Jammu, July 26
Ever heard of being challaned for an offence committed in future? If, not, beware of this while travelling in Kishtwar district.Facing flak for its failure to check road accidents, especially of buses and mini buses, the Kishtwar police seems to have gone too far in a bid to improve its figures of action against violators by issuing such challans.

A police team today challaned a Matador driver for overloading the vehicle on July 27, i.e. tomorrow. The challan number 0099454 said the driver — Shabir Ahmed — was caught plying his vehicle (JK-06-2815) between Mandri and Kishtwar overloaded with three more passengers than the capacity.”

At the same time, the driver was challaned for plying the same vehicle today, on July 26, again for the same reason of overloading. This time the challan receipt no 009451 said the vehicle was overloaded with four more passengers than the capacity.

While sources in the Kishtwar police said the challan could be a typographical error, the foxed driver, Shabir Ahmed, said it was a deliberate attempt as the number of overloaded passengers was also changed.

Shabi said if there was mistake in mentioning the date, how come he was challaned for the same vehicle at almost the same time as the two challans were just two receipt numbers apart.

Also, he argued if the police had wrongly mentioned the date, it should have been in the first challan and not the second.

Jammu, July 26
The security forces this evening gunned down a Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terrorist near Anzer in the Renai belt of the remote Marwah area in Kishtwar district while the operation was on to eliminate remaining ultras, suspected to be two to three 
in number.

“Early this morning the security forces comprising troops of 11 Rashtriya Rifles and the Kishtwar police launched an operation near the Anzer area of the Renai belt where we trapped the terrorists in a nullah,” Kishtwar district SSP, Dr Haseeb Mughal, told The Tribune.

One Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist has been killed so far in the encounter while the operation is on to eliminate remaining ultras, 
he added.

The slain ultra has been identified as Mohammed Ramzan Malik (26), code name Furqan, a resident of Anzer. Before joining militant ranks in the Hizbul Mujahideen in March this year Malik had been working as an overground worker for the banned outfit, the officer said.

He was a strong overground worker of the outfit providing logistic support to militants in the area. He was also involved in the firing incident on the house of a Territorial Army jawan, Tariq, this year in Kishtwar, he said.

“We are suspecting that two more terrorists are hiding in the nullah,” Mughal added.

The security forces had laid a cordon around the nullah and had been preparing for the final assault.

Latest reports said the security forces recovered one AK 56 rifle, two AK magazines and one hand grenade from the site of the encounter. Another terrorist Riaz Ahmed, an associate of Malik, has also sustained injuries in the encounter. Search for apprehending the terrorist was in progress, the reports said.

The operation comes close on the heels of recently concluded operations in the Bonjwa area wherein two cadres of LeT, including a district commander, were killed and two others were apprehended.

The slain ultra Malik was part of the dreaded Rizwan group. Ramzan had long association with the Hizbul Mujahideen.

He was initially working as an overground worker for the group for over more than a year and continuously kept providing all support to terrorists.

He came under the scanner of security forces due to his suspicious activities and was positively identified as OGW when he was instrumental in an attack on a Territorial Army jawan.

Malik went underground thereafter and surfaced in March this year with a weapon. He was also involved in the brutal murder of SPO Bashir Ahmed in Navapachchi. He along with his associates was responsible for numerous acts of extortion and harassment 
to locals.

The Hizbul Mujahideen groups active in Navapachchi and Sondar were also responsible for the killing of two civilians in Dachhan recently.

Srinagar, July 26
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said he represented the people of Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi, advocated their cause and spoke their heart at all forums.

“I am not a person who speaks one language in Delhi and another at Srinagar. I am firm on my political and economic commitments to the people,” he said

He further said he was a person who raised the issue of the AFSPA as the Chief Minister and vehemently advocated its amendment and gradual removal with the improvement in the situation.

The Chief Minister was addressing prominent citizens and representatives of social and political organisations of Kangan tehsil, as part of his programme to reach out to society across the state and personally get firsthand information of their problems and development needs.

Highlighting the need for sustained dialogue on the internal and external fronts, the Chief Minister said whenever the external dialogue between India and Pakistan seemed to have moved forward in a positive direction and resolution appeared in sight, unfortunate events derailed the whole process.

