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Srinagar encounter ends, militant manages to flee
After daylong drama, Delhi Police returns with Muslim youth from JK
Row over ‘torture’ of minor boy by Kishtwar police
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Panic in jail as cop’s gun goes off twice
Police incentives for information on militants fetch results
Cross-LoC trade to resume from October 8
Army jawan among 2 booked for rape
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Srinagar encounter ends, militant manages to flee
Police sources said the LeT militant, a Pakistani national, had recently moved to Srinagar and was a top leader of the outfit. The gun battle had erupted late Wednesday after the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the J&K Police cordoned off a residential colony in Ahmad Nagar, some 10 km from the city centre, after an input about the presence of a Pakistani militant in a two- storeyed house. As the police and the CRPF started a house-to-house search, the holed-up militant lobbed grenades and opened fire in which five policemen were injured. The fire was retaliated, triggering a gunfight,” the police said. The militant was hiding in a building which housed a shawl-weaving centre. Sources said the gun battle between the two sides continued till 3 am. When there was no firing from the militant for almost two hours this morning, an assault team of the SOG entered the house and found that the militant had managed to give the police the slip. The police later called off the operation. The house in which the militant was hiding also suffered damages during the encounter. The police conducted searches around the Ahmed Nagar locality, but they could not trace the militant. An alert was sounded in the city after the escape of the LeT militant. |
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After daylong drama, Delhi Police returns with Muslim youth from JK
Jammu, October 3 However, after shuttling between a Kathua court and Kathua District Jail, the police team had to take him back to Delhi. “Ashiq Ali Bhat was acquitted in a case of the Arms Act in Delhi on September 27. Consequently, a Delhi Police team, headed by sub-inspector Dayanand, brought him to Kathua today and produced him before a court which asked the police team to take him to the Kathua District Jail, but the latter refused to take his custody as no case was pending against him,” said an official source. Bhat hails from Lowang village in Bani tehsil of Kathua district. The police team again appeared before the court but things didn’t work and after a day-long drama, Bhat was taken to Delhi, he said. It has been learnt that Bhat was acquitted in all cases registered against him in Kathua district. “We have been suffering for the past over 10 years ever since he was arrested in a false case. First, he was implicated in false cases and when nothing was proved against him, he is now being harassed,” said Bhat’s brother, Sajid Ali Bhat. Sajid claimed all courts, be in Kathua, Jammu or Delhi, had acquitted his brother of all charges. “We don’t know why we are being harassed and made to suffer,” he said. Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Basohli Rafiq Manhas said, “At least two FIRs were registered against this man, following an attack on the Rolka police post in Bani in 2003, in which a special police officer and an Army man were killed.” Consequently, a charge sheet was filed against him before a TADA court in Jammu under various Sections, including the Explosives Act and the Arms Act, but he was acquitted after the trial, said the SDPO. The police officer said the accused was acquitted in another case of murder (302 of the RPC) and attempt to murder (307 of the RPC) in Kathua. Thereafter, he fled the state and was arrested in Delhi in another case registered against him under the Arms Act and the Foreigner’s Act in 2004, said Manhas. He said after the attack on the Rolka police post, the accused had told his interrogators in a joint interrogation centre that he was in Pakistan at the time of the attack. Kathua SSP Mohan Lal, however, refused to comment on the issue. |
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Row over ‘torture’ of minor boy by Kishtwar police
Jammu, October 3 The BJP has decided to take up the issue at the national level to “expose” the state government which, the party alleges, has been trying to terrorise the minority community living in the erstwhile Doda district for petty political gains. Addressing a press conference, senior BJP leader Nirmal Singh along with Tara Devi and Babita Rani, mother and sister, respectively, of the victim Ajay Kumar, alleged that the authorities had been implicating innocent youth of the minority community in false cases only to appease fundamentalist and anti-national elements to reap political benefits in the coming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. “We will not remain mute spectators to the biased approach of the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government,” warned Singh. The matter has already been brought to the notice of the party high command so that it can be taken up with the Union Home Minister. “For the last one week, policemen have been torturing my minor brother Ajay Kumar without any reason. On Tuesday evening, my brother fell unconscious due to the brutal torture by the police, especially by members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the government after the Kishtwar riots,” Babita Rani alleged, adding that Ajay has been referred to Jammu for advanced treatment as he is in a critical condition. Ajay, who was picked up by the police for questioning regarding the August 9 riots, was referred to Government Medical College, Jammu, on October 2 for advanced treatment after he was allegedly tortured by the police. “Instead of taking action against those who were involved in arson, rioting, and looting, the authorities have been taking action against the victims to appease some anti-national forces,” said Tara Devi while voicing her apprehension that her son could get eliminated by the police. “Ajay Kumar is not an isolated case. In the name of investigation, policemen have been harassing innocent youth of the minority community on the directions of their political bosses,” Singh alleged. Meanwhile, residents of Kishtwar under the direction of BJP leader Sunil Sharma have decided to approach the Supreme Court to get justice for the riot victims. “We have no faith in the state machinery. So, we have decided to knock the door of the Supreme Court for justice,” Sunil said. |
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Panic in jail as cop’s gun goes off twice
Jammu, October 3 A police source said, “This morning inspector Arjun Singh Chib along with a posse of policemen was deputed from the Jammu District Police Lines to take some of the jail inmates to a court in Janipur.” “He reached the prison in a police vehicle and while waiting inside the prison for the jail inmates, he allegedly started fiddling with his official weapon (a pistol), which got locked. He tried hard to rectify the snag and in the process pressed the trigger,” he said. Consequently, two rounds went off from the gun and hit the ground, he said. The gun shots inside the prison created panic among the jail inmates. The security staff immediately reached the spot only to see the inspector with his gun. “It is a serious negligence on the part of officer and he would now face an inquiry,” he said. Station House Officer, Pucca Danga, Mahesh Sharma, under whose jurisdiction the prison falls, said, “A case has been registered at the Rehari police post and a departmental inquiry would also be initiated.”
