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Lashkar commander killed in encounter
Army personnel take up position near the encounter site at Hushanpora Nagbal village in Shopian district on Saturday. Tribune photo: Amin War
Indo-Pak flag meet likely today
J&K submits report on Shalabatu operation to Union Home Ministry
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Post-Sept 26 attack, security beefed up in Hiranagar, Samba
Lull after 10-day shelling brings respite
A month on, Hiranagar residents live in fear
Workers suspend work on Chenani-Nashri tunnel
Workers protest at the north portal at Nashri in Batote on Saturday. Photo: RK Kichlu
Geelani re-elected hardline Hurriyat chairman for 3 yrs
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Lashkar commander killed in encounter
Anantnag, October 26 Police reports said the joint patrol party of the 62 Rashtriya Rifles of the Army and the SOG of the police was passing through Hussain Pora village of the Imam Sahib area in Shopian district around 1 pm when militants opened fire from neighbouring fields. “The Army personnel retaliated, leading to a brief encounter,” a senior police official of the area said. “The police and the CRPF were immediately rushed to the spot to assist the Army,” he added. A militant was killed during the gunfight and his body was retrieved, said the police official, adding that a manhunt was launched in the area. He said two SOG men and a civilian who sustained injuries in the shootout were evacuated to the District Hospital in Shopian. The slain militant was identified as Muhammad Abbas Reshi, alias Abid Bhai, a resident of Alishpora village, at a few kilometres from the site of the encounter. Reshi was a top Lashkar commander and had been active since early 2012, when he left home to join militant ranks. The police handed over the body of the slain militant to his family at Alishpora, where people came out in large numbers and held ant-government demonstrations. Hundreds of people attended the funeral procession of the slain militant. Security forces personnel were carrying out search operations when reports came in from the area. The Deputy Inspector General of Police, South Kashmir Range, Vijay Kumar, who was monitoring the operation, told mediapersons, “The local militant was killed and efforts were on to neutralise the Pakistani militant.” He said that the slain militant was probably involved in the killing of a CRPF man and snatching his weapon at Awneera village in Shopian district on August 25. A CRPF man was killed and another injured when the escort party of a lawmaker was attacked at Awneera village. Their weapons were snatched as
well.
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Indo-Pak flag meet likely today
Jammu, October 26 “We were trying to hold a flag meeting to defuse the border tension. Today we received a response from them. A meeting is being worked out,” a senior BSF officer told The Tribune. He said the meeting might take place at a forward post, preferably the octroi post in the RS Pura sector, to defuse the situation on the international border. Another BSF source said the Rangers approached the BSF earlier today for a flag meeting at the octroi post at 4:30 pm, but did not turn up. The international border had been witnessing a flare-up for the last 10 days. The source said the BSF had sent communications via hotlines to the Rangers from Nikowal and Shidra and octroi posts in RS Pura sectors and had received their response, after which things started rolling in the right direction. “On October 18 and 20, the BSF twice approached the Rangers for flag meets, but they did not turn up,” BSF Jammu Frontier DIG Dharmender Pareekh had said recently. “The bloody skirmishes cannot go on like this. It has to stop somewhere and someone has to make a beginning. So we were
trying to restore sanity on the border, but not at the cost of national security,” said an officer associated with flag meeting
arrangements. One BSF personnel had been killed and 31 others, including 11 BSF men, injured in Pakistani shelling in the last 10
days.
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J&K submits report on Shalabatu operation to Union Home Ministry
Srinagar, October 26 Top sources said a detailed report had been submitted after the Shalabatu operation in the Keran sector was called off on October 8. The area, where the operation was held for 15 days, is inaccessible and the state police and the civil administration had remained silent over the operation. "There was a briefing note from the state government over the incident," said a source in the J&K Government. "The Union Home Minister was also briefed by the Home Secretary and the Intelligence Bureau Chief about the operation," he said. Sources said the state government had given a detailed briefing about the Shalabatu operation and the other three operations in the Keran sector. While the Army claimed that eight infiltrators had been killed in three operations in the Keran sector, it only handed over bodies of seven militants. No militant body was recovered from Shalabatu. The police, in its FIR, registered in the Trehgam police station in Kupwara, had not mentioned any infiltrator being killed during the operation. The FIR mentioned the names of six Army personnel injured in the operation. The police claimed there was no mention of recovery of arms in the FIR. Timeline
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Post-Sept 26 attack, security beefed up in Hiranagar, Samba
Hiranagar/Samba, October 26 More police personnel have been deployed at the Hiranagar police station and a new bunker has come up outside the building where terrorists had killed the only policeman standing guard with his rifle. A bullet-proof vehicle has also been stationed outside the police station to keep a vigil on the movement of people. The gate of this police station opens only after proper verification of the visitor's identity by the security guard standing in the concrete bunker near the gate. “We have increased the security and our men remain vigilant day and night. Whatever happened a month back was a shock for everybody and our men at that time were not vigilant enough. If another person had given support to the only guard, who retaliated the terrorists’ fire, things would have been different,” said a police officer at the police station. He said since 2002, things had improved and this area was considered free of militancy but the recent attack had shattered that faith. “We need to seal our borders from where the infiltration happens. People living in border areas are brave enough to deal with any kind of situation and such attacks do not put an end to their resolve,” the police officer said. During the twin terror attacks in Hiranagar and Samba, 13 people, including three terrorists, were killed. Six people were killed by terrorists in Hiranagar first. Thereafter, about 16 km from here, they hijacked a truck and attacked the 16 Cavalry Army camp near Samba and killed four personnel. During the day-long battle, three terrorists were gunned down by the Army inside the camp. Now, a month after the terror attack, things have changed outside this Army camp. Earlier, only a barbed wire was guarding the fence of the camp but now, tin sheets have been put in place by the Army to ensure that no one can sneak inside. Besides the 16 Cavalry Army camp, all Army establishments from Samba to Kaluchak in Jammu have increased their security. Bunkers have now got an extra protection of nets so that no object from outside can be thrown inside. Army vehicles moving on the highway also have a minimum of two soldiers standing on the top with ammunition. An extra layer of net on the vehicle has given them more protection.