On the state-centric confidence building measures (CBMs), Omar strongly advocated communication and banking facilities between the traders across the LoC to strengthen and expand the trade links.

Omar said shutdowns and hartals only led to retrogress on all fronts. He said the stake holders of peace in the state, including the separatists, should realise their responsibilities and roles towards society and political issues.

“Those who think that continuous hartals and disturbances will pave way for any solution of the problems, are in a make-belief world. Such tactics only mar the education of students and badly tell upon the economy of the poor without yielding any result,” he said 

Srinagar, July 26
In response to the separatists’ bandh call against the recent killings, protest demonstrations were held at several places today, leading to clashes between the stone-throwing youths and the police and paralysing normal life across the Kashmir valley once again.

Strict restrictions were imposed in Batamaloo and its adjoining areas here today to prevent protest demonstrations against the death of a youth, Farooq Ahmad Bhat, from the locality. His body was recovered from a nullah yesterday after he had gone missing last Tuesday. The police said he was mentally retarded and had committed suicide, but the residents contested the claim saying it was a case of murder by the police. Protest demonstrations, which led to clashes with the police, were held in several parts of the city, including Rambagh, Natipora and Nowshera.

To prevent trouble over the incident, the authorities today imposed curfew in the area early in the morning. The restrictions elsewhere had also been imposed following the reports of an alleged custodial death in the Rafiabad area of Baramulla district two days ago.

Meanwhile, all the shops and business establishments remained closed and traffic was off the roads as part of the general strike called by the APHC-Geelani in protest against the series of killings and alleged human rights violations.

It was only yesterday a semblance of normalcy had been observed here, but today’s fresh protests led to the closure of the educational institutions, banks and other offices. The colleges and universities also remained closed today and there was thin attendance observed in government offices, though the Civil Secretariat functioned normally. 

Jammu, July 26
Some of the city colleges have started imposing a ban on the use of mobile phones by students during lecture hours in lecture halls/classrooms.

With the beginning of the academic session from July 16, in most of the city colleges students were instructed by the college authorities to keep their mobiles either switched off or on silent mode during lecture hours.

While talking to The Tribune, Anita Sudan, Principal of Sri Pratap Memorial Rajput (SPMR) Commerce College said: “Though we can not restrict students from using mobile phones on the college campus, we have instructed them to make judicious use of mobile phones and keep their mobiles on silent mode during classes.”

Similar directions have also been issued by the Principal of Government Gandhi Memorial Science College and by the Principal of Government Maulana Azad Memorial College.

Not only students but also the teaching staff of the colleges have also been directed to keep their mobiles on silent mode while conducting classes. To give the words a practical shape, few college principals are acting promptly to impose the ban in real sense, so as to avoid disturbance which otherwise occurs because of use of mobiles during lecture hours.

The ban has created mixed reaction among the student community as some have hailed the decision whereas others have condemned it.

”By imposing a ban on the use of mobile phones, the college authorities are trying to put restriction over the freedom of a student,” said Rohit Sharma, a college student. However, another student Anita Charak said: “To conduct uninterrupted classes such ban is necessary in colleges.”

On the basis of anonymity, one of the college lecturer said education of a student suffers a lot because of the use of mobile phones either by students or by lecturers during lecture hours, as it diverts their attention from the subject.

Jammu, July 26
Almost a month after a ban was imposed across the state on the short messaging service (SMS), mobile phone users have started to receive certain selected messages. Now, the subscribers are able to receive SMS pertaining to rental of their calls and balance amount in their bank accounts, besides the updates from the stock market.

“Though the CellOne subscribers of the BSNL are now getting updates on stock market and news, SMS between individuals within the state and outside the state has not been restored as yet,” BSNL General Manager Sandeep Singh said.

Banks’online SMS had also been resumed, he added.

However, there had been no fresh instructions from the government; hence, the other SMS across the state would remain blocked till further orders, he said.

The state government, in a bid to check rumourmongers and troublemakers from flaring up emotions in the already surcharged atmosphere in the Valley, had banned the SMS across the state.

Besides BSNL, SMS of six other private cellular companies viz, Airtel, Aircel, Idea, Vodafone, Tata Indicom and Reliance continues to remain blocked.

