Hizbul ‘commander’ arrested

SRINAGAR, Oct 30 (PTI) — Seven persons, including four militants and a jawan, have been killed, two Army men injured and two militants arrested in Jammu and Kashmir since last evening.

The captured militants included a self-styled platoon commander of the Hizbul-Mujahideen. Two detonators and 4.5 kg of explosives were recovered from his hideout at Gulgam in Kupwara last night, an official spokesman said here today.

He said two suspected foreign militants were killed in an encounter with Army search parties at Brenwar in Badgam district of Kashmir last evening. Two army personnel were also wounded and three houses gutted in the shootout, he said.

He said the security forces rescued two teenaged boys, who were being taken to the occupied Kashmir for arms training, from the clutches of militants during a raid on a hideout at Sidoora in Pulwama district last evening.

Two militants and an Army jawan were killed when troops fired a rocket on Dugwell in the Khour area of Akhnoor sector last night, official sources said.
Troops fired a rocket on Dugwell following a report that some militants had taken shelter in it, the sources said.

One militant died on the spot and another was believed to be buried under the debris, the sources said, adding an army jawan died due to splinter of the rocket.

Two civilians were killed in anti-militancy operation at Sathra village of Poonch district in the Jammu region yesterday.

JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir Government has announced a relief package for the people of border villages who have been affected by firing from across the border while the number of villagers who migrated from two border villages to Hira Nagar tehsil of Kathua district in the Jammu region has swelled to 1200.

The package includes the sanction of Rs 1 lakh to any family whose member is killed in the firing, Rs 75,000 to such person who is disabled due to firing and Rs 5,000 to those who are injured and hospitalised beyond 24 hours, officials said.

A massive insurance scheme for the cattle head and crops is also part of the package, they said, adding the government would also pay Rs 1 lakh for a residential house damaged in the firing from across the border.

Meanwhile, Minister for Animal Husbandry Surjeet Singh Salathia, Divisional Commissioner, B S Jaswal, IGP, Jammu zone, Kuldeep Khuda, rushed to Hira Nagar yesterday and talked to the migrants to return to their villages of Londi and Kharwa.

The villagers refused to return to their villages in view of continued Pakistan firing from across the border.

The reports said about 200 more people had come from these villages to Hira Nagar in the last two days.

Pak raises funds for insurgency
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Oct 30 — Pakistan is said to have earmarked over Rs 75 crore for sustaining the ongoing insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. The annual allocation had to be enhanced after large groups of foreign mercenaries were pushed into the state. As compared to local insurgents, those from Afghanistan, Sudan, Turkey and Yemen get much higher monthly wages.

Official sources said while local militants got between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 per month those from Pakistan and Afghanistan were paid about Rs 15,000 a month. If a local militant got killed in action his parents were given Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 as compensation. The parents of a foreign mercenary who was killed fighting in Kashmir got Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.50 lakh as compensation.

Besides, expenses on wages, compensation and on arms and explosives, Pakistani agencies had to spend crores of rupees for sustaining several hundred militants called "sleepers" in the Pakistani parlance. These "sleepers" were fully trained. They had been asked to lie low and strike when there was major border trouble or during the time of war.

The sources said in recent weeks US-trained Afghan militants have been engaged in giving arms training to insurgents in several camps, including the centres at Gulteri, Kel, Athmuqam, Chenari, Rawlakot, Rawalpindi, Kotli, ALiabad, Plandhari, Bimbher and Lipa.

Reports said the biggest aid-receiving militant outfit was Hizbul Mujahideen which had the largest cadre ranging between 2,000 and 2,500 activists. The other outfits which were active and received men and material support from across the border were Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Al-Barq and Al-Jehad.

The sources said the number of foreigner mercenaries having infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir had increased. This could be corrborated by the increase in their killings. If between 1990 and 1992 not more than 20 Afghan or Pakistani militants were killed by the security forces, the figure had jumped to 1,500 during the past six years.

Militants’ recourse to high-grade explosives, including landmines and RDX, was said to have increased the casualty figure among the security forces. During the past eight years more than 1,200 Indian security personnel had been killed in militant violence.

12 detention centres closed in J&K

JAMMU, Oct 30 (ANI) — To restore confidence of people in the law and order machinery, the authorities have closed 12 of the 20 detention centres in Jammu and Kashmir, according to official sources.

These detention centres were set up in 1990 to interrogate and accommodate militants and suspects arrested from various parts of the state, particularly the Kashmir valley.

Of the 20 detention centres, 17 were set up in the Kashmir valley and three in the Jammu region. While 11 centres have since been closed in the valley, only one centre has been closed in Jammu.

Most of the detention centres were closed in the valley in view of the improving law and order situation, the official said.

The state government have brought back all detainees from jails outside the state. The jails from where the detainees were shifted to the state included Tihar Jail, Delhi, central jails in Varanasi, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

For this, the state Prison Department has increased the capacity of different jails to accommodate as many as 1,055 detainees.

The step was taken at the request of the parents of the detainees and the public to bring them back.

The total capacity of the jails is 3330 at present, while only 2,387 detainees are serving terms in different jails of the state.

Among the detention centres closed by the state government, Fair View Guest House, popularly known as "Papa-2 detention centre," has been handed over to the Protocol Department.

But the guest house is reportedly haunted by evil spirits. Some strange voices are heard there at night and no body wants the jinxed guest house as residence.

The guest house had been allotted to four ministers, P.L. Handoo, Ch Mohd Ramzan, Ajat Shatru Singh and Ajay Sadhotra. All of them refused to occupy the jinxed house. Even some of the top officials, who were allotted this guest house in the plush area, have refused to occupy in view of the fear of ghosts.