M A I N   N E W S

Bid to blow up DD kendra

SRINAGAR, March 18 (PTI) — Militants made an attempt to blow up Srinagar Doordarshan station by firing three rifle grenades at the building this afternoon, official sources said.

One of the grenades, which were fired from a projectile gun, hit a mighty chinar on the main gate of Doordarshan, another fell in a car parking area and the third near a studio close to the new room, the sources said.

No one was injured in the attack, the sources said, adding that the grenades exploded with a loud bang rattling doors and windows of the building.

Security personnel deployed at the DD station fired in retaliation, but there were no casualties.

Doordarshan and nearby Radio Kashmir station have been the main targets since militancy erupted in Kashmir in 1989-90.

Jammu: The police has arrested suspected activist of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) Kirtan Singh, alias Bitta, who was the mastermind behind the train blasts in the Sealdah Express and Pooja Express.

The blast in the Pooja Express was triggered in November last year, while the Sealdah Express blast occurred on February 10 this year in which five persons were killed and 20 others injured.

Police sources said here that acting on a tip-off, the police raided a house in the Simbal Camp area on the outskirts of the city yesterday and took Kirtan Singh into custody.

Later after interrogation, the police recovered one Chinese-made revolver, four magazines, 30 rounds, two AK magazines with 50 rounds and fake currency of Rs 40,000. The arms and ammunition were concealed in a well in the area.

The sources said this was the second major success in anti-terrorist operations after the arrest of three KZF activists — Sukhvinder Singh, alias Mithu, Satvir Singh, alias Sunny and Parshotum Singh, alias Kala, in New Delhi a day earlier.

In another raid, a team of BSF seized two packets containing RDX weighing over 5 kg in which AK bullets were embedded to cause maximum damage. It was fitted with a time device.

The Police was examining whether such a device was used in the Sealdah Express blast on February 10, a press not stated.

Unprovoked firing and shelling by Pakistani troops took place in R S Pora and Samba sectors and Chamb and Khari Karmara sectors along the LoC since yesterday has been adequately responded to by Indian troops.

The exchange of fire with medium to heavy machine guns from both sides continued at 15 places along the international border since last night without any damage on the Indian side, the reports said, adding intermittent firing was continuing at some places when last reports came in.

One Pakistani infiltrator was killed by the troops when three ultras tried to sneak into the Indian side in the Khari Karmara area from across the LoC yesterday.