J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

‘Peace caravan’ leaves for PoK
Srinagar, June 30
About 52 passengers today left for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on board the seventh Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus amid unprecedented security cover.

Six killed in J&K
Srinagar, June 30
At least six persons, including three members of a family, were killed in separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir since yesterday.

Residents of Narsinghpura village, about 40 km from Jammu, build a bundh as a precaution against the rising water level of the Chenab on Thursday. — PTI

Kashmiri artistes release music album
Srinagar, June 30
A musical evening to release the first ever Hindi- Punjabi music album Sukoon was witnessed at Tagore Hall here today in the presence of the Opposition National Conference President, Mr Omar Abdullah.

‘Peace caravan’ leaves for PoK

Srinagar, June 30
About 52 passengers today left for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on board the seventh Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus amid unprecedented security cover.

Two buses of “Karvaan-e-Aman (Caravan of Peace)” left from the police control room here at around 0800 hrs this morning for Muzaffarabad, official sources said.

They said a large number of people, comprising relatives, friends and well-wishers sent off the passengers.

The two specially-designed 19-seater Ashok Leyland Stag buses of the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) carried 52 passengers — 27 fresh and 25 returnee, the sources said.

The ‘Peace Caravan’ also included Samia Hai of Bandipora in north Kashmir who got married to Ajmal Basharat of PoK on April 30.

It was the first cross-border wedding since the historic trans-Kashmir bus service was launched on April 7 to enable reunion of divided families after more than 57 years.

The passengers who had come on the previous six buses went back to Muzaffarabad after visiting their relatives in Kashmir, Poonch and Rajouri districts.

The venue of the bus is being continuously changed for security reasons. The authorities had deliberately kept the names and addresses of the passengers, their place of stay in Srinagar and the starting point of the bus as top secret on security grounds in view of the escalation of violence since the launch of the cross border service on ‘April 7’. — UNI

Six killed in J&K
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 30
At least six persons, including three members of a family, were killed in separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir since yesterday.

The police here said militants shot dead three persons at Mahakund, Gool in Udhampur district of Jammu region last night. The victims were identified as Abdul Ghani, Fathoo, wife of Abdul Aziz, and her daughter, Shagufta (20). The incident took place when a group of militants barged into the houses of Ahmedoo and Abdul Aziz and fired upon the inmates indiscriminately.

A porter working with the Army was killed when militants fired upon the security forces near the LoC at Teen Behak, Shalabathoo in Kupwara district yesterday. The porter was identified as Nasserullah Khan from the Bandipore area of Baramulla district, the police said. During searches, the security forces recovered 30 fired cases, two magazines, two UBGL grenades and a bag containing explosives.

In another incident, Mohammad Abbas was beaten to death by militants in the Surankote area of Poonch district yesterday.

Body of Tariq Ahmad Khan was recovered from the Khayar forest area near Bandipore in Baramulla district today. He had gone to the forests to collect firewood yesterday and was reported to had been tortured to death and shot in his head by suspected militants.

Kashmiri artistes release music album
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 30
A musical evening to release the first ever Hindi- Punjabi music album Sukoon was witnessed at Tagore Hall here today in the presence of the Opposition National Conference President, Mr Omar Abdullah. The MP from Srinagar remained all through the performances by the young Kashmiri artistes, singing in Kashmiri, Hindi and Punjabi.

“This is the first attempt of Kashmiri youngsters in the field of music at the national level”, said Dr Amit Vanchoo, chief of the Amit Vanchoo Infotainment Division. This, he said, was the result of the hard work of the artistes for the past several months and added that another album on the kids of trouble torn Jammu and Kashmir would be made public soon.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Abdullah appreciated the hard work of the artistes. He sought an encouragement to the young artistes from the state, and particularly the Kashmir valley.

2 killed, 4 hurt in landslide

Jammu, June 30
Two persons were killed and four injured in a landslide at Anji in Reasi on the Katra-Reasi stretch of the rail track last night.

Reasi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) J L Sharma said employees of India Infrastructure Equipment Ltd were repairing a compressor on the rail track when a big boulder, along with a mass of earth, rolled down the nearby hill.

Compressor operator Ghanshyam of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, and labourer Ghosh of West Bengal were killed on the spot, while Dewan Singh, Surinder Bahadur, Lalit Upadhyay and Praveen Sharma, all labourers, suffered critical injuries. — UNI