The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, January 31, 2001,
Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

J A M M U & K A S H M I R

Captain killed in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, Jan 30 — Three security personnel, including an Army officer, were killed as militants ambushed a security patrol and carried out grenade attacks on two security camps in the Kashmir valley since last evening, official sources said here today.

175 ABVP activists court arrest
JAMMU, Jan 30 — Nearly 175 activists of the ABVP today courted arrest when the police foiled their plan of storming the Civil Secretariat in protest against continued heavy load-shedding and over the admission of 67 students belonging to an unauthorised medical college in the two Government Medical Colleges in the state.

J & K sacks 1,700 SPOs in Doda dist
JAMMU, Jan 30 — At least 1,700 Special Police Officers have been sacked by the government in the troubled Doda district in recent weeks. The state unit of the BJP has started attributing political motives to this move and blame some National Conference leaders for recommending removal of the SPOs.

7 killed, 42 hurt in road mishap
SRINAGAR, Jan 30 — At least seven persons were killed and 42 others injured, 10 seriously, when a bus skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge at Kaksar bridge in Kargil yesterday, an official spokesman said today.

YOUR TOWN

Jammu
Srinagar

EARLIER STORIES

	Farooq for world pressure on Pak January 30, 2001
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	Ceasefire bold step: Saxena January 28, 2001
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	Bandh hits life in Kashmir January 24, 2001
	Foreign ultras have limited role: Lone January 23, 2001
	Malik blames trio for derailing PM’s move January 22, 2001
	Abortive bid to blast Army convoy January 21, 2001

Captain killed in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, Jan 30 (PTI) — Three security personnel, including an Army officer, were killed as militants ambushed a security patrol and carried out grenade attacks on two security camps in the Kashmir valley since last evening, official sources said here today.

Two security personnel were killed and an Army officer was critically injured in an encounter which followed a militant ambush on a security patrol at Ranger Top in Kupwara district yesterday, the sources said.

The seriously injured Army officer, Capt N. Roy, was shifted to the Srinagar base hospital, where he died today, they said.

The sources said militants fired two grenades in Srinagar last night which exploded in mid air without causing any casualty.

The security forces camping in the area fired back in self-defence, but the militants escaped, the sources said.

They said militants also attacked a joint camp of the Army and the Special Operations Group of the local police in the Bandipora area of Baramula late last night. The security forces retaliated but no one was hurt in the shootout.

However, the security forces seized two rocket launchers and four rifle grenades from a nearby field during subsequent search of the area, the sources said.

The sources said militants set ablaze a private school at Magam in Badgam district of Central Kashmir and an abandoned house of a Kashmiri Pandit at Darbagh in the Harwan area of Srinagar last night.

A 12-year-old boy was blown to pieces in a powerful explosion in the Marmat area of Doda district in Jammu today, official sources said.

The boy, Raju, died instantly when he touched an abandoned bag containing some explosive device, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the police detected and defused an explosive device hidden in a bag in the Bari Brahmana area of Jammu early today, they added.

JAMMU: Three persons, including a militant of the Jaish-e-Mahmood (JeM) outfit, have been killed in three separate incidents in Jammu division since Monday, official sources said here on Tuesday.

Army troops shot dead a militant in an encounter in the Morabachi area in Surankote tehsil on Monday, they said.

The slain militant has been identified as Abu Toofani of the JeM outfit and belonged to Pakistan, the sources said, adding that one pistol with four rounds of ammunition and four grenades were seized from the site.

In yet another incident the BSF troops shot dead an infiltrator in R.S. Pora sector when he tried to sneak into the Indian side.

An SPO, Ved Parkash, who was injured in an encounter with militants in Doda a few days ago, died in hospital here today.

175 ABVP activists court arrest
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Jan 30 — Nearly 175 activists of the ABVP today courted arrest when the police foiled their plan of storming the Civil Secretariat in protest against continued heavy load-shedding and over the admission of 67 students belonging to an unauthorised medical college in the two Government Medical Colleges in the state.

As part of three-week-long agitation, the ABVP and other student organisations have stepped up the campaign against curtailment in power supply and over the “illegal” admission.

The ABVP activists yesterday protested in front of a Girls Higher Secondary School shouting slogans against the government. Today more than 300 activists of the ABVP and other students took out procession and marched through the city streets. The National Secretary, ABVP, Mr Romesh Puppa, state President, Mr Narinder Singh, and Ms Divya Gupta led the procession. The activists staged demonstrations at number of places warning the government against any further laxity.

The slogan-shouting demonstrators demand adequate power supply and cancellation of the admission in the medical colleges given to students of an unrecognised college or immediate selection of candidates with merit belonging to the Jammu region.

The demonstrators marched to the Civil Secretariatand tried to storm into the premises. A big police posse, equipped with guns and lathis had raised a barricade. The two sides pushed and jostled. The police swung into action and arrested about 175 ABVP activists, including its leaders. They were bundled into vans and carried to the police lines. They were later released.

Mr Romesh Puppa declared that the agitation would assume serious proportion in case the government failed to listen to “our genuine” demands. He said several political organisations, traders and transporters had supported “our call for Jammu bandh on February 12.” After that the ABVP activists would launch direct action and the responsibility would lie on the shoulders of the state government.

The state government has stated that it was for the Centre to either increase the quota of power supply to Jammu and Kashmir in view of sharp fall in the local generation owing to meager river discharge or sanction additional funds for purchasing power from the Northern grid. It has explained that admission to 67 students was okayed on the recommendations of the Union Health Ministry and the Medical Council of India. However, the ABVP has contended that the state violated the norms by admitting these students without approval from the competent authority.

J & K sacks 1,700 SPOs in Doda dist
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Jan 30 — At least 1,700 Special Police Officers (SPOs) have been sacked by the government in the troubled Doda district in recent weeks. The state unit of the BJP has started attributing political motives to this move and blame some National Conference leaders for recommending removal of the SPOs.

However, the police has a different tale to tell which is more convincing than the BJP allegations. Senior police officers said the Central Government had sanctioned 5,200 posts of SPO. Either under political pressure or in view of the exigencies caused by the Kargil conflict, when troops and paramilitary forces were withdrawn from the district a large number of SPOs were recruited.

Recently, a large number of SPOs complained to the government functionaries that they had not received monthly wages of Rs 1,500 per head for the past six months. Preliminary inquiries had revealed that the state police had no funds for the payment of wages to the SPOs because the recruitment had surpassed the sanctioned strength. It was found that against the sanctioned strength of 5,200 SPOs more than 7,000 had been appointed as SPOs.

The district authorities started weeding out process and those whose record was poor were shown the door. Senior police officers said there were 200 women absorbed as SPOs and they had no role to play in containing the activities of militants. They were the first to be thrown out. There were a number of old and infirm people who had been appointed as SPOs and their utility had been zero.

When one BJP MLA, Mr Bali Bhagat, raised a hue and cry over the “retrenchment” he was told by the police authorities that he should meet the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, and get sanction for any number of SPOs and “we will appoint them”. He was informed that the state government had no separate funds for meeting the wage bill of the SPOs and the funds flowed from the Union Home Ministry.

Another senior police officer said in a recent grenade explosion, in which one SPO was killed, it was found that some SPOs were involved in militancy-related activities. They had to be thrown out.