Fake certificate racket busted
SRINAGAR, May 20 — The Jammu and Kashmir Vigilance Organisation yesterday claimed to have unearthed a major racket of fake certificates of professional courses and arrested an employee of Kashmir University in this connection.

Exchange of artillery fire on BSF man killed
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, May 20 — Exchange of fierce artillery fire between Indian and Pakistani troops was witnessed in various areas of Kargil and Dras today in which several Pakistani bunkers and militant hideouts were smashed.

According to a PTI report from Srinagar, a BSF jawan was killed as the Pakistani troops continued shelling of Indian positions.

The jawan was killed when a shell landed near a BSF camp at the Annar post in the Tulail sector of Baramula district, according to an official spokesman.

Reports available here said since yesterday afternoon Indian soldiers had mounted an offensive against militants, entrenched on vantage heights in Kargil and Dras and backed by Pakistani artillery cover fire, to force the infiltrators to cross over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Buckling under heavy artillery fire from this side, the Pakistani troops resorted to the shelling of several areas in Kargil and Dras. The sub-district hospital in Dras has been hit by two shells since last evening but there was no casualty since people had been evacuated from the town.

According to these reports Pakistani shells exploded in Kargil, Pandras Kharbuthang and Dras. The concentration of the Pakistani artillery fire was on the Dras-Kargil road belt. Reinforcements were sent to Pandras where the Indian troops took up positions to smash the Pakistani posts, situated on mountain tops, from where the Pakistani soldiers were shelling Indian villages.

Informed sources said the Pakistani troops carried out heavy shelling in several areas of Dras and Kargil to prevent the Indian soldiers from snapping all supply lines to the infiltrators who were being trapped.

Official sources said the Indian troops achieved marked success in clearing more area in the Kargil-Dras belt of Pakistani infiltrators. According to the sources, the Indian troops carried out the difficult task of pounding the Pakistani military bases across the border during the night in order to prevent the agencies in occupied Kashmir from providing fire cover to the infiltrators and supplies to those already hiding in forward areas of Dras and Kargil.

Meanwhile, on the 12th day today life remained paralysed in the Kargil-Dras belt with most of the government offices, banks and educational institutions closed. Senior officers of the Kargil district administration continue to operate from Army camps.

Sources said if the anti-insurgency operations launched by the Indian troops maintained progress, displaced families would be allowed to go back to their homes by Monday.

Militants kill 3 of family
Tribune News Service and agencies

JAMMU, May 20 — Militants shot dead four persons, including three members of a family, while security forces smashed two hideouts in Doda and Poonch districts of the Jammu region last night, official sources said here today.

Armed militants entered the house of Special Police Officer (SPO) Isher Singh at Barshalla village in Kishtwar Tehsil in Doda district yesterday and opened fire killing the SPO, his brother and four-year-old daughter, the sources said.

The militants escaped, they said, adding men of the Rashtriya Rifles had launched a search operation.

A report from Poonch said Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants kidnapped a 25-year-old woman from Naka Mangna village of Surankote tehsil on May 17 and tortured her before killing her yesterday. The woman’s body was recovered by the police from the Phagla forest area.

Security forces smashed two hideouts one each in Doda district’s Langote area and Rajouri’s Sounderbani forest area last night and recovered arms, including two double-barrelled guns, three sten guns, one Chinese grenade, 100 rounds of ammunition, three .51 mm shells, one VHF Antenna, F-23 and F-8 signal systems, besides four improvised explosive devices and some combat dresses.

Meanwhile, security has been stepped up in the city and the neighbouring areas following a blast at the bus stand here last night in which one person was killed and seven others were injured.

Six buses, parked in the area, were damaged.

Official sources said soon after the blast the Inspector-General of Police Mr Kuldeep Khuda, reviewed the situation with senior police and intelligence officers.

It was decided to post additional men of the police and intelligence agencies in and around the two main bus stops in the city and areas around the railways station.

The flying squad was directed to carry out intensive patrolling of the crowded areas.

Official sources said the government had received reports that militants in small groups had sneaked into Jammu city and were trying to include in explosions and shootouts. The police raided some houses and detained six persons for questioning.

Panel set up to control traffic
From Our Correspondent

JAMMU, May 20 — To control effectively traffic hazards in and around Jammu city, a four-member Traffic Control Sub-Committee has been set up.

This was revealed at a joint meeting of noted citizens and officers of different departments held here to review different aspects of development in the winter capital of the State yesterday. The Minister for Medical Education, Dr Mustafa Kamal presided.

Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, B.S. Jaswal, District Development Commissioner, Jammu P.K. Tripathi, Administrator, Jammu Municipality, K.B. Jandial, Vice-Chairman, Jammu Development Authority and a number of divisional officers of various departments attended.

The meeting expressed concern over chaotic traffic conditions on city roads. The sub-committee will look into the problem connected with traffic and submit its report to the government.

