NEW DELHI, 20 February 2006 — Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey has constituted an 11-member committee of the house to probe allegations against a minister and two legislators caught accepting bribe in a TV sting operation. The panel has been asked to submit its report during the current budget session. CNN-IBN and Channel 7 on Friday broadcast footage showing Minister Haji Mahboob Ali, Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Somaru Ram Saroj and BSP heavyweight Anil Kumar Maurya accepting protection money from undercover journalists. Minister Mahboob Ali also assured the journalists, posing as drug dealers, of help in reaching a big drug deal. The two legislators accepted money in lieu of involvement in a hawala (illegal money transfer) racket, poaching cases and illegal land dealings.
In another development, a Muslim organization of Tamil Nadu has asked another Uttar Pradesh minister to apologize for offering a $11.5 million bounty to anybody who would kill one of the cartoonists who drew the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The Tamil Nadu Muslim Makkal Katchi threatened to sue Muhammad Yaqoob Qureshi if he failed to tender an unqualified public apology.