“This morning when I got a response from my bank regarding balance in my account on my cell phone, I thought that the text messaging has been eventually restored but my happiness didn’t last long because the service between individual subscribers have not been restored as yet,” said Abhinav Mahajan, a college student.

After banning the service in the Valley, the state government on June 30 had blocked the service in the Jammu region as well.

During the Amarnath land row agitation in 2008, the government had blocked the text messaging to check the inflammatory messages.

“The state government doesn’t deem it fit to resume the SMS, which in this age of information technology, has become indispensable, said Parul, a Jammu University student.

“If the ban was unavoidable to control the situation then it should had been imposed in the affected region. Why the law abiding people across the Jammu region should suffer?”she added.

“The ban has also become a major impediment in the free flow of information. Being a hill state where the mobile connectivity is not good, the SMS service had been the major source of information for us and it, too, had been blocked”, said a journalist from a vernacular daily.

Udhampur, July 26
To extend the green cover in and around Udhampur town, the district police , in collaboration with the Forest Department and the Civil Defence Organisation, Udhampur, launched a sapling plantation drive at Government College for Women (GCW) here today.

The DIG, Udhampur-Reasi range, Gulzar Singh Slathia, formally inaugurated the drive by planting a sapling on the premises of the GCW, Udhampur. Senior Superintendent of Police, Udhampur, Surinder Gupta, Principal GCW, Prof Sadhana Gupta, Deputy Controller, Civil Defence, Udhampur, Bodh Raj, Chief Horticulture Officer, the Divisional Forest Officer, Social Forestry, Udhampur, the staff and students of the GCW also participated in the drive.

Referring to the slogan, “Green Udhampur’, Slathia called upon students to come forward and share noble responsibility for the ecological balance which was of great concern for all. He urged them to plant maximum number of saplings in their respective surroundings and also to educate others for this dignified cause. He termed the drive as crucial to counter the ill-effects of environment pollution due to degradation of forests.

The Principal, GCW, in her address of welcome lauded the combined efforts of the police, the Forest Department and the Civil Defence Organisation for launching the drive from the college campus. She expressed hope that more such programmes would be organised in near future to sensitise the students about preservation of the environment.

Over 1000 plants of different species, including fruit plants, are proposed to be planted to make the college premises greener and environment-friendly.

Jammu, July 26
The Jammu and Kashmir State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has allowed a consumer’s complaint and directed United India Insurance Company Ltd to pay for an assessed loss of Rs 64,500 along with interest at the rate of 8 per cent per annum from the date of filing of the complaint till its realisation to the complainant.

It also held that the complainant was entitled to the litigation expenses of Rs 5,000. “Undoubtedly, it was the duty of the insurer to submit a copy of the surveyor’s report to the complainant or at least produce the same on record during the pendency of the case in the commission. The insurance company has depicted its negligent act during the course of the proceedings by withholding those vital pieces of evidence from being brought on record of the case. In the end, the credit goes to the complainant’s counsel, who unearthed the truth,” ruled the commission.

Avtar Krishan Goja, who owned a two-storeyed tin-roofed house in Anantnag, which was insured with United India Insurance Company, was forced to leave it because of the prevailing tension in the Valley. Kokernag police station registered an FIR suo moto when the insured house was burnt under mysterious circumstances.

The insurance company assessed the loss to the tune of Rs 64,500 and made an offer to the complainant for the settlement of the claim. The offer was not accepted by the complainant on the plea that it was a case of a total loss where the insured risk covered was to the extent of Rs 6 lakh. On the failure of the insured to execute a discharge voucher, the claim was repudiated as “no claim”. The complainant alleged that the claim was closed in an arbitrary manner when he was entitled to the whole insured liability to the extent of Rs 6 lakh.

The commission, while allowing the complaint, observed: “The surveyor had mentioned in its report that after getting all requisite documents from the complainant, he visited the spot and found the insured house partially burnt. The photographs taken on the spot showed that the house was partially damaged. The contents of the FIR stating that the house had been completely gutted would not override the factual position noticed by the surveyor. Thus, an FIR is registered on the basis of information received from reliable sources and cannot be treated as the final investigation report.”