— TNS |
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NIA takes custody of
Hizbul militant Lali
Srinagar, October 3 Lali was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as his name had surfaced during investigation of the funding pattern of the militant outfit. “His name was mentioned by the NIA in the 2011 case of militant funding,” a source said. The source said the NIA team arrived in Srinagar today and on court directions, Talib Lali, who was lodged in Baramulla jail, was handed over to them by the jail authorities. “Lali was taken to New Delhi and will be produced in a Delhi court,”
the source said. A special court of the NIA in New Delhi had directed the Baramulla jail authorities to handover Lali to the NIA, in a case pertaining to funding militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the September 2011 case, Lali is allegedly involved in “procuring regular and systematic funding from across the border for the Hizb for promoting terrorist activities in India.” The funding from across the border is allegedly being routed through the Jammu and Kashmir Affectees Relief Trust, a frontal organisation of the Hizb, says the NIA. Lali, an A++ category militant, was the longest-surviving militant of Kashmir. He was arrested along with his two associates in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on September 4 by Army’s 13 Rashtriya Rifles and the police. He had evaded arrest for almost 18 years. Since his arrest, the NIA was in touch with
the police. Lali was a close associate of Shafi Shah, alias Dr Dawood, Hizb’s divisional commander, whose custody was taken by the NIA in June this year. |
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Police incentives for information on militants fetch results
Srinagar, October 3 In the first week of September, the police issued posters in Urdu, which were pasted in Sopore, Baramulla, Rafiabad, Pattan, Palhalan, Handwara and various localities of the north Kashmir. The posters mentioned government jobs and cash rewards for those who would provide information about militants. “On Wednesday evening, we arrested top Hizbul militant Nissar Shah, who was wanted for various militant activities, including the killing of a youth in the north Kashmir when he was travelling in a taxi on the Sopore-Kupwara road,” said a senior police officer. “Shah was arrested in a joint operation following a tip-off. The posters are surely helping us to some extent as people are coming forward with information,” he added. The police said the poster strategy has worked for the police, and militants are unable to roam freely. The posters put up by the police had the names and pictures of seven militants of north Kashmir, including Nissar Shah of Saidpora, Sopore; Imtiyaz Ahmad Kandu of Kralteng in Sopore; Tariq Ahmad Mir of Aadora in Qalamabad; Aqib Rashid Sofi of Palhalan in Patan; Javid Ahmad Mattoo of Khushal Mattoo, Sopore; Mehraj-u-din Halvai of Khushal Mattoo, Sopore and Perwiaz Ahmad Wani of Gullora in Handwara. While Nissar Shah was arrested on Wednesday, another militant Aqib Rashid Sofi - whose name was mentioned in the poster --- was shot dead along with an accomplice in an encounter on September 17 in the Palhalan area of north Kashmir. Another police officer said the Hizb militant outfit’s Sopore module was a major concern for security agencies not only in north Kashmir but also in Srinagar. The group was also recently blamed by the police for killing a Central Industrial Security Force jawan in Srinagar on September 23. CASH REWARDS
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Pandits to highlight ‘vandalism’ of heritage in Kashmir valley
Jammu, October 3 They have decided to visit all capital cities in the country to highlight the alleged deliberate delay of the government to bring a law to safeguard the ancient Hindu shrines in Kashmir, which are facing a threat of encroachment. “The government must take into confidence the temple management committees working on the ground in the Valley before incorporating any amendments in the proposed Kashmiri Hindu Shrines and Religious Places (Management and Regulation) Bill, pending with the Select Committee of the state legislature,” said King
Bharati, All Parties Migrants Coordination Committee (APMCC) national spokesperson and vice-president of the Gangbal
Trust. Bharti alleged that the government had again befooled the displaced community and entangled them in the Select Committee meetings. “All temples, irrespective of the influence, must be brought under the purview of the Bill and treat the existing management bodies as the first management body of each temple,” Bharti
said. Yoginder Singh Jamwal (Mata Katyayani and Bhoot Nath Temple
Kakran) demanded including the cremation grounds under the definitions of the shrines to protect them from encroachment. “The government was not only sidelining the actual ground-level working committees of the Valley but also trying to decide the fate of the Bill according to its own whims and fancies to suit a few vested interests,” Jamwal alleged. The AMPCC has said the management committees working on the ground were ready to handover the temples under their control to the proposed Temple Board under one condition that all shrines and temples managed by various trusts are also brought under the purview of the Bill. |
