Child killed in shootout

SRINAGAR, Sept 17 (PTI UNI) — A child was killed and 11 were injured in a shootout at Nowpora in Baramula district of north Kashmir this morning.

Elsewhere in the state, six militants, including a Pakistani intruder, were among 11 persons killed while forces captured three militants during the past 24 hours.

An official spokesman said the Jammu and Kashmir special operation group (SOG) and the Border Security Force (BSF) cordoned off Wagoora Nowpora village, about 18 km from Baramula in north Kashmir, this morning.

He said when the forces and the SOG were sealing the area to nab militants and their sympathisers, they were fired upon by militants with automatic weapons. In the ensuing encounter, one child, Sajjad Ahmad Parray, was killed on the spot and 11 others were injured. The injured, mostly women and small girls, have been admitted to hospital.

However, the villagers who took to the streets immediately after the incident alleged the security forces and the SOG opened unprovoked firing while sealing the village. They further alleged there was no cross-firing in the area.

The spokesman said no militant was arrested or killed during the operation.

A special police officer, Gaga Singh of Ashmar, was beheaded by unidentified militants while he was on his way to Markote in Udhampur district of the Jammu region yesterday, the official sources said.

A hunt has been launched to arrest the militants responsible for the incident, they said.

In another case of insurgency related violence, a foreign mercenary was shot dead by the security forces in an encounter at Gojra in Poonch late last night.

An AK assault rifle, three magazines and two hand grenades were recovered from the militant, the sources said.

An SHO of Khanyar police station escaped with a gun-shot wound when militants attacked his search party at Daribal in Srinagar last night, they said, adding that the militants escaped soon after the shootout.

Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged heavy artillery mortar fire in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir, about 207km from the state capital, a Defence Ministry spokesman said today.

The spokesman said three barracks on the Indian side suffered extensive damages in the cross-border firing in a unit area on the outskirts of Kargil. But there was no report of any casualty as troops had already taken positions at safer areas.

The exchange of shelling continued for at least three hours from 4 pm yesterday, the spokesman said.

The firing was initiated by the Pakistani troops prompting Indian security forces to retaliate causing damages to the Pakistani posts. Details of the damages on the Pakistani side were being ascertained, he said.

Meanwhile, the police today raided headquarters of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) at Maisuma in Srinagar and arrested one of its activists, sparking off protests in the area.

Official sources said the raid conducted at the office-cum-residence of JKLF president Mohammad Yasin Malik by the special operations group (SOG) of the local police at around 10.45 am. lasted for 15 minutes.

A JKLF activist, Shameem Ahmad, who was present there, was whisked away by the cops to an unknown destination for questioning, they said.

Soon after the raid, a group of people, mostly youth of the area, staged a sit-in and chanted slogans demanding immediate release of the JKLF activist, the sources said.

Vehicular pollution in valley on rise

SRINAGAR, Sept 17 (PTI) — Vehicular emission has emerged as a prime source of air pollution in urban as well as some rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir.

The vehicular transport contributes 99 per cent of carbondioxide and 46 per cent nitrogen discharge in the atmosphere which is hazardous for health, according to a state Pollution Control Board estimate.

The emission of hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxides during morning rush hours leads to development of smog and the problem gets aggravated with more vehicles plying on the roads during the day.

During the past 10 years, the vehicular pollution in the Kashmir valley has increased over three-fold. From 25,253 vehicles in 1986, the number went up to 80,143 in 1997.

According to a survey conducted by the board, the smoke density of about 85 per cent diesel-driven vehicles do not conform to the standards.

The board has been monitoring emission of diesel vehicles with the help of a smoke meter at different places on the national highway, including Parimpora, Pampore, Awantipora, Athwajan and Peer Bagh on the Srinagar airport road and the Baba Damb area in the interior of Srinagar.

Surprisingly, out of 430 vehicles, private and government, monitored by the board, 365 vehicles did not conform to the standards, the board said.

At Athwajan on the outskirts of Srinagar, only 15 per cent of the 254 private vehicles monitored conformed to the standards, while just one of the 30 vehicles checked for smoke density at Baba Damb fulfilled the standard.

"Random pollution checking of vehicles at the selected stations alone is not going to help or yield positive results. Strict enforcement of rules is imperative," the board said.

The Transport Department and the traffic police are vested with powers to control the pollution level in the cities of Jammu and Srinagar.

Meanwhile, the board has asked the petrol stations not to supply fuel to those vehicles which do not have "pollution in control certificates".

Jagat favours Army presence

SRINAGAR, Sept 17 (PTI) — The presence of the Army in Jammu and Kashmir is required for a "little more time" in view of the threat from the Taliban continuing infiltration and presence of foreign mercenaries, state police chief Gurbachan Jagat said today.

"Though the earlier decision of handing over five towns in the Kashmir valley to the police and paramilitary forces has worked well, the role of the Army cannot be under estimated in view of the continuing infiltration and presence of foreign mercenaries," he told a group of visiting senior defence officers.

Answering queries, he said, the Jammu and Kashmir police was being reorganised under a plan formulated by experts.

The police strength had been increased from 38,000 to 50,000 and arms communication system and mobility had been upgraded. The Director-General of Police said specialised training in combating militancy was being provided to selective groups of the force by the Army and other agencies.

J&K gets tough with revenue staff

SRINAGAR, Sept 17 (PTI) — Financial crisis in Jammu and Kashmir has forced the state government to take strong measures to make revenue officials more accountable for realising taxes.

"Monthly targets would be fixed for each official for collecting power tariff, sales and excise taxes and other revenue in different departments", an official spokesman said today, adding salaries of those who did not achieve the targets would be withheld.

Further, any department defaulting in this effort would not only lose the amount of credit available but the Plan of the department would also face a cut as penalty.