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Sunday,
March 23, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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2 JeM ultras among 5 killed 4 porters killed in Pak shelling Security beefed up at Vaishno Devi
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Reduce
agriculture production costs: VCs Army chief visits bases
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2 JeM ultras among 5 killed
Jammu, March 22 Ultras opened fire on a BSF party which had launched search operations in the Bindi forest area of Rajouri district yesterday evening, the sources said, adding that the two ultras belonging to pro-Pakistan Jamait-e-Mujahideen were gunned down in the ensuing encounter. Two BSF jawans, identified as Kaushalya Chander Rath and Suresh Chand, also lost their lives and four other jawans were injured. The condition of one of them was stated to be serious. A search operation was continuing for the militants who escaped after the encounter. In another incident, unidentified militants fired on the house of Special Police Officer Javed Iqbal killing his sister Parveez Akhter in Samote village in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district yesterday night. The SPO’s mother Rehaman Begum was injured in the incident. Meanwhile, ultras set ablaze seven houses belonging to Muslims in Loni Darman village in Rajouri district last night. However, no
casualties have been reported.
BSF troops arrested a Pakistani national Zaffar Hussain near the border at Suchetgarh in the Samba sector of Jammu district last night. One Dharmpaul from Samke border outpost in the R.S. Pura Sector of Jammu district was also arrested yesterday. A Rashtriya Rifle jawan and two militants were among four persons killed and two security personnel injured in separate incidents in Doda and Poonch districts of Jammu division since yesterday, official sources said here today. Rashtriya Rifle troops spotted militants at Shiryan village of Doda district yesterday and asked them to surrender. The militants defied the order and instead fired upon the security personnel who retaliated, the sources said. In the ensuing gunbattle, two militants identified as Naz Ahmed Wani, alias Fardan Ali and Zaveer, a foreign mercenary were killed. A Rashtriya Rifle jawan Shipappa Harawal was killed and two injured in the encounter. A Special Police Officer, identified as Abdul Latif was shot dead by ultras in the Phagla area of Surankote in Poonch district during the period, the sources said. Reports from Udhampur said one militant identified as Noor Hussain surrendered before security forces today at the Mahore area. Militants fired on a security force picket near Shahdra Sharief in Rajouri district last night which was retaliated by the security forces. However, the militants escaped unhurt. Meanwhile, to keep a check on the increasing militant activities, authorities today imposed a night curfew in the sensitive Poonch border district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said. “Due to increase in the movements of militants during the night district authorities have put three border tehsils, including Mendhar, Poonch and Surankote under night curfew,” the sources said. The night curfew will remain in force in Poonch tehsil from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. the sources said adding that in Surankote and Mendhar, it would be imposed from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the morning. SRINAGAR: Unidentified militants shot at and critically wounded a CRPF jawan in Central Srinagar on Saturday, official sources said. Constable Harsdev Kishan of 37th Battalion, CRPF, was shot in the head near fire service headquarters at Batmaloo. He was admitted to a medical institute where the doctors described his condition as
critical. PTI |
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4 porters killed in Pak shelling
Srinagar, March 22 The sources said the Pakistani troops fired more than 30 artillery and mortar shells, targeting civilian areas and security force installations. The shelling has come at a time when Army chief N.C. Vij is on a three-day visit to the Kashmir valley. A shell exploded near a forward post killing Mohammad Yaqoob, Abdul Rashid, Bashir Ahmad and Raj Wali who worked as porters with the security forces guarding the northern sector, the sources added. Two others — Bashir Ahmad and Siraj Uddin — were critically wounded, they said, adding the injured were admitted to hospital. Indian troops also retaliated and the exchange of artillery and mortar shells continued for several hours. However, the casualties suffered by the Pakistani troops were not immediately known. An unconfirmed report said the Pakistani troops also shelled Indian positions in the Kargil sector last night. A few shells fell on the Srinagar-Kargil highway, which remained closed to traffic because of heavy snowfall since November. The report said other shells exploded on mountain tops without causing any damage. Officials believe that the Pakistani troops are targeting Indian positions to help militants to infiltrate into the Kashmir valley. UNI
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Security
beefed up at Vaishno Devi Jammu, March 22 As per the recommendations of the team a senior police officer has been posted at the main shrine to coordinate the activities of the police and the paramilitary forces. In addition to this additional companies of security forces have also been deployed right from the base camp at Katra to the main shrine. According to official sources the state government had a plan of installing X-ray machines from Katra to the main shrine. The sources said the militants had tried to attack the shrine twice earlier but timely action by the security forces had foiled the attempts. Two years ago two militants had sneaked into the forest area close to the shrine but both of them had been eliminated in an encounter with the security forces. The security personnel on duty in the area have been directed to carry out round-the-clock patrolling. Police authorities claimed that as a result of revamping the security bandobast pilgrims visiting the shrine were feeling secure because it had been made impossible for the militants to sneak into any area close to the shrine. They maintained that it was mainly due to foolproof security arrangements and improvement in the facilities that the number of pilgrims visiting the shrine had increased from 32 lakh to over 52 lakh during the past five years. |
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Suicide
among displaced families on rise Jammu, March 22 On the contrary, suicide deaths by consuming insecticides has come down from 305 in 1999 to 40. The survey reveals that the level of suicide cases has shown a marginal decrease during the past four years. It has come down from 762 in 1999 to 608. Dr Sheikh Inayatullah, who heads the Forensic Science Department in the Jammu Medical College, said since rodenticides were easily available in the market in the tablet form and the cost of one small bottle containing the tablets ranged between Rs 5 to Rs 10, those who decide to end their lives had easy access to it. A case history of those who ended their lives by consuming rodenticides or insecticides reveals that mental depression, failure in examinations, domestic conflict, the main causes. Dr Chander Mohan, Head, Department of Psychiatry, said parents had started harbouring high expectations from their wards. Most of them were keen on seeing their wards entering professional colleges. Once children failed to come up to the expectations of their parents, they preferred death to dishonour. A Kashmiri migrant doctor, who wished to remain unidentified said that suicide cases among members of displaced families had been on the rise. He said prior to the migration, suicide by insecticides or by drowning was rare among Kashmiri Hindus. The doctor said frustration owing to unemployment, poverty, lack of congenial atmosphere in camps or inability to consummate married life and impotency, owing to rise in the cases of stress diabetes, had drawn a many young Kashmiri youth, both male and female, to death by consuming poison. Dr Chander Mohan said there was a need to educate parents so that they did not pester their children for excellent results. In addition, some NGOs could play a pivotal role. Another doctor said the sale of rodenticides should be regulated. Also, parents should be told to ensure rodenticides out of the reach of their children.
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Reduce agriculture
production costs: VCs Jammu, March 22 Dr H.U. Khan, Vice-Chancellor, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology, said the recommendations of the symposium would be treated as an action plan. It has been recommended that the storage facilities should be improved and propagation protocols for walnuts and morchella must be delineated for the J&K region. The research and development strategies should be given emphasis. The symposium was conducted with different technical sessions with major focus on challenges to Indian agriculture in the context of the WTO; production technology in rainfed and hilly areas; development and acceptability of transgenic crops. |
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Army chief visits bases Srinagar, March 22 Soon after his arrival here, the Army chief was briefed about the situation by the GOC of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps of the Army, Lieut-Gen V.G. Patankar, and other senior officers. General Vij also visited Victor Force Headquarters of the Army operating in south Kashmir. |
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BJP panel Jammu, March 22
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