Jammu, September 6
It is yet another loss to the heritage of Jammu due to collapse of a portion of the old palace complex here because of incessant rain. Several machines and men of the PWD were engaged today in removing the debris which had blocked the picturesque road along river Tawi.

The nearly 150 year- old structure collapsed yesterday not only due to rain, but also because of neglect by the successive governments which have failed to take effective steps to preserve the heritage of the Dogra regime.

It was not an easy task for the excavators to lift huge pieces of the brick wall which has blocked the road. The bulldozers have failed to clear the debris even after 12 hours of starting the operation.

The soil erosion caused due to rain has posed a threat to other palaces in the vicinity.

The collapse in the palace complex has occurred while the state government has, for the past some time, been blowing the trumpet of the Centre approving Rs.3 crore for starting preservation work of the heritage.

Over a dozen surviving palaces in the complex have also suffered damage due to the recent rain.

The Chairman of the J&K chapter of INTACH, Mr.Salim Beg, has described yesterday’s collapse as “unfortunate”.

In a recent report, INTACH had asked the state government to take immediate steps to preserve the monumental palaces here.

Several expert committees were appointed by the successive governments to suggest measures to protect the heritage complex. However, reports of these committees were pushed under the carpet.

The first committee headed by Dr.M.S.Randhawa was set up in the late 1970s by the then Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah, but the recommendations to convert the palace complex into a centre of art and culture was never implemented.

Some steps for its preservation were taken only during President’s rule when Mr Jagmohan was the Governor. But not even a single elected government has so far looked towards the heritage was fast turning into a ruin. Unfortunately, the preservation of the Dogra heritage has never been high on the agenda of the ministers and legislators belonging to the Jammu region.

Jammu, September 6
A head constable of the Jammu and Kashmir police was today arrested for his alleged links with terrorists who masterminded attack on temple at Ayodhya last year.

In another success, the police arrested four persons and seized 2 kg of brown sugar from them at Bhatindi on the outskirts of the city. The arrested persons were allegedly engaged in printing fake currency.

The head constable, Mohammad Sharief, was arrested in the border district of Rajouri on specific information that he had links with the Pakistani terrorists.

He was absconding for the past one week, but was trapped when his wife was detained for questioning following seizure of a satellite phone from his house. The couple was allegedly using the telephone to contact the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists sitting in Pakistan.

There were allegations that the head constable was also a conduit for transferring hawala money to terrorists.

In the other incident here, the police raided the Bhatandi locality and arrested Kaleem Shah, Ashish Kumar, Aijaz Ahmed and Vickey after recovering 2 kg of brown sugar from them.

During interrogation, the police came to know that they were also engaged in printing fake currency. The police raided the printing laboratory and seized the equipment.