J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Intrusion bid foiled; 2 ultras killed
JAMMU, Jan 31— Indian troops foiled a major Pak plan of pushing into Jammu a big group of foreign mercenaries from across Poonch sector by killing two ultras, Mohammad Bashir and Mohammad Qasim.

Demonstrators teargassed in Srinagar
SRINAGAR, Jan 31 — The people resorted to a lathi charge and lobbed teargas shells to quell demonstrators protesting against the arrest of the a shopkeeper in the interior city here today while three militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces in North Kashmir.

J&K decides to sack 10,000 daily-wage staff
JAMMU, Jan 31 — The state Cabinet today decided to throw out several thousand daily wage earners from government departments and agencies. The Cabinet decided that the daily wage earners appointed after the government imposed a blanket ban on such appointments three years ago would be thrown out.

8 officers given IAS scales
JAMMU, Jan 31 — The state government today reshuffled seven senior officers of the rank of commissioners, sanctioned supertime IAS scale in favour of one officer, while eight others were given senior IAS scale.

400 Gujjar families treated as Muhajirs
JAMMU, Jan 31— At least 400 families of Gujjars still are treated Muhajirs in government revenue record. These Gujjars have been original residents of the state and living in various belts of the Akhnoor sector.

J & K Assembly poll on Feb 17
JAMMU, Jan 31 — The election of eight members to the state legislative council, four each belonging to Kashmir and Jammu provinces, will be held on February 17.

Intrusion bid foiled; 2 ultras killed
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Jan 31— Indian troops foiled a major Pak plan of pushing into Jammu a big group of foreign mercenaries from across Poonch sector by killing two ultras, Mohammad Bashir and Mohammad Qasim.

According to Defence Ministry sources, a big group of militants, equipped with sophisticated weapons, had been brought close to the LoC in Poonch. An Indian Army patrol party spotted the movement on the border. The militants were challenged but they opened fire. The troops retaliated killing the two ultras on the spot. Others fled leaving behind bags of explosive material which they were to use in carrying out armed attacks on security pickets.

The sources said large quantities of ammunition and weapons had been recovered which included 30 grenade launchers, one sealed box containing ammunition for pika guns and other weapons. 

Demonstrators teargassed in Srinagar
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Jan 31 — The people resorted to a lathi charge and lobbed teargas shells to quell demonstrators protesting against the arrest of the a shopkeeper in the interior city here today while three militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces in North Kashmir.

Residents of Sarafkadal in the M.R. Gunj area of the interior city, known for jewellery trade, today took to the streets in protest against the arrest of Fayaz Ahmad, a shopkeeper, by the police last night. The angry demonstrators blocked traffic on the roads and the shops and business establishments were closed. They were raising slogans against the police for the arrest of the businessman. The angry demonstrators pelted stones on the police which led to a ding-dong battle for sometime. The residents also blocked the traffic by creating hurdles on the roads. The police had to resort to a lathi charge and lobbed teargas shells to quell the demonstrators. The situation was brought under control after a few hours, but the shops and business establishments remained closed in protest against the arrest.

The residents demanded immediate release of the shopkeeper and warned against any harm to him. The residents alleged the police and the security forces had unleashed a reign of terror by resorting to “custodial killings” of innocents which had increased during the recent weeks. At least two persons were allegedly killed in custody this month at the hands of the police and the security forces. They included Bilal Ahmad, a driver of the state Forest Corporation, whose vehicle had been reportedly used by militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba to reach Srinagar airport to undertake a suicide attack on January 16. Bilal had been arrested the next day while he was, according to the police, killed in an encounter in the Ganderbal area, near here, the next day. Another youth, Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat, an activist of the Islamic Students League (ISL), was killed allegedly after having been picked up from his residence here.

The separatist Hurriyat Conference of which the ISL is a constituent called for a bandh in Kashmir on January 23 last in protest against the killings. It has invited the attention of the international human rights organisations to look into the matter and take note of the killings at the hands of the police and the security forces in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, in the continued militancy related incidents, three militants of the Lashker-e-Toiba were killed in an encounter with the security forces at Markundal, Safapore in Baramula district last night. The house of Ghulam Mohammad Malla, where the militants were hiding, was also completely damaged in the exchange of fire between the militants and the security forces. Those killed were identified as Sajjad Ahmad, alias Abu Akram, Owais Usman, alias Ali, both residents of Pakistan, and Mushtaq Ahmed Bhat, a local militant. A police spokesman said the three militants intruded into the house last night, adding that the biding militants fired on the patrol party which ensued the encounter. Three AK 47 rifles, 10 magazines, 210 rounds of ammunition a wireless set, one UBL and six UB grenades were seized from the site of the encounter.

A major tragedy was averted when a joint party of the police and the security forces seized a TED weighing 25 kg from Mashpora and Durnar in Pulwama district today. A gas cylinder, cartridges of AK 47 and 3 kg of iron nails were also seized, the police said.

