Cong leaders blamed for poll outcome
HAMIRPUR, Aug 11 — Congress activists of Hamirpur district blamed their leaders for the party's poor performance in the last Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.
ITBP company reaches Chamba
SHIMLA, Aug 11 — One company of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police has reached Chamba for flushing out Kashmiri militants from the area.
Top police brass shifted
SHIMLA, Aug 11 — In a reshuffle of the top brass of the Himachal Pradesh police, the state government today transferred three Additional Directors-General of Police, four IGPs and five DIGs, besides several other officers.
5 Army men, boy killed in road mishap
DHARAMSALA, Aug 11 — Five Army personnel and a six-year-old boy died when the truck in which they were travelling rolled down a khud, at Bagli village, near Gaggal, here today.

HP holiday on Aug 14

Thakur state coop union chief

Plea to end water bill disparity

Anti-drug rally held

Bus services to Chail poor

Mahajan accuses HP Govt of laxity
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Aug 11 — The Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Mr Sat Mahajan, today said there had been "criminal negligence", on the part of the BJP government, in making adequate security arrangements at the Chamba border.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said the Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, instead of admitting laxity on the part of his government was trying to put the blame on the Congress party. "It is very sad that on matters which concern national security instead of rising to the occasion the government is trying to politicise the whole issue" he regretted.

Mr Mahajan said the statement of Mr L.K. Advani in Parliament that all necessary precautions had been taken to tackle the threat from militants had created a false sense of security. The Chamba massacre had shown Mr Advani made the statement without actually making any arrangements, he added.

The PCC chief said the matter had been brought to the notice of the government in the assembly on July 10 by Mrs Asha Kumari, who represents the constituency. "Despite the warning about militants' motives being taken seriously by the government, members of the Treasury Benches ridiculed Mrs Asha Kumari and accused her of trying to give the matter a political colour", Mr Mahajan alleged. He said during the regime of the Congress party not a single person had become the target of militants and there had been exchange of fire only between the police and the militants. Apart from that, during Congress rule the Army used to conduct regular patrolling and combing operations in the border areas of Chamba.

Mr Mahajan said it was not only the Congress which was saying that there had been laxity on the part of the government, but even BJP MPs Shanta Kumar and Ramesh Chaudhary, who was a part of the government, had admitted to the security lapse. "I appreciate Mr Shanta Kumar that he rose above party considerations to admit the fault of the government", the Congress president stated.

Mr Mahajan said the militants struck at a time when the entire government machinery was busy at the Minjar fair and most of the police personnel had been deployed in Chamba. "On the contrary, the government should have been wise enough not to take any chances and keep strict security on the border areas adjoining Jammu and Kashmir, he observed. He lamented the steps that the government was taking now could have been taken after the call attention motion moved by Mrs Asha Kumari in the assembly on the threat by the militants in Chamba. He demanded that the BJP government should apologise to the people of Chamba for the criminal negligence, which led to the death of 35 innocent labourers.

The PCC chief said the fate of the present government in the state totally depended on what happened at the Centre. He said the Baijnath byelection would prove to be a turning point in state politics. He did not rule out the possibility of the Congress taking the support of HVC workers during the Baijnath byelection.

Cong leaders blamed for poll outcome
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Aug 11 — Congress activists of Hamirpur district blamed their leaders for the party's poor performance in the last Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. Had the party leaders worked together and taken the grassroot-level workers into confidence, the present situation would not have arisen, workers told Mr Sat Mahajan, HP Congress chief, at a meeting held at the local rest house last evening.

As many as 102 senior activists of the party from all five assembly segments were present. Mr Bhagat Ram Karohta, DCC chief, Mr Kuldip Singh Pathania, Mr Manjeet Singh and Mr Narain Chand Prasher, all former MLAs, were also present. The lone absentee from the meeting was another former MLA, Mrs Anita Verma.

The failure of the party leaders, especially ministers and legislators, to establish a rapport with the workers led to rout of the party in the elections, the workers lamented at the meeting. The workers also took the DCC chief, Mr Karohta, to task for working against the official party nominee from Mewa area and demanded his immediate sack from the post.

Mr Karohta explained his position and told the meeting he was compelled by the candidate and his friends to work against him.

The party in a resolution blasted the BJP-HVC government for its failure to maintain law and order in the state. The government was to be blamed for the Chamba killings, the party added. It demanded immediate steps should be taken to maintain a strong vigil on the borders of the state with Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

Through another, resolution, the party demanded a complete halt to the mass transfer of government employees and officers in the state. The party viewed the entire state machinery had been politicised and come to a complete standstill. The party said all developmental works had been stalled and the government was busy only in the politics of transfers.

The meeting appointed Prof Narain Chand Prasher as the in-charge of Hamirpur district with regard to all activities. He will coordinate with other leaders to finalise the strategy to strengthen the party and oppose the present BJP-HVC government in the state.

