Jammu

4 killed, 9 hurt in 2 road mishaps
JAMMU, May 23 — Three pilgrims were killed and five injured when their jeep collided with a bus at Saiswan on the Jammu-Pathankot highway, official sources said here today.

2 Lashkar ultras killed
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, May 23 — Two hardcore militants belonging to Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed in an encounter with troops in Kopra village of Rajouri district today. One of the slain militants was identified as Abu Ahmed who was instrumental in galvanising militancy in the Poonch-Rajouri belt. An Army jawan was killed in an ambush.

A Defence Ministry spokesman said when the troops cordoned the militant hideout, they came under heavy fire. The militants used rocket launchers too. However, the jawans returned the fire, resulting in the death of the two militants.

Two assault rifles, two pistols, eight grenades and a large quantity of ammunition were recovered from the site. It is learnt that some militants managed to escape.

The spokesman said it was for the first time that in Rajouri district militants entered into a direct armed encounter with the troops. He said possibly the rebels were misled by the assurance received from across the border that they (rebels) would be given sufficient support once they engaged the Indian troops in firing.

Meanwhile, reports available here said that a sizeable number of militants including foreign mercenaries, have sneaked into Doda district from two mountain routes, one from south Kashmir and another from Gool area in Udhampur.

According to these reports, the Pakistani agencies have directed the infiltrators to fortify their bases in Doda district which will allow them a chance to extend their activities to vast tracts of Kishtwar, Bhaderwah and area in South Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

It is in the light of these reports that the Doda district authorities have conveyed to the state government urgent neef for increasing the number of village defence committies and special police officers.

In another incident, an improvised explosive device went off without causing any damage at Faislabad in the same area at about 1315 hours today.

The death toll in yesterday's bomb blast at Baramulla in North Kashmir rose to two today with one more injured woman succumbing to her injuries, an official spokesman said.

An Army jawan was killed and three jawans, a special police officer and a civilian were injured in an ambush at Gandoh in Doda district last evening.

The militants ambushed a joint party of the Army and the police as troops encircled the village to flush out hiding militants who escaped after the shooting.

The body of a Pakistani woman was fished out from a nullah at Thakur post near Qazinag in the border township of Karnah in Kupwara district last evening.

Four Mumbai girls found

JAMMU, May 23 (PTI) — Four Mumbai college girls, who had arrived here a few days ago, were found here staying with four youths in the Digiana area of the city yesterday, the police said today.

Acting on a tip-off the police conducted raids at different places in the Digiana area of the city yesterday. The police found the girls at a rented accommodation and arrested three youth on charges of abduction. The fourth person, however, managed to escape.

The arrested youths claimed the girls had consented to accompany them and were not abducted.

Meanwhile, parents and family members of the girls had lodged a first information report (FIR) with Central Mumbai police station on kidnapping of their wards, they said.

Two youths, who had escaped from their houses in Khargoon district in Madhya Pradesh, died in the Government Hospital here in a local Hamdard Hotel yesterday. They reportedly consumed a poisonous substance.

The police said before committing suicide, Arvind (25) and Asha Gehlot (21), got married here and visited the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi before returning to Jammu.

In the suicide note, the couple said that they had taken the extreme step because of the opposition to their marriage by respective families, the police said.

4 killed, 9 hurt in 2 road mishaps

JAMMU, May 23 (PTI) — Three pilgrims were killed and five injured when their jeep collided with a bus at Saiswan on the Jammu-Pathankot highway, official sources said here today.

The pilgrims were on their way from Delhi to Katra base camp of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine when their Tata Sumo collided with a State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) bus last evening, the sources said.

The deceased were identified as Ghanshyam Goel, the driver of the jeep, Ankur and Sunil, both residents of Jasbirpur in Bihar.

The injured, including the driver of the bus, were admitted to the district hospital at Kathua.

In another accident, a CRPF constable, Sucha Singh of the 68th Battalion, was killed and four others were injured, when their jeep and a bus collided at Kud on the Jammu-Srinagar highway last night, the sources said.

The injured have been admitted to a hospital at Ramban.