Three suspected militants were arrested from Sopore town in Baramula district from whose possession an AK 47, six magazines with 137 rounds, one pistol, 51 rounds of pistol ammunition and two Chinese grenades were seized. They have been identified as Sajad Ahmad Najar, Khursheed Ahmad Naikoo and Mohammad Ramzan from Noorbagh, Sopore.

J&K decides to sack 10,000 daily-wage staff
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Jan 31 — The state Cabinet today decided to throw out several thousand daily wage earners from government departments and agencies.

The Cabinet decided that the daily wage earners appointed after the government imposed a blanket ban on such appointments three years ago would be thrown out. The first instruction has gone to the Department of Technical Education and the daily wage earners appointed there would get wages till the end of January. From tomorrow they will cease to be on the muster roll of the department.

The government has directed all other departments to submit a list of daily wage earners appointed after the ban by February 15 so that action could be initiated against them.

Informed sources said since the state government was faced with acute financial crisis it decided to ease out daily wage earners. Rough estimates put their number at nearly 10,000. The Central Government had already conveyed its displeasure to the state government over largescale recruitment in various departments.

By another decision the Cabinet approved Rs 65 crore scheme for the upgradation and expansion of the polytechnics in the state. The expansion plan would increase the intake of candidates from 580 to 900. Under the upgradation plan these polytechnics would run courses on textile designs, instrumentation control, garment and leather technology, information technology and computer engineering and allied subjects.

The government decided to take in hand this ambitious project so that the candidates who came out of these institutes could prove an asset to the society. It had been seen that most of the candidates from the polytechnics failed to get jobs and were not in a position to open their business ventures. The new courses would enable them to find suitable jobs and run their own establishments.

8 officers given IAS scales
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Jan 31 — The state government today reshuffled seven senior officers of the rank of commissioners, sanctioned supertime IAS scale in favour of one officer, while eight others were given senior IAS scale. The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the state Cabinet here today.

Under the Cabinet decision Mr Amit Kushari has been appointed as Principal Secretary, Health and Medical Education, Mr R.K. Jerath has been transferred and posted as Commissioner Secretary, General Administrative Department, Mr Naveed Masood, on completion of his tenure, has been sent to the Centre. Mr S.R. Kapoor is the new Commissioner Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies.

Prof M.Y. Qadiri has been posted as Chairman, Competent Authority, which selects candidates for the professional colleges. Mr G. Ahangar has been posted as Commissioner, Housing and Urban Development and Mr Chaman Lal takes over as Managing Director, Scheduled Caste Development Corporation.

Mr Pramod Jain has been given supertime IAS scale of Rs 18,400-22,400. Mr K.N. Naik, Mr A.K. Mehta, Mohammed Ashraf, Mr K.A. Malik, Mr S.A. Masoodi, Mr Mumtaz Afzal, Mr A.R. Mubariki, Mr M.H. Sheikh and Mr Najam-ul-Saquib have been given selection IAS grade of Rs 15,100-18,300.

400 Gujjar families treated as Muhajirs
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Jan 31— At least 400 families of Gujjars still are treated Muhajirs in government revenue record. These Gujjars have been original residents of the state and living in various belts of the Akhnoor sector.

They have ancestral land, houses but are not deemed as owners of this immoveable property. Their fault — during the communal turmoil in 1947 partition these Gujjar families had fled to nearby forest belts to save lives. For several months they spent their days in misery feeding themselves on wild and coarse grains and herbs.

Once they returned to their villages their houses and land were safe and nobody had grabbed them. Till this date nobody had claimed ownership of these houses and lands indicating that they were the real owners of this immoveable property.

The vice-chairman Advisory Board for the Development of Gujjars and Bakkerwals, Haji Buland Khan, has sent a memorandum to the Revenue Minister, Mr Abdul Qayoom, informing him about the plight of these 400 Gujjar families. He has requested the minister to intervene and set the revenue records straight.

Mr Buland Khan has stated that it was unfortunate that original residents of the state were not being shown as genuine citizens in the revenue records but being treated as Muhajirs. He has informed the minister that these Gujjars had not crossed over to Pakistan in 1947 but had merely escaped to the forest belts to save lives during communal riots in Jammu.

It was learnt that some influential Gujjars had moved the courts to rectify the revenue records straight under the court orders. Haji Buland Khan has said that all other families were ignorant about seeking justice from courts and were too poor to bear the court expenses.

The Haji has stated that India had been critical of Pakistan for treating those Muslims who had migrated in 1947 to Sindh province as Muhajirs and it was cruel on the part of the government to treat Gujjar families as Muhajirs who had never migrated either from Pakistan or had never gone across the border.

J&K Assembly poll on Feb 17

JAMMU, Jan 31 (UNI) — The election of eight members to the state legislative council, four each belonging to Kashmir and Jammu provinces, will be held on February 17.

According to a notification of the Secretary, the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, who is also the Returning Officer for the biennial election, filing of nomination papers began today. The last day of filing of nominations will be February 6. The last date of withdrawal of nomination will be February 9.