In his speech, Professor Prasher sought the support of workers in taking the party forward by sinking all their differences. He said the congress would again rule the state and the downfall of the BJP-HVC combine government was imminent.

The HP, Congress chief, Mr Sat Mahajan, stressed the need for better coordination and understanding between leaders and workers. He said leaders were nothing without workers. He said his endeavour would be to give a boost to the grass-level party worker and give them due recognition.

Mr Mahajan denied any rift in the rank and file of the party at the state level. He said the party was united under one banner. He said he would go to all parts of the state of further strengthen the organisation.

He gave a call to the partymen to be united to oust the BJP-HVC government which, according to him, was one of the weakest governments the state had seen since Independence.

ITBP company reaches Chamba
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Aug 11 — One company of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has reached Chamba for flushing out Kashmiri militants from the area.

Mr B.L. Handa, Deputy Inspector General of the ITBP, said here today that an advance party of the ITBP followed by a company had reached Chamba and more force was on the way.

He said that as per the decision taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs, one batallion of the ITBP had already reached Doda in Jammu and Kashmir and its deployment in the area was under progress in consultation with Army authorities.

Meanwhile, the police has failed to trace the six persons held hostage by mercenaries after killing 35 labourers in the Chamba district on August 30.

It is now almost certain that these hostages have been taken to the terrorist-infested Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir by the mercenaries of the Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit suspected to be involved in the massacre.

Neither the Himachal nor the J and K police, has, so far, been able to confirm the whereabouts of these hostages. Signals were reportedly sent to the district police chief of Doda by district authorities of Chamba for launching a hunt for these persons. However, the security forces on the J and K side have reportedly not yet responded to the request.

The terrorists had taken nine persons hostage, but later released three Muslims. The hostages were made to carry the explosive material which the mercenaries looted from the stores of road construction contractor. Security force were doubtful about the fate of the hostages once they have seen the hide-out of these mercenaries.

It is learnt that the DIG Northern Range, Mr I.D. Bhandari, who is camping at Bairagarh, near the massacre site of Kalaban, followed the route which was taken by the mercenaries while returning to Doda and verified from the Gujjars en route that the hostages were seen accompanying them. However, the police party was unable to proceed further into the J and K territory because of threat of militant attack in the unknown area.

Sources said that further search for the hostages could be carried out only after the ITBP personnel reached the area and started combing simultaneously from Doda as well as Chamba sides.

On the other hand, intelligence agencies fear that Kashmiri terrorists might strike again in the Chamba area if the central security forces did not arrive here soon. The Chamba district is already on the target of the mercenaries who were reportedly trying to shift their activities to Himachal Pradesh.

They are reportedly confined to the upper areas of the Doda district adjoining Chamba following massive deployment of Army and paramilitary forces in Bhaderwah, Kishtwar and other areas. Another aspect was that terrorists were under pressure from various quarters not to upset further the economy of the Muslim-dominated areas of the Doda district. Thus, the most viable alternative they have reportedly found was to shift their attacks towards Chamba. The focus has not started shifting from the massacre as various parties have started politicising the issue. The ruling BJP was itself divided on the issue. A former Chief Minister and a sitting MP of the BJP Mr Shanta Kumar, has said that the incident could have been averted, had the state government acted on the prior information of the intelligence agencies about a possible terrorist attack in Chamba.

A team of Congress leaders headed by Mr Sharad Pawar has said that the massacre took place because of laxity of the BJP-HVC combine government in the state.

Interestingly, a piquant situation has developed over the sensitive issue of these killings as the right hand in the state government does not know what the left hand is doing. While a spokesman of the state government recently denied that any intelligence agency had provided information about a possible terrorist attack in Chamba, Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, yesterday told newsmen that reports of movement of terrorists in the area were being received since 1991.

The Chief Minister, however, accused the previous Congress government headed by Mr Virbhadra Singh of having ignored these warnings.

Top police brass shifted
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Aug 11 — In a reshuffle of the top brass of the Himachal Pradesh police, the state government today transferred three Additional Directors-General of Police, four IGPs and five DIGs, besides several other officers.

To strengthen the CID set-up which had miserably failed to provide substantial information regarding the terrorist activities in the Chamba area, the post of IGP (CID) has been revived and Mr B.L. Pandit has been appointed to that post. He is, at present, IGP, Headquarters.

Mr P.J.S. Kumar, ADGP, Vigilance, has been shifted to the Enforcement Department.

Mr I.N.S. Sandhu, ADGP, Prisons, and Mr V.K. Malik, ADGP, Vigilance, swap places.

Mr D.S. Amist has been appointed IGP, Enforcement.

Mr Ashwani Kumar, IGP, Enforcement, has been shifted to police headquarters.

Mr O.S. Singh has been appointed IG, Railways and Traffic.

Mr Ravinder Kumar, DIG, police headquarters, has been appointed DIG, HPSEB.

