish Bhatia, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) told HT, confirming the strategy .

Forensic and counter-terrorism experts of the Gujarat police were engaged in investigations on Sunday even as the blasts saw a high , alert being sounded in several states across the country Prime Minister Manmohan Singh .

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Gujarat turns to Shanghai developers to build a ‘towering’ financial hub

Mumbai's Shanghai dreams may not have taken off, but Gujarat may soon be getting there. The state is working on a customised financial services and business district, to be designed by a company that has built more than two-third of Shanghai’s buildings.

A team of designers from the East China Architectural Design and Research Institute (ECADI) was here last week to present concept designs of six skyscrapers — one may possibly be the tallest in India — for the planned Gujarat International Finance Tec-city (GIFT).

The project, which will be located along the eastern banks of Sabarmati on the outskirts of Gandhinagar, will have the region’s tallest high rise — over 350 metres. The signature skyscraper is likely to be called “The Diamond Tower” to mark Gujarat’s eminence as the diamond hub of the world.

The other highrises too will be based on a special theme. While promoters are tightlipped about the project details, the towers are expected to measure 200-350 metres high, and will “carry the imprint of Gujarat’s cultural heritage”.

“First, we have to sell the space,” says GIFT chairman Sudhir Mankad, amid hectic parleys that have seen memoranda of understanding for over 80 million sq ft of business space against 75 million sq ft planned for the first phase by 2010.

A joint venture between the Gujarat Urban Development Company (GUDC) and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS), GIFT is to be benchmarked as a global finance hub on the lines of London Dockyards, Lujiazui Shanghai, or Shinjuku in Tokyo.

While some work in the form of levelling of land has already begun, sources say the construction activity was likely to begin in September. Spread over 500 acres, the core area of GIFT would be a showcase business district, with its engineering geared for a “plug-n-play” and “walk-to-work” concepts.

“Details are being worked out keeping in mind 100 years of scalability, so that the ground infrastructure would need no changes,” say sources.

The hub will be connected to the Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad highway through two landmark bridges on the Sabarmati and a possible tunnel under the river.

“Given the scale, much underground work will need to be done in terms of laying the cables, pipes, wires to enable those highrises,” say government officials.

With the Gujarat government and IL&FS contributing Rs 25 crore each by way of equity, GIFT would also consider going public in more favourable market conditions. The construction cost is pegged at Rs 50,000 crore. Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office say GIFT would be hawked during the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit.

ECADI is credited with building or designing prestigious landmark buildings in Shanghai like the Shanghai World Financial Centre (101 floors, 492 m), Shimao International Plaza (60 floors, 330 m), 21st Century Tower (48 floors, 180 m), Jin Mao Tower (88 floors, 421 m), Pudong International Airport, Shanghai Oriental Art Centre, and the Shanghai Supreme People’s Court.

Ahead of polls, Gujarat riots haunt Modi

The victims, the state government, the courts and social activists have all spoken out on the 2002 Gujarat riots, said to be the worst communal strife since Independence.Now in a sting operation, Tehelka has recorded scores of self-confessed rioters speaking out on the riots - how deadly arsenals were built and transported across the state, how mobs were mobilised and Muslims killed, the role of the police, and even that of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

At the very outset, however, a disclaimer should be made. These recordings of rioters, often bragging about their "feats", have not been cross-checked by TOI.They are being presented as they have been reported by Tehelka in public interest. BJP reacted to them on Thursday evening, describing the sting as "not investigative journalism" but a "collusive" conspiracy to denigrate Modi on the eve of Gujarat polls.Congress reacted to the expose by calling the disclosures "mind-numbing". The rioters, according to the magazine, opened up to its reporter who posed as a researcher working on the resurgence of Hindutva.The reporter, Ashish Khaitan, obviously approached them as being sympathetic to the Hindutva cause. He has clarified that all these disclosures by the rioters were voluntary and that no money was exchanged in the sting operation. By evening, the expose was also being broadcast on television networks.

If there is truth in what is claimed by the rioters, including BJP MLAs, leaders of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Gujarat riots were carried out by religious zealots with the open support, and often with encouragement and assistance from the state police and administration.Indeed, the phrase "state-sponsored genocide", often bandied about by activists, may not be an exaggeration if these claims of rioters are correct.Take for instance, the claim of Haresh Bhatt, a Bajrang Dal leader in 2002 who is now the BJP MLA from Godhra. He claims the chief minister's response in the wake of the Godhra incident, in which 58 Hindu pilgrims were burnt in a train, was "favourable" to the suggestion of retribution. Says Bhatt: "He had given us three days... to do whatever we could...After three days, he asked us to stop and everything came to a halt."

Bhatt said his firecracker factory made bombs and a "complete" rocket launcher.
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