M A I N   N E W S

3-tier security ring at stadium
Search operations launched in Srinagar
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Jan 23 — Security arrangements have been beefed up in Srinagar and all district headquarters in the valley ahead of the Republic Day celebrations amid threats from militant organisations to create trouble on the occasion.

A series of major attacks have been attempted by militants during the past fortnight following the extension of the ceasefire.

The entire area within 1 km radius around Bakhshi Stadium, venue of the main Republic Day celebrations here, has been sanitised, senior police officers said. The police and paramilitary troops have set up a three-tier security ring around the stadium. A series of search operations around the stadium and adjacent localities, including Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the city, have been conducted during the past week.

Search operations at the localities of Maisuma, Batamaloo, Sarai Bala, Hari Singh High Street and Magharmal Bagh were conducted this week. Elsewhere, the search operations, including house-to-house searches and identification of male members, have become a regular feature in several city areas.

The police and security forces are checking all civil and private vehicles on various routes. Pedestrians have also been subjected to security checks in the Lal Chowk area. The paramilitary troops have been checking the belongings of the pedestrians, including women, returning from Lal Chowk after shopping.

As a result of the continued and stepped-up security operations, there has been thinner vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the chowk area. Most private vehicle owners have stopped driving in the Civil Lines area. The Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) parking area in the chowk has been closed for parking for three days from today as a precautionary measure.

Moreover, footpath vendors from various areas in and around the chowk have been told to shift elsewhere as part of security measures. The parking of autorickshaw and other vehicles is strictly prohibited on roadsides.

Awami League leader attacked

SRINAGAR, Jan 23 (UNI) — Two persons, including a former Hizbul Mujahideen militant, were killed while militants shot at and injured a leader of the Awami League at Rafiabad in North Kashmir during the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, two civilians were injured when an explosive device went off at Kalari village, about 20 km from Jammu this afternoon.

The toll in the landmine blast that was triggered by militants at Tappar in Baramula district on Sunday has risen to nine with one person succumbing to injuries in the hospital this morning.

An official spokesman said militants shot at a former militant-turned-politician Mohammad Yousuf Ganai of the Awami League, critically injuring him at Rafiabad in Baramula this afternoon at 1.10 p.m.

He was admitted to the hospital here where his condition was stated to be critical.

Elsewhere in the valley, one person was abducted and the police seized a cache of arms and ammunition since last evening.

Meanwhile, the police and security forces have launched a massive hunt to trace a car of a doctor taken away by unidentified people from SMHS Hospital here last evening.

The police suspects the car could be used for blasts on or before Republic Day. Militants have often used a stolen car in “fidayeen” (suicide) attacks and bomb blasts in the valley in the past.

The spokesman said militants shot dead a former released militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Showkat Ahmad Matoo at Anantnag last evening.

Two persons were injured when a grenade they were fiddling with exploded at Kairi village today. They were later hospitalised.

The police seized 10 grenades and 560 rounds from the woods of Chogal in Kupwara district last evening, the spokesman said.

He said unidentified militants abducted Bashir Ahmad Sheikh from his house at Ganderbal late last night.

JAMMU (PTI): A self-styled commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Abdul Ahmed Bhat, alias Lukman Gazi was killed and his associate injured during an encounter with the security forces in the Kastigarh area of Doda district in Jammu division on Monday, an official spokesman said today.

The spokesman said Gazi was involved in the killing of 14 Border Security Force personnel in Doda in 1993.

Gazi, who belonged to the Neel Top area of Doda district, was an active militant for the past 13 years and had received training in several camps in Pakistan, he said.

Gazi’s associate, identified as Ishar Ahmed, was also injured in the encounter but he managed to escape along with some other militants, the spokesman said.

The security forces seized one rifle, four magazines, some rounds of ammunition and four hand grenades from the slain militant.