J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Cache of arms seized
JAMMU, Aug 5  — Troops found a huge cache of arms ammunition and explosives from Rajouri and Kupwara districts while security forces shot dead a militant in Udhampur district of Jammu division since yesterday, official sources said here today.

Tribune scribe bereaved
JAMMU, Aug 5 — Mr D.P. Sharma, a retired Senior Superintendent of Police and brother of Mr S.P. Sharma, Special Correspondent, The Tribune, in Shimla, passed away at Jammu Medical College here last night after a prolonged illness. He was 63.

JKPCC reconstituted
JAMMU, Aug 5  — Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee President Mohammad Shafi Quereshi has announced a 46-member working committee after dissolving the jumbo-sized committee of 118 members.

Tourist’s body taken to Delhi
SRINAGAR, Aug 5 — The body of a German tourist, Harfurt Rolf, who was abducted and later killed by unidentified militants late last month in the Zanskar area of Ladakh Himalayas, was taken to Delhi this afternoon.

Lashkar told to engineer split in Hizb
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Aug 5 — Pakistani agencies have assigned to Jash-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba outfits the task of causing a split in the Hizbul Mujahideen, which had announced a ceasefire and initiated talks with the Government, so that the pro-talks lobby gets weakened and isolated.

Official sources said that following the ceasefire announcement there has been a flurry of activity in Pakistan and occupied Kashmir, which included mounting pressure on Hizbul Mujahideen leaders in a bid to force them to opt for tripartite talks. Initial indications are that the top leadership of the Hizbul Mujahideen in Pakistan and occupied Kashmir has started wilting under the pressure and begun demanding tripartite talks.

And the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has also adopted the same line by dissociating itself from the first round of talks between the Government and Hizb leaders. The APHC has also announced that it has not given any mandate to Fazl Haq Qureshi to open parleys with the Government on the plea that the Hurriyat was in favour of tripartite talks.

The sources said that soon after the Hizb ceasefire, the ISI top brass held a series of meetings in Islamabad and Muzaffarabad with the senior leaders of Jash-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba, directing them to send their guerrillas to the border for being pushed into Jammu and Kashmir. Right from Sunderbani in Rajouri district up to Uri, more then 4,000 guerrillas have been brought to the LoC for being pushed into the state to cause escalation in violence, thereby dispelling the impression that the Hizb’s ceasefire would ensure peace in Kashmir.

Pakistani agencies have also directed commanders of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jash-e-Mohammad (Army of the Prophet) to identify poor families in Jammu and Kashmir and submit their list to the agencies concerned in Pakistan. This exercise was being carried out to enable Pakistani agencies to send financial assistance to these poor families and win their sympathy and support for the ongoing “Jehad”. Under the plan, once the funds flowed to these families the militants could recruit their boys in different rebel outfits. Instructions have also been given to the field commanders of these two rebel outfits that they should cultivate renegade militants by giving them huge sums of money so that they rejoined the militant groups for giving teeth to the armed campaign. This plan was being implemented on the pattern Pakistani agencies adopted in Afghanistan during the past several years. In Afghanistan, most of the able bodied youths joined ‘Jehad’ after they received heavy money packets.

The field commanders have been directed to intensify their efforts for sending large groups of Kashmiri youths for arms training to camps in Pakistan and occupied Kashmir. The sources said that in recent days, more than 150 boys from Kupwara, Bandipore, Pulwama and Budgam have crossed over to occupied Kashmir for arms training.

Scores of boys from Doda, Poonch and Rajouri too have crossed over to Pakistan in recent weeks for receiving training in handling of sophisticated weapons and explosives.

In addition to this, emphasis was being laid on recruiting boys for carrying out suicide attacks on the security camps. So far, more than 200 such boys have received training and another batch of 75 boys was getting training.

Despite talks initiated by the Government with Hizb leaders possibilities of peace returning to Kashmir were bleak because pro-Pakistan militant groups were trying to escalate violence to discourage fence sitters from joining the peace process.

According to these sources, if Hizbul Mujahideen witnessed a major split or the leaders, engaged in working out the modalities for talks, went underground again Kashmir might witness a rise in the level of subversive violence. However, if the peace talks were not derailed foreign mercenaries might ultimately face isolation. This was evident from the extent of anger Muslims in South Kashmir have demonstrated tactfully over the killing of 32 Amarnath pilgrims and 27 labourers from Bihar.