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Unscientific mining poses threat to quake-prone areas in Doda
Jammu, October 3 It is widely believed that the continued blasting for extraction of gypsum is the main reason of soil erosion on the stretch between Assar and Khelani on the Batote-Kishtwar national highway, which has the Baglihar hydroelectric project on the Chenab river, just 50 metres away from the fault line. “On the one hand, this belt has been repeatedly witnessing tremors after the devastating earthquake of May 1, 2013, while on the other hand the authorities have failed to stop the blasting for extraction of gypsum,” said Mushtaq Ahmed, sarpanch of
Assar. He said due to the blasting some houses had developed cracks but the authorities were not taking serious note of the degradation of ecology in the belt. He pointed out that construction of the Baglihar hydropower project had already imbalanced the ecology of the region and brisk extraction of gypsum posed further threat. Local residents have reasons to air their concern over the ecological degradation because the belt, which is now part of Ramban district, has been witnessing soil erosion throughout the year due to the weakening of rocks. Khurshid Ahmed, sarpanch of Kuthiyar
panchayat, also admitted that some houses had developed cracks. “There is need to maintain the ecological balance at any cost in the belt,” he said. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, in its latest report, had also pointed out the violation of environmental laws while extracting gypsum in the belt. “The provision of the Water (Prevention and Pollution Control) Act, 1974, Air (Prevention and Pollution Control) Act 1986, Environment Act 1986 and Public Liability Insurance Act 1991, envisage enforcement of various conditions while extracting gypsum from mining sites,” the CAG report stated, adding that “the physical verification of the mining sites by the audit revealed that the enforcement of conditions like raising of the green belt by planting native species around leased areas, dump sites, metal topping of major approach and haul roads, stacking of top soil in earmarked areas of dump sites by lessees had
not been ensured by the department.” The report pointed out that around gypsum mines in Assar in the erstwhile Doda district and Bijhama in
Baramulla, no plantations were raised by the authorities, thereby violating the provision of these Acts. Furthermore, major approach and hauls roads to the sites of mines had not been
metalled. A senior officer of JK Minerals Limited put the onus on the Director General Mines Safety (DGMS) for maintaining the ecology of the mine sites. “Teams from the DGMS regularly visit mine sites to ensure the safety and ecological balance of the areas,” he said. ECOLOGY ENDANGERED
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Cross-LoC trade to resume from October 8
Srinagar, October 3 The cross-LoC trade through the Salamabad-Chakoti axis was suspended on September 3, in the wake of the Customs Department order disallowing trade of goods produced in Pakistan. The trade authorities in PoK had on September 10 raised objections before starting the trade. The Director General of the
Cross-LoC trade in PoK had sought a meeting with his counterparts from this side at the Zero Line to sort out the issues. “Today, we had a fruitful meeting with the trade authorities from the other side. Many general issues came up for discussion. We also discussed the difficulties which are being faced in the conduct of the trade,” Deputy Commissioner,
Baramulla, Ghulam Ahmad Khawaja told The Tribune. Khawaja, however, said both sides had agreed to resume trade and exchange goods on October 8. The meeting started in the afternoon and lasted for over an hour, sources said. The Deputy Commissioner,
Baramulla, was accompanied by Trade Facilitation Officer at Salamabad Ehsan-ul-Haque and other officials. During the meeting, sources said the authorities from this side had assured the PoK authorities that standard operating procedure would be adhered while conducting the trade. TRADE BACK ON RAILS
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Army jawan among 2 booked for rape
Rajouri, October 3 She told the police that the incident had taken place on September 24. She alleged that the accused, identified as Army jawan Harpal Singh of Nanyal and Rattal Pal Singh of Choki, had taken her in a car which belonged to Harpal and raped her. Sources said the girl's parents and other members of their community were trying to settle the issue by saying they would drop the case if the accused agreed to marry her. Additional Superintendent of Police, Nowshera, Parshotam Sharma said the police was collecting information about Harpal through his Commanding Officer. He said Harpal was on leave when the crime took place and thereafter, both the accused had been absconding. |
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Srinagar, October 3