The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Thursday, September 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

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M A I N N E W S

440 more companies for J&K poll

CRPF jawans getting ready in Jalandhar on Wednesday for going on election duty to Jammu & Kashmir. — PTI photo

Jammu, September 4
In a bid to instil a sense of security among residents and to prevent militants from disrupting the poll, over 440 additional companies of paramilitary forces have been rushed to Jammu and Kashmir for the four-phased Assembly elections starting from September 16.

The paramilitary troops comprising the BSF, CRPF, Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Punjab Armed Police (PAP) arrived in batches from various parts of the country, official sources said here today.

They said 300 such companies have been sent to the Kashmir valley and Ladakh division and the remaining have been stationed in Jammu division for deployment at different places for the first and second phase of polling.

Many of these companies were also in the process of deployment in the districts of Jammu, Kathua, Srinagar and Badgam where elections are to be held in the second phase on September 24, they added.

The Special Director-General of the BSF, Mr R. S. Aggrawal, is the coordinating officer for these paramilitary forces in Jammu and Kashmir for the poll, the sources said, adding that he was already in Srinagar to monitor the movement and deployment of the forces.

Special control rooms have been set up in Srinagar and Jammu to monitor the deployment and make arrangements for the boarding and lodging of the troops.

After the elections in the first two phases most of these companies would be rushed to areas in the valley and Jammu, where the third phase of polling will take place on October 1.

The security forces would be later deployed in militancy-infested Doda district in the fourth and concluding round of elections. PTI

NC vehicle attacked

Srinagar, September 4
In the second attack in three days militants today targeted a campaign vehicle of the ruling National Conference in the frontier district of Kupwara injuring four activists, one of them seriously, police sources said.

The militants hurled a grenade and fired indiscriminately on the campaign vehicle at Handwara today, they said. The vehicle was campaigning for NC candidate from Langate segment Sharifuddin Shariq.

Four NC activists Nazir Ahmad Mir, Mohammad Ashraf, Ghulam Hassan War and Feroz Ahmad War were injured in the incident, they said, adding that Mir was admitted to a Srinagar hospital where his condition was stated to be serious. The three others have been admitted to a hospital at Handwara.

However, Mr Shariq, who is a sitting Rajya Sabha member, was not in the vehicle carrying the campaigners, sources said.

Meanwhile, four persons, including an Army jawan and a Special Police Officer (SPO), were killed and an equal number were injured as militants struck at five places in the Kashmir valley and set ablaze four residential houses since last night, official sources said today.

An Army jawan was killed and another injured when militants opened fire at a Territorial Army patrol on the K.P. road in Anantnag district of south Kashmir today, the sources said.

Army personnel retaliated but the militants escaped, they added.

An SPO Mohammad-din Kataria, was killed and three others, including two SPOs, were injured when militants attacked a patrol party of special operations group (SOG) of the local police at Gagal village in Lolab area of Kupwara district in north Kashmir last night.

A civilian was also killed in the cross-firing between militants and Army at Wagar village in Badgam district of central Kashmir last night.

Militants shot dead Manzoor Ahmad Malik inside his house at Singpora in Baramula district in north Kashmir last night, the sources said.

Militants also set ablaze four houses belonging to Ghulam Mohammad Lone, Ali Lone, Fayaz Lone and Ghulam Rasool Mir at Kandi in Kupwara district last night, the sources said, adding that no one was injured in the arson.

Militants also shot dead a surrendered militant, Mukhtar Ahmad Rather, at Larkipora in south Kashmir.

A special grade constable Ghulam Nabi, who was injured in a firing incident during a bank robbery at Sopore, died at the hospital today.

Jammu: A police post was attacked by militants in Mahore area of Udhampur district, official sources said on Wednesday.

A group of heavily armed ultras fired indiscriminately on Chargoo police post in the wee hours of Tuesday which was retaliated by the police, the sources said. The gunbattle continued for half-an-hour after which the militants fled, they added. PTI, UNI