Cache of arms seized

JAMMU, Aug 5 (PTI) — Troops found a huge cache of arms ammunition and explosives from Rajouri and Kupwara districts while security forces shot dead a militant in Udhampur district of Jammu division since yesterday, official sources said here today.

Security personnel, on specific information that militants were storing explosives and ammunition to strike on Independence Day, launched a combing operation in Namblan forests of Rajouri, the sources said.

Several bags and boxes of explosives and ammunition were seized which included 81 rifle grenades, 12 hand grenades, 20 kg of explosives, eight remote-control devices and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, they said.

The Army also recovered a large haul of arms and ammunition, including rockets, RPGs and rifle grenades from the frontier district of Kupwara.

Army units conducting widespread search operations in the frontier jungle belts in two separate recoveries found one RPG, 13 rockets, five boxes of ammunition, 25 rifle grenades, five improvised explosive devices, 35 explosive pipes and 10 detonators.

Troops had last night recovered 81 rifle grenades and 20 kg of explosives from Nambian forests in Rajouri district in Jammu division.

A militant was shot dead in an encounter with the troops at Hara village in Gool tehsil of Udhampur district today. 

Tribune scribe bereaved
From Our Correspondent

JAMMU, Aug 5 — Mr D.P. Sharma, a retired Senior Superintendent of Police and brother of Mr S.P. Sharma, Special Correspondent, The Tribune, in Shimla, passed away at Jammu Medical College here last night after a prolonged illness. He was 63.

He is survived by his wife and three daughters. He was the son of Mr B.P. Sharma, a veteran journalist, who has remained bedridden for the past several years.

Mr D.P.Sharma had joined the police as an Inspector and rose to the rank of SSP.

He was a highly decorated police officer. He was a recipient of President’s Police Medal and was decorated for his role during the 1962 Indo-China conflict and during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. He had a long stint in the CRPF on deputation and had handled several agitations, including the Telengana agitation in Andhra Pradesh.

When the pyre was lit, a police contingent sounded the Last Post and offered a gun salute. Several political leaders from Jammu and Himachal were present at the cremation. 

JKPCC reconstituted

JAMMU, Aug 5 (PTI) — Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) President Mohammad Shafi Quereshi has announced a 46-member working committee after dissolving the jumbo-sized committee of 118 members.

The new Pradesh Congress Committee has 10 vice-presidents, 10 general secretaries, one treasurer, one spokesperson and 20 members of executive committee, a party press note said here today.

It said that members of the Congress Working Committee, office-bearers of the AICC, ex presidents, former CLP leader, MPs, MLAs from the state and heads of front organisations shall be the permanent invitees of the executive committee meetings.

However, names of the secretaries will be announced later.

The sources in the JKPCC said Mr Quereshi was unhappy with the jumbo-sized committee which his predecessor Choudhary Mohammad Aslam had formed to accommodate rebels.

Quereshi had recommended the new list which was approved by AICC President Sonia Gandhi, the sources added. 

Tourist’s body taken to Delhi

SRINAGAR, Aug 5 (UNI) — The body of a German tourist, Harfurt Rolf, who was abducted and later killed by unidentified militants late last month in the Zanskar area of Ladakh Himalayas, was taken to Delhi this afternoon.

Official sources said the body with three bullet marks was handed over to officials of the German Embassy after completing all legal formalities.

The body of Rolf, who was abducted by a group of three militants and two guides on the Zanaskar-Kargil National Highway on July 11, was found in Nunkun ranges on the night of August 2.

The Kargil police has, meanwhile, arrested a guide and massive hunt has been launched to apprehend others, sources added.

Crop damaged by hailstorm in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, Aug 5 (PTI) — Twentyfive villages of Tangmarg tehsil of North Kashmir district of Baramula were hit by hailstorm on Thursday, an official spokesman said today.

He said as per the preliminary survey more than 80 per cent crops have been damaged which included paddy crop on 800 hectares, maize and fruits on 200 hectares.

The state Industries and Commerce Minister, Mr Mustafa Kamal, along with senior officers of the revenue, horticulture and agriculture departments today visited affected villages in Tangmarg and took stock of the quantum of damage caused to standing crops, fruits and vegetables.

Talking to affected farmers, the minister assured that the government would provide every possible assistance and relief to them and nobody would be left to die due to starvation.

He further added that losses inflicted on farmers due to this natural calamity would be compensated adequately.