Baramula, August 23
Four police personnel and a civilian were injured while the security forces arrested five heavily armed militants, including a self-styled district commander and recovered RDX in Jammu and Kashmir over night, official sources said today.

They said militants attacked a police patrol party with automatic weapons when they were on the way to police station from the main market at Sopore last evening.

Four police personnel and a civilian injured in the firing were admitted to hospital.

Police personnel and the security forces in the nearby pickets also retaliated but the militants escape.

A Defence Ministry spokesman said troops arrested the militants, including the district commander, identified as Zahir Husain Mir, from the general area during a search operation.

The arms and ammunition recovered from the militants included five AK rifles, 15 magazines, 198 rounds of ammunition, five pouches, one wireless set and six grenades.

A report from Jammu said an improvised explosive device (IED) was recovered by the security forces at Chakrana, near Bhaderwah, in Doda district today.

The IED, planted by militants by the roadside, was later defused.

Suspected militants fired at a police checkpoint at Solki, near Dharmsal, in Rajouri district today.

Police sources said cops were manning a checkpoint at Solki and searching vehicles when militants fired a few shots at them. The fire was returned. — UNI

Srinagar, August 23
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) councillor’s of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation here today alleged that they were attacked and humiliated by the National Conference councillors at a meeting at the instance of its president, Omar Abdullah. The two parties have been on the loggerheads since the corporation came into existence with election to local bodies earlier this year, with the National Conference enjoying majority with 41 members against 17 elected members of the PDP.

A statement of PDP councillors issued here today said that in violation of all rules, the NC chief came in the council and started abusing the PDP and its councillors. He instigated his councillors to assault their counterparts in the PDP. The PDP councillors on objecting to the remarks of the NC chief about throwing the PDP councillors out of the council, the NC members threw tumblers towards one of the councillors in which Councillor Asifa Tariq escaped with minor injuries.

The statement added that PDP councillors had filed an FIR against the NC Chief, NC councillors and the security guards in Shaheed Gund in the Police Station and also alleged that the NC councillors had threatened them. They have also appealed to the Chief Minister to dissolve the corporation and have asked the Mayor and the NC chief to resign as they had lost their representative character by indulging in biased politics.

However, the Mayor of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Mr Ghulam Mustafa Bhat denied the occurrence of any such incident. He told The Tribune that the meeting of NC Councillors was attended among others by the party president, Mr Omar Abdullah, MP. The meeting was later joined by the councillors of other parties including the PDP, the Congress and Independents, which took up the matters of common interest relating to the civic issues of the city. Various issues came up for discussions in a democratic way, leading to heated exchanges among the members, the Mayor said. “If there is anything like the FIR, it should have been against the Mayor, because I was presiding over the meeting”, the Mayor, Mr Ghulam Mustafa Bhat said.

The PDP councillors added that the Corporation were being turned into a NC headquarter and the development of the Srinagar city had taken a back seat. They also said it was small of Omar Abdullah to say that it is an NC meeting while all the councillors were intimated about the monthly council meeting. It seems that NC chief is unaware of the rules that you cannot have a political meeting inside and elected house.

It was against the ethics of democracy to harass elected representatives. They said it is not a family corporation of Sheikhs that they can anytime trample the institute as they are not able to reconcile to the fact that they are on the verge of being wiped out from the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The PDP Councillors on contacting the Mayor of the SMC about that misuse of his official position said he gave a damn about this subject and also said nothing about the presence of the NC chief in the council.

Srinagar, August 23
In a humanitarian gesture, five girls from Jammu and Kashmir, who lost their fathers in militancy-related incidents, were today presented with scholarship cheques for Rs 25,000 each by the Army on behalf of Uttaranchal Governor Sudershan Agarwal.

The cheques were handed over to the girls by the Chief of Staff, 15 Corps, Major-Gen V.K. Singh, at Badamibagh cantonment here for their higher studies.

The recipients — Nafisa Nazir, Hafiza Bano, Neegina Nuzhat, Roohi Altaf and Rekha Devi — were among the many to whom the Army had extended support in militancy-ridden Kashmir valley by providing healthcare, education and infrastructure, a defence spokesman said.

He said the Army had established 27 goodwill schools and upgraded the infrastructure in the 143 existing ones in the valley for providing quality education to children.

About 100 children, who had suffered due to militancy, were given admission in Army public schools with the Army bearing the entire cost of education, the spokesman added. — PTI