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Lull after 10-day shelling brings respite
Jammu, October 26 "These days, we hear announcements on loudspeakers from mosques, advising people to go to home early, take early supper and stay indoors. Farmers are not visible in forward areas on the other side," said the officer. The officer further said, "Though we have given them a severe beating in the last 10 days, you cannot trust them. They may start tonight." The sarpanch of Pindi Charakan Kalan village in the Arnia sub-sector of Bishnah tehsil, Rajinder Singh, said there had been no firing since last night. "Some families have shifted to safer places, but there has been no firing since last night. We pray for the return of normalcy to our village," he added. The village on the Zero Line, which had a BSF post, faced over 100 mortars of the Rangers on October 22. Yesterday 55-year-old Swaran Dass and his 23-year-old son Nishat Baba were injured in a mortar explosion at their house in the village. An intelligence source from Hiranagar said there was no firing from Pakistan since yesterday. "Last night, there was movement opposite Bobiyan of between 20 and 30 vehicles of the Pakistani army or the Rangers in their territory after 10 pm. The headlights and taillights were off and they kept moving opposite Bobiyan and Paharpur," he said. The source also said the Army had put up checkpoints in Haria Chak, Hiranagar Morh, Sanji Morh and Khoublaka areas of Hirangar tehsil. "The Army has started day patrol in these areas," he said. Three heavily armed Pakistani terrorists had boarded an autorickshaw from Haria Chak before carrying out terror attacks at the Hiranagar police station and an Army camp in Samba on September 26, killing 10 persons. Meanwhile, officers of security agencies, including the Army, attended a high-level meeting the district police headquarters in Kathua that started this evening.
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A month on, Hiranagar residents live in fear
Hiranagar, October 26 "During the past one month, we have been living in fear that terrorists may come any time again and strike this town. We often have sleepless nights and days, too, wane away in fear," said Deepak Kumar Sambyal (20), a cousin of Suresh Sambyal who was killed by terrorists. Four policemen and two civilians were killed in Hiranagar in the terrorist attack early morning on September 26. Hiranagar is situated about 58 km south-west of Jammu on the Jammu-Pathankote highway. The town is just 14 km away from the international border due to which it has remained on the target of terrorists for a long time. Cyrus Sambyal, Suresh's nephew, said, "The four-year-old daughter of my uncle (Suresh Sambyal) comes running to the shop in search of her father but when she doesn't find him here, she goes back disappointed. She is unaware of the loss which the family has suffered. The whole family is in a state of shock." Deepak and Cyrus were inside the shop when Suresh was killed by the terrorists. Bullet marks can still be seen in the shop, which keep reminding them of the tragedy. Residents of this border town said they felt like they were back in the pre-2003 scenario when everything was uncertain. "After 2002, we were living in a peaceful atmosphere but the terrorist attack last month has brought back countless miseries for people. Rumours about presence of terrorists have increased the tension among people," said Santosh Kumar Bansal (45), a tailor. Bansal said he opened his shop early morning but on the fateful day, his son had forced him not to go to the shop so early, which saved his life. "My eight-year-old son Rajbir was lying on the bed and he forced me to stay home for a while. If I had gone to my shop at the scheduled time, something untoward might have happened to me as well," Bansal said.
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Workers suspend work on Chenani-Nashri tunnel
Batote, October 26 The peaceful protest demonstrations continued at both the portals amid heavy police bandobust when the reports last came in. Workers’ union leader Arshad Ahmed Malik said their demands included reinstatement of the terminated and retrenched workers, six in Chenani and four in Nashri, including those who were not allowed to rejoin their duties after their sick leave, parity in wages of labourers working under the private contractors for the LWIN and directly for the firm, deduction of the provident fund (PF) from the salaries of the workers. Project Director (PO), LWIN, Denis Jones said in September, the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment had "categorically declined to consider this dispute fit for adjudication" as the management of the firm was "justified in not accepting the demands of the union". Sources said on October 16, in reply to a notice under the ID Act, 1947, the PO had alleged that the the "so-called union" was led by non-working locals who didn’t have any legal right to put demands and the terminated workers would not be reinstated as decided by the District Administration. The management said the company didn't recognise the union as it was unregistered and the company had uniformity in wages in each category based on experience and skill. It said the workers were being paid the prescribed Central Minimum Wages.
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Geelani re-elected hardline Hurriyat chairman for 3 yrs
Srinagar, October 26 In his first comment after being re-elected as the chairman of the hardline Hurriyat, Geelani expressed concern over the recent skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani forces along the Line of Control and the international border. Geelani said shelling and firing along the border was affecting the people of the region living on both sides of the divide. He said such incidents would continue to take place if the Kashmir issue was not resolved and warned that such skirmishes could trigger a destructive war between the two
countries.
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A district commander of the Lashkar-e-Toiba was killed and two Special Operations Group
men and a civilian injured here in Shopian district of south Kashmir this afternoon during an encounter between militants and security forces personnel.
Batote, October 26
