M A I N   N E W S

High alert sounded in Kashmir

Srinagar, May 6
In view of the recent suicide attacks by foreign mercenaries belonging to the Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba, the security forces have been put on high alert in Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, where the state government resumes functioning from Tuesday after working for six months at the winter capital Jammu.

The civil secretariat, seat of the Jammu and Kashmir Government, and other offices are opening in Srinagar under the biannual “darbar move”, an exercise under which the state government functions for six months each at Jammu and Srinagar.

In the wake of upsurge in activities of militants, all arrangements for the safety and security of the government offices and employees had been finalised, official sources said.

For over a decade now, militants had been targeting the civil secretariat and other offices killing several employees and injuring many others in a desperate bid to gain publicity.

To keep the militants at bay the security arrangements had been tightened further and round-the-clock vigil and sanitisation of the areas close to the government installations had been ordered, the sources said.

Meanwhile, at a high-level meeting here yesterday the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Mr Mumtaaz Afzal, reviewed the arrangements of the “darbar move”.

The sources said militants in their bid to step up violence may target government installations with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or carry out suicide attacks.

They said irrespective of the ceasefire infiltration of militants from Pakistan had continued throughout the winter.

Though infiltration decreased during winter months, as the mountain passes are covered with snow, this year there was less snowfall which might have been a contributing factor, they said. Besides Pakistani and Afghan nationals, infiltrators also included Kashmiris who had returned after receiving training in arms and other subversive activities from across the border, they said.

The security forces had set up fresh observation posts to keep a watch on suspected persons and additional barricades had been erected at strategic places, the sources said. PTI

India rules out tripartite talks

Islamabad, May 6
India today ruled out tripartite talks involving Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue but said it was ready for a dialogue with Islamabad on the issue provided the military regime exercised control on militant groups to bring down the level of violence unleashed by them in Kashmir.

Interacting with Indian scribes here, the Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad, Mr Vijay K. Nambiar, said: “We are not in favour of any tripartite discussions. We think there is the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and there is the question of Kashmir which needs to be de-segregated. We need to see them separately.”

He said the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was all about lowering the level of violence brought in by acts of terrorism and encouraged by Pakistan-based militant organisations like the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

“This needs to be firmly countenanced. Unless that happens and unless we can see some control on their activities, we will have to take a view that Pakistan is not interested is stemming the violence” he said.

“They would like to see this as a lever to push their own agenda in Jammu and Kashmir and to put political pressure on India. Therefore, we will have to move in the direction of trying to involve political groups in Jammu and Kashmir to launch the process of dialogue with us both to lower violence and to discuss the large issue of resolving political differences in relation to the state,” Mr Nambiar said.

However, there was scope for a composite dialogue with Pakistan on Kashmir which began at the SAARC Foreign Ministers’ conference in Sri Lanka in 1998, Mr Nambiar said.

“For any dialogue with Pakistan to reach a level of credibility as far as we are concerned, we need to have a basic environment, a basic climate established which can come across only when the Pakistan authorities give some indication that they are not going to encourage militant organisations, Mr Nambiar said.

Asked whether the Indian Government still had reservations to talk to the military regime in Pakistan, he said India had no such reservations.

“The question with regard to having a dialogue with the present government has not really been related to the nature of the regime in Pakistan. We have dealt with military regimes in the past and I think if the regime is in effective control and doing business, we will do business with them” he said.

“I myself met General Musharraf and paid a courtesy call on him. So, I do not think that we have any problems with the military regime here,” Mr Nambiar said. PTI

6 ULFA rebels shot

Guwahati, May 6
In a major crackdown, the security forces killed six ULFA rebels in Assam last night while unidentified gunmen abducted two relatives of the outfit’s commander-in-chief Paresh Barua, the police said today.

The police said six hardcore militants were killed in separate encounters in different parts of lower Assam last night. Giving details, he said four were killed in an encounter at Sialmari near the Indo-Bhutan border. A huge quantity of arms and weapons was seized from the slain militants’ hide-out.

In another incident at Helochapam near Sarthebari, a rebel was shot dead by the forces and a large cache of arms and ammunition seized.

Army sources said the arms and ammunition were suspected to be imported from Bhutan to create disturbance in Nalbari district. They also suspected that there might be a top ULFA leader amongst those who managed to escape during the encounter. Another militant was liquidated at the outskirts of the Guwahati city last night.

Giving details of the kidnapping of Baruah’s two bothers-in-law, Lakhimpur district Superintendent of Police Shrubajyoti Hazarika told UNI over phone they were kidnapped by some miscreants on Friday night.

Quoting eyewitnesses, he said gunmen, dressed in Army and police uniform, came at the residence of Gobinda Bhuyan and Indra Bhuyan, near Bihpuria, and forcibly took them away. UNI