Jammu, February 14
With the vigilance organisation of the J&K Government investigating the marks scam, many more skeletons are expected to roll out of the cupboards of the examination wing of Jammu University (JU).

The vigilance organisation is learnt to have detected at least 100 cases during the past one week in which marks of engineering students were tampered with to benefit them.

An employee of the examination wing has been arrested and the court has denied bail to him as the investigations are progressing.

During investigations, vigilance sleuths are learnt to have come across such answer sheets in which zero marks obtained by a student were tampered with to make it 60. In several other cases also the marks were substantially enhanced.

Sources said all this was being done allegedly after charging anything between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 for each paper. The students whose results were tampered with mostly belonged to Mahant Bachitter Singh Engineering College, Government College of Engineering and the Model Institute of Engineering and Technology, sources said.

The Vice-Chancellor of JU, Prof Amitabh Mattoo, had handed over investigation of the case to the vigilance organisation immediately after a team constituted by him detected eight answersheets which were tampered with. He had acted on receiving an anonymous complaint in the matter.

Prof Mattoo’s action has been appreciated as instead of pushing the serious matter under the carpet to protect the image of JU, he has chosen to cleanse the system once for all by ordering a thorough probe by the vigilance organisation that also enjoys a good reputation with Dr Ashok Bhan, ADGP, heading the anti-corruption set-up.

It is learnt that many beneficiaries of the scam were wards of influential persons of the state. It would be an uphill task for JU to take remedial steps of cancelling their results and taking further action in the matter.

Sources said that the arrested official was in the examination wing for the past about five years and was allegedly resorting to such corrupt practices.

However, the earlier scams might not get uncovered, as the answersheets of any examination are generally not preserved for more than a year.

Tampering with results of professional examinations in J&K is not a new phenomenon. Allegations of tampering with and leakage of papers of the entrance examinations for post-graduate courses in the medical stream have been made from time to time. There was hardly any transparency in the selection process and, at times, aspirants have to approach the courts to get the seat that was otherwise due to them. The competent authority that has been established for the purpose conducts these examinations.

But this is for the first time that someone has shown courage to get the scam probed and book the culprits.

Srinagar, February 14
Three Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Baramula district today, a defence spokesman said.

The encounter broke out during a search operation in Bandipora, 55 km from here, the spokesman said.

In a major haul, the Army today recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition, including a missile of foreign origin, from Kupwara district.

This is for the first time that a missile has been recovered in the state, the spokesman said, adding that it has the potential to cause substantial damage to life and property.

Meanwhile, 12 militants owing allegiance to different outfits have surrendered before the authorities in Anantnag, Baramula and Kupwara districts.

The militants laid down arms at Uri, Trehgam, Anantnag and Bandipur yesterday, the spokesman said.

BARAMULLA: At least 10 persons were injured, four of them critically, in a grenade blast near a crowded bus stand at Sopore in north Kashmir this afternoon.

Official sources said militants hurled a hand grenade towards a security force picket near the bus stand this afternoon. However, the grenade missed the intended target and exploded on the roadside causing injuries to 10 persons. — PTI, UNI

Srinagar, February 14
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has stressed the need for an end to the era of bloodshed, exploitation and confusion and the raising of “emotional slogans” that lead people astray. He sought to speed up development and create venues for jobs and economic activities in Jammu and Kashmir and held that next three years had been declared to be years of development and creation of infrastructure.

Addressing a meeting at Verinag in south Kashmir today, the Chief Minister said that in the past 58 years the state witnessed political ups and downs creating an uncertain situation for development and state’s march towards prosperity. He held that big units could not be established, economic ventures were not launched and high potential power projects could not be established due to this confusion. He added that big business houses and investors were afraid of investing in the state, which created unemployment and economic stress.

The Chief Minister said to address unemployment problem besides opening Jammu and Kashmir for industrial development, job opportunities in government service was also being found out. He said he already had announced referring of 21,000 government vacancies to the recruiting agencies for regular recruitment of meritorious and qualified persons. He said special recruitment drive by police and security agencies would help reduce unemployment pressure to some extent.

Mr Azad, who flew in from the union capital to address the public rally said that during his stay in Delhi he had an hour-long meeting with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to discuss development aspects pertaining to the state’s economy and prosperity. Matters pertaining to the power development in Jammu and Kashmir and to make it self-sufficient in power generation were also discussed with the Prime Minister, Mr Azad said.

The Chief Minister pointed out that political situation of Jammu and Kashmir also came up for discussion with the Prime Minister. He said that the Prime Minister, highlighted the necessity of strengthening peace process.

Jammu, February 14
Five persons were killed today when the car carrying them fell into a gorge on the Jammu and Kashmir national highway at Jajjar Kotli, official sources said.

The car was on its way to Udhampur from Jammu when driver failed to negotiate a blind curve and the vehicle fell into a gorge they said.

The victims, identified as Ganesh Ji, Vijay Singh, Rakesh, Sanjay Kumar and Nandu died on the spot, they said adding the bodies have been handed over to the families for last rites. —PTI

Srinagar, February 14
The Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of Faith) took out a protest rally against celebrations on Valentine’s Day and destroyed several hundred love cards here today.

Dukhtaran-e-Millat Chairman Aasiya Andrabi described the Valentine’s Day as “un-Islamic and against the Kashmiri culture”.

“This is a deep-rooted conspiracy of the West to involve the Muslims in their vulgar culture such as the Valentine’s Day. We all should boycott the western culture,” she said.

Activists then raided several shops in the Lal Chowk area, they forcibly took away Valentine’s Day cards and destroyed them.

They lit a bonfire of love cards and took out a protest rally in the civil lines area. — UNI

New Delhi, February 14
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad will inaugurate on February 20 a new bridge built by the Army at Kaman on the Line of Control, an official press note said today.

The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service between India and Pakistan, that commenced on April 7, 2005, had to be suspended following the earthquake on October 8, 2005, due to destruction of the infrastructure, including the Aman Setu bridge at Kaman.

The bus service on the Indian side from Srinagar up to Kaman resumed on December 14, 2005 as soon as the road was repaired. However, the people had to cross the LoC through a causeway as Aman Setu was unusable.