M A I N   N E W S

Top ex-militant shot dead
Hurriyat leaders freed
Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 16
Counter-insurgents suffered a setback when a prominent renegade militant, Ghulam Nabi, was gunned down by two unidentified gunmen outside his residence at Shalipora village near Achabal in Anantnag district today.

The police said Ghulam Nabi after leaving his residence had gone hardly a furlong when two unidentified gunmen opened fire on him. He received five bullet wounds and succumbed to his injuries while being shifted to the hospital.

Ghulam Nabi was chief of the Muslim Mujahideen outfit and at one stage had been a close associate of the Hizb leader, Master Assan Dar. Ghulam Nabi bid farewell to insurgency when he found his life in danger and became associated with counter-insurgents. He had floated the People’s Patriotic Front and was in favour of the restoration of peace to Kashmir.

Elsewhere, three militants were killed in an encounter with the BSF and men of the Rashtriya Rifles at Sumblar in the Bandipore area of Baramula district today.

Official reports said that on specific information, the security forces cordoned off a hideout and as the search operation was about to be launched, the militants opened fire. The security forces retaliated, smashing a portion of the hideout. Three militants belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed. Among those killed were Abu Samad and Abu Hamas, both hailing from Pakistan. The identity of the third militant was yet to be established. Large quantities of explosive and ammunition were seized from the slain rebels.

Militants made an abortive bid to attack the camp of Special Operation Group (SOG) of the police at Pakharpora in Budgam district. The SOG men retaliated the moment militants opened fire, forcing the rebels to beat a hasty retreat. In another incident, BSF jawans destroyed an uninhabited hideout of militants at Medura village in the Tral area of Pulwama district. A large number of grenades, IEDs and ammunition were seized from the hideout.

Meanwhile the Indian security forces foiled a bid by Pakistani troops to capture a border post near the new Kanachak area near here today.

Reports said that the Indian post came under heavy fire from the intruders. The BSF retaliated. As the guns fell silent, two bodies of Pakistani soldiers were found lying in a pool of blood on the zero line.

Meanwhile, six top Hurriyat leaders, including its chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat and his predecessor Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who were placed under house arrest have been released. 

Kasauli student ‘died of hepatitis B’
Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 16
The magisterial inquiry into the death of Kasauli school student Shobha Devi is learnt to have identified that hepatitis B was the cause of her death and not the alleged beating by two teachers about a month ago.

Her death in the PGI, where she was admitted, triggered violence in the cantonment town of Kasauli where the two teachers were beaten by agitated people and the school was ransacked. The teacher involved in allegedly beating her has been indicted.

It is learnt that the Additional District Magistrate, Solan, Mr S.C. Kalsotra, who has been asked by the government to inquire into the incident, is expected to submit his final report next week.

However, during investigations at the PGI, Chandigarh, he is understood to have found that the girl was a chronic patient of jaundice and had been getting treatment there.

The clinical report of the PGI confirmed that hepatitis-B was the cause of her death. The chemical examination report was awaited.

Shobha was allegedly beaten by the teachers on May 28 and she died in the PGI almost a month later, on May 30. Provoked by her death, a large number of residents of Kasauli came on the streets to vent their anger.

Two inquiries have already been done into the incident, one by the Additional Director of Education and the other by the District Education Officer, Solan. The Additional Director, Mr Balbir Tegta, is learnt to have indicted the DEO, Solan, for taking the orders of the Chief Minister on the issue lightly and confirmed that Ms Sushila Thakur, PTI, had beaten up Shobha, a Class XI student. The teacher allegedly slapped and kicked the student during the school assembly for indiscipline. The girl took two days’ leave after the incident and her father lodged a complaint with the police on May 1. She felt uncomfortable on May 15 and was taken to the PGI. Her post-mortem was conducted there.