The meeting discussed supply position of power, drinking water, kerosene, sugar, law and order, sanitation, traffic hazards irrigation and general administration.

Dr Mustafa Kamal underlined the need for round the clock supply of electricity and water in all areas of the city so that the people did not suffer due to hot weather and scarcity of water. He called upon the authorities concerned to create a closer rapport with people to solve their problems. The Minister said that the essential commodities should be made available to the consumers at proper rate and quantity in all areas.

The Minister expressed his concern over the mushrooming of unauthorised colonies in and around Jammu city. He stressed the need for placing an embargo on such colonies which were consuming a considerable proportion of essential commodities including water and power thus causing scarcity of these commodities in the authorised areas. He sought the suggestions of the social organisations and their cooperation to solve problem of unauthorised colonies.

Dr Mustafa Kamal said that Agriculture, Horticulture, Handlooms and Small Scale Industries should be accorded top-priority as the livelihood of 65 per cent of our population depended on these professions. He stressed the need for supplying fertiliser, high yielding variety seeds, pesticides and insecticides to the progressive farmers at proper time so that the benefits percolate to the grass-root level. He also emphasised the need of ensuring irrigation facilities at the tail-ends of Ranbir Canal upto the border areas of R.S. Pura and Ramgarh sectors so that the farmers could harvest Kharif in time.

Dr Kamal opined that there was a tremendous scope of horticulture development in Jammu division. He asked the authorities concerned to speed up the horticulture development programme and educate the people regarding plantation of fruit trees in their respective areas after proper testing of soil.

The Minister lauded the people of Jammu for maintaining age old traditions of communal harmony and peaceful co existence even at highly critical times. He said that Jammu city would be developed as one of the most beautiful city of the country. He said that a lake, a city forest, beautiful parks, rope ways, chair lifts and gardens can add glamour and captivation to the city of temples. He said that efforts are afoot to promote tourism in Jammu city. He instructed the authorities concerned to make arrangements for sewerage disposal and prepare a report for processing the garbage to get fertilisers as done in some southern states of the country.

The meeting was apprised that 4.2 crore gallons of water was being supplied to about 12 lakh population of Jammu city against a total requirement of 6.3 crore gallons per day. Mr I.C. Jandial disclosed that division had 106 tubewells catering to the need of the people. He said 10 more tubewells with capacity of 3.20 lakh gallons of water are ready and would be commissioned in near future. He said the department had set up about six information centres to seek complaints of the consumers regarding water supply position. A task force to register and mitigate the problems of the consumers has also been geared up.

378 infiltrators killed in 4 years

RAJOURI, May 20 (PTI) — As many as 378 infiltrators have been gunned down and 91 wounded in various encounters with Army and Border Security Force (BSF) personnel between 1994 and 1998, a senior Army official said here on Wednesday.

He said of these, 182 were gunned down and 38 wounded in 1998 along the Rajouri-Poonch border with Pakistan and added 38 infiltration bids were foiled in the same year. Nearly 21 border crossers were also arrested.

He said, 20 bids to enter India were foiled in 1994, 31 militants were killed, seven wounded and three arrested, it was followed by the killing of 19 in 1995.

Similarly, 35 infiltrators were killed, 20 wounded, two arrested in 22 unsuccessful attempts to cross the border in 1996, while 111 infiltrators were gunned down, 11 wounded and 21 arrested in 30 unsuccessful attempts in 1997.

Referring to firing along the border, he said the Indian troops had gunned down 92 Pakistani soldiers and wounded 262 in retaliatory action in these sectors during the last five years.

The break-up shows that the 32 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 164 wounded in 1998, followed by 17 killed and 52 wounded in 1995. Similarly, 19 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 40 injured in 1994, followed by 24 killed and 31 injured in 1996. In 1997, the five Pak soldiers were killed and 25 injured by the Indian troops.

Fake certificate racket busted

SRINAGAR, May 20 (PTI) — The Jammu and Kashmir Vigilance Organisation yesterday claimed to have unearthed a major racket of fake certificates of professional courses and arrested an employee of Kashmir University in this connection.

Acting on a complaint lodged by the Vice-Chancellor of the university, the Vigilance Organisation made simultaneous raids in Jammu, Srinagar and Jalandhar and seized a large quantity of "incriminating" documents, the Senior Superintendent of Vigilance Organisation, Kashmir, Mr B.D. Dar, told reporters here.

He said while two residents of Jalandhar, including the kingpin of the racket, Harkishan Singh Bhatia, were absconding, their local contact, Mohammad Ashraf, who worked as Senior Assistant in the University, had been arrested.

He said the accused enrolled students and duped them by issuing fake certificates of professional courses.

The vigilance team sent to Jalandhar recovered the documents from an institution named Bhatia National College, which was being run from a room, Mr Dar said.

The seized documents included application forms of students who had been charged Rs 30,000. Most of the students were outsiders but were shown as residents of Kashmir.