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| Thursday, August 2, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Ultras
kill 8 in J&K Farooq
hints at early poll
Jamaat
hails India-Pak dialogue |
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Pilgrim
traffic declines
Health
services paralysed 35
arrested in fake certificates racket
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Ultras kill 8 in J&K Srinagar, August 1 He said militants shot dead Habib Ullah and Mohammad Amin Lone at Peth-Makhama in Badgam district of central Kashmir late last night. Militants also killed Mohammad Rafiq and Abdul Hamid at Pattan, while Mohmmad Yonus Dar was shot dead at Kulgam late last night. He said militants beat to death a government employee Abdul Qayoom in his Upper Shahdara house late last night. Militants entered the house of Nissar Hussain at Suhag Kala Mohre and shot him dead last night while Mohammad Shabir and Mohammad Shafi were kidnapped from their houses at Upper Shahdara. An encounter took place at Dhanor village in Rajouri district of Jammu region last evening during which a militant was killed and three security personnel were injured. The body of a police constable Mushtaq Ahmad, who was kidnapped by militants recently was recovered at Kulgam in south Kashmir last night. The security forces arrested three militants during overnight operations at Baramula and Srinagar. Three kg of RDX, 4 kg of other explosives, one detonator, one automatic pistol and one magazine were seized during these operations. Meanwhile, the Army foiled an infiltration attempt by a group of militants in the Kupwara sector. Army troops noticed a group of militants attempting to sneak into the Kupwara sector of north Kashmir from across the border in the wee hours today, sources said. Intruders were confronted by the troops at Sonapandi Gal inside the Indian territory and asked to surrender. Instead, they opened fire triggering an encounter, which was continuing till the last reports were received, they said. There was no report of any casualty on either side, the sources said.
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Farooq hints at early poll New Delhi, August 1 “One has to understand that, I was elected to the post of Chief Minister on my party’s manifesto which promised greater autonomy to the state...if the Centre is unwilling to even hold talks then I think it is time to go back to the people,” Dr Abdullah, who met several Union ministers during his three-day stay in the Capital, said here. “If need arises, I may seek a fresh mandate later this year,” the Chief Minister said. Charging some “vested interests” in the NDA and other religious-political fronts like the RSS and the VHP with trying to sabotage the autonomy resolution, Dr Abdullah said: “I had put up the resolution for a debate and the Union Cabinet did not even find it worth a proper reading and rejected it.” Meanwhile, senior Hurriyat leaders Abdul Gani Lone and Mirwaiz Omar Farooq have said the conglomerate would give a serious thought to any proposal of talks from the Centre. “The Hurriyat executive committee will consider on merit an offer of talks as and when it comes from the Centre and