Mr Vijay Pal Singh, DIG, Headquarters, has been appointed Principal, Police Training School, Daroh.

Mr Somesh Goel, DIG, CID, has been shifted as DIG, Armed Police Training, Shimla.

Mr D.P. Sharma has been appointed Superintendent of Police, Una, in place of Mr Ahmed Sidqui, who goes as Commandant, 2nd batallion.

Mr O.C. Thakur has been appointed S.P. (Special Branch), CID. Mr R.L. Sood, S.P., Security, has been appointed S.P., Crime. A new post of additional S.P., IRB operations, has been created in Chamba district and Mr Ram Kumar has been appointed to the post.

Mr B.M. Sharma has been appointed Additional S.P., Hamirpur. Mr N.L. Chogal is the new Additional S.P., Shimla. Other Additional SPs are Mr V.K. Dhawan (Mandi) and Mr Ram Lal (Kulu).

Mr Bashir Khan and Mr Hari Chand have been appointed DSP, Baijnath, and DSP, Dalai Lama's Security, respectively.

5 Army men, boy killed in road mishap
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Aug 11 — Five Army personnel and a six-year-old boy died when the truck in which they were travelling rolled down a khud, at Bagli village, near Gaggal, here today.

According to Army sources, 22 persons were travelling in the truck, which was on its way from Palampur to Pathankot. Apart from 18 Army men, there was a woman and three children in the truck. While four army men died on the spot, one of them died in the helicopter in which the seriously injured were being taken to the Command Hospital at Udhampur. Five of the Army men, whose condition is stated to be critical were airlifted to Udhampur. The other seriously injured persons have been admitted to Military Hospital, Yol.

According to the police, the driver of the vehicle lost control while taking a sharp turn. Those killed include Hav Sukh Ram, Naik Hansraj, Hav Tarsem, Hav Barkha Ram, Naik Jangshed Ali and the six-year-old. The Army jawans were on their way to Pathankot, from where they were to leave for Leh. The family of a retired Army personnel had taken lift in the vehicle, when the mishap took place. The vehicle rolled about 250 feet down.

To evacuate the injured persons to Udhampur, three choppers had been called from there. Due to heavy rain and poor visibility, it was with great effort that the pilots could land the choppers at Yol.

HP holiday on Aug 14
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Aug 11 — The Himachal Pradesh Government has declared a "gazetted holiday" in place of restricted holiday on August 14 on account of "Janmashtami" in all government offices and educational institutions in Himachal Pradesh.

This will also be a holiday within the meaning of Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, in Himachal Pradesh, according to a notification issued here today.

Thakur state coop union chief
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Aug 11 — Mr D.S. Thakur was unanimously elected president of the Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Union here today.

The newly elected board of directors of the apex cooperative body, which met under the chairmanship of Mr Prem Singh Chauhan, also elected Mr Bal Krishan Thakur, vice-president of the union.

Mr Thakur, who was elected director from Shimla district, also heads the State Bank of India Staff Union.

Plea to end water bill disparity
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Aug 11 — The Vikas Nagar residents Welfare Association has urged Mr Roop Das Kashyap, Chief Parliamentary secretary, to take steps to end the huge disparity in water bills of different areas within the Shimla Municipal Corporation. It complained that consumers in Vikas Nagar and some other colonies were getting higher bills during a khula manch organised to redress the grievances of people.

The representatives of the association also drew the attention of the minister towards the problem in sanitation caused due to lack of a proper system. They also urged the minister to open a dispensary, a police chowki and a community centre in the locality.

Anti-drug rally held
From Our Correspondent

NAHAN, Aug 11 — As part of the golden jubilee celebrations of Independence an anti-drug rally was organised here yesterday by the Information and Public Relations Department in collaboration with the Nehru Yuva Kendra.

The rally was flagged off by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Kaushal, from Katcha Tank and concluded at the historical Chowgan ground. A large of men, women and children took part in the rally and raised anti-drug and anti-smoking slogans.

Later, presiding over the function the Additional District Magistrate, Mr K.R. Bharti, stressed the need for strengthening the unity and integrity of the country. He recalled the sacrifices made by the martyrs and freedom fighters and said that the younger generation should draw inspiration from them.

Bus services to Chail poor
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Aug 11 — Passenger bus services from here to the tourist destination of Chail are in a shambles.

Irregular bus services to the important tourist destination have annoyed the local residents of the town.

Residents of Chail complain bus trips are frequently cancelled without any prior information by the HRTC. Passengers have to keep waiting even in bad weather for a bus in the open at the Lakkar Bazar bus stand where there is no covered waiting room.

The buses of the Shimla (rural) depot of the HRTC are in a bad condition which frequently break down midway. Passengers from the interior areas of Chail are put to great difficulty.

A resident of the town said at least 12 panchayats of Chail were being affected due to the poor passenger services of the HRTC.