J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Heavy Pak firing in Samba sector
Jammu, January 14
Pakistani troops today opened heavy firing on various Indian border outposts (BOPs) across the international boundary (IB) in the Samba sector, BSF sources said. The sources told UNI here that around 9.30 a.m., Pakistani Rangers fired from 82 mm mortar guns targeting forward bunkers and watch towers for about 30 minutes. 

PCO, cyber cafe owners suffer losses
Jammu, January 14
Owners of 5,000 PCOs and about 1,000 cyber cafes in Jammu and Kashmir continue to be upset over the delinking of STD, ISD and Internet facilities. “We have been losing between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 per day,” said Micky, PCO owner.

2 killed as car falls into gorge
Kathua, January 14
Two persons were killed and three seriously injured when a Maruti car rolled down a 300-ft-deep gorge near Galmana village, in Hiranagar tehsil on the Dayalachak Billawar road today.

Heavy Pak firing in Samba sector

Jammu, January 14
Pakistani troops today opened heavy firing on various Indian border outposts (BOPs) across the international boundary (IB) in the Samba sector, BSF sources said.

The sources told UNI here that around 9.30 a.m., Pakistani Rangers fired from 82 mm mortar guns targeting forward bunkers and watch towers for about 30 minutes. About six shells fell near Indian bunkers without causing any damage.

BSF personnel manning the frontier positions also retaliated through heavy machine guns (HMGs) and the showdown continued for the next 45 minutes following which the firing simmered down.

Again at 1.30 p.m., the Rangers fired from the heavy calibre RCL guns and continued to rain fire for about 45 minutes, this time targeting isolated communication towers. Here again the jawans retaliated causing casualties to the Rangers.

The extent of the casualties of the Rangers could not be immediately known, the sources said.

Intermittent firing was on, the sources said and averred that the firing could be a bid to conceal the additional deployment of troops in the sector.

An Army jawan was killed and another injured when Pakistani troops targeted a forward post in the Uri sector of north Kashmir, official sources said on Monday.

A report from Srinagar said Pakistani troops indulged in shelling from across the border in the Charunda area of Uri last night, in which a shell exploded near water canal post, killing a jawan on the spot, injuring a Lance Naik and causing minor damage to the post, the sources said.

However, Indian troops retaliated, and the exchange of fire continued till morning, they said adding there was no immediate report of any casualty on the Pakistani side. PTI, UNI

PCO, cyber cafe owners suffer losses
M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 14
Owners of 5,000 PCOs and about 1,000 cyber cafes in Jammu and Kashmir continue to be upset over the delinking of STD, ISD and Internet facilities. “We have been losing between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 per day,” said Micky, PCO owner.

Mr Rajeev Nagpal, general secretary of the Jammu Cyber Cafe Association, said there were over 150 such shops in Jammu district alone and “we have been forced to sit idle.”

He said a number of unemployed youths had gone in for the cyber business and accordingly hired shops and commercial complexes to install computers. He said 90 per cent of the cyber cafe owners had taken loan on high interest for purchasing computers. He said the government should pay adequate compensation.

Mohammad Akbar had invested all he had to set up a PCO in Srinagar. “Prior to the snapping of the STD, ISD and Internet connections, I would earn anything between Rs 7,000 and Rs 9,000 per month but now I earn not more than Rs 100 per day,” he said.

Senior functionaries of the state government and the BSNL said these connections were snapped after intelligence agencies found that militants were using them facility to communicate with their sources at various places, including some countries.

However, another PCO owner, who wished to remain unidentified, said most of the leaders of militant outfits had been provided with satellite phones and they had never banked “on us”.

The BSNL authorities admitted that the snapping of these connections had caused a loss of Rs 12 lakh to Rs 16 lakh per day.

2 killed as car falls into gorge
Our Correspondent

Kathua, January 14
Two persons were killed and three seriously injured when a Maruti car rolled down a 300-ft-deep gorge near Galmana village, in Hiranagar tehsil on the Dayalachak Billawar road today.

According to the Kathua police, the car was coming from Jammu and going towards Ramkot village in Hiranagar tehsil.

The deceased have been identified as Ajay Kumar Khajuria and Sagar Singh, both residents of Ramkot village. The injured have been shifted to GMC Jammu.