ALOK JOSHI, NEPAL VETERAN, APPOINTED RAW CHIEF Kathmandu, 28 Nov.:: Alok Joshi, a 1976 batch IPS officer of Haryana cadre, has been appointed chief of India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), agencies report from New Delhi.. Joshi is presently special secretary of RAW, which is under the Cabinet Secretariat. He had earlier done a tenure in Kathmandu a few years ago when he served as the Minister in the Indian embassy there. POLICE PLAN TO AMBUSH DRUNK DRIVERS Kathmandu, 28 Nov.:: Metropolitan Traffic Police Division is preparing to ambush drunk drivers trying to outsmart on-duty traffic police deployed at early in the Night, The Himalayan Times.writes. This move focuses on drivers who enjoy binge drinking in restaurants late into the night assuming that traffic police personnel with breathalysers will go to bed by then. Generally, traffic police have been enforcing the zero tolerance law on drunk driving from 6:00 to 10:00 pm daily. DIG Upendra Kant Aryal, MTPD in-charge, announced that the cops all set to ambush ‘smart drunk drivers’ till the wee hours. “Let the early night alone, you will hear about drunk drivers being arrested even at 2:00 am in a few days,” he said, adding traffic cops with breathalysers are awaiting an official directive to be deployed after 10:00 pm onwards. “Maybe it will start from today, tomorrow or any other day. We do not want drunk drivers play hide and seek,” he warned. MTPD is also giving final touches to a procedure relating to the crackdown on drunk drivers under way in the Valley. The procedure is aimed at making the crackdown more effective, scientific and systematic. Meanwhile, traffic police have started deploying crack units in inner roads, besides regular units on the main roads, for surprise checks on drunk drivers after it was found that most drivers under the influence of alcohol chose roads without traffic cops. The crackdown has resulted in reduced road fatalities, according to MTPD. Each offender has to attend an hour-long lecture on consequences of drunken driving the next morning, besides paying a fine of Rs 1,000 to get back their driving licence. Nnnn POLICEMEN FOUND GUILTY ON JHUMKA JAILBREAK Kathmandu, 28 Nov.: Probe committee formed three weeks ago to look into the escapade of 12 prisoners from the Jhumka-based Eastern Regional Prison in Sunsari has revealed today the complicity of the jailor and security personnel at the prison in the Incident, The Himalayan Times reports from Dharan.. The probe committee was formed by the Biratnagar-based Eastern Regional Police Office with the coordination of the Koshi Zonal Police Office Chief SSP Ramesh Prasad Phuyanl. In a press conference in Dharan, SSP Phuyanl said, Jailor Ram Prasad Upadhyaya, Prison Police Chief Inspector Ishwor Kumar Basnet and ASI Jit Bahadur Khatri (KC) were complicit in the incident. “It has been found that Jailor Upadhyaya received Rs 21,000 and Inspector Basnet and ASI KC received Rs 15,000 per month from the prison watchman Ali Asaraf Ansari for four months to help execute their plan,” SSP Phuyanl added. He went on to say that Ansari, one of the inmates who fled, had also distributed Rs 1,000 to other jailbirds per month telling them not to divulge theirplan inside the prison. “The detainees could execute their plan by continuously working for the tunnel with the help of the prison administration and the police,” he said, adding, extreme negligence on the part of the prison administration and the security personnel caused the incident. “It seems they had been part of the plan for some thousands of rupees. Hence recommendations have been made for action against the guilty as per the Prison Act on the basis of their share in the crime,” he said. On ASI KC’s role, the probe committee said he was recommended for 10 years in prison as his role had been instrumental in the entire operation. “Similarly, Basnet has been fined with Rs 200 and six months jail sentence.” Further, 18 police involved including Inspector Basnet and ASI KC have been recommended for court proceedings and 21 for departmental action. Meanwhile the probe committee formed by the Home Ministry is yet to make it’s report public. A total of 12 jailbirds including five Indians and one Bangladeshi criminal had escaped from prison on the night of November 8. They are yet to be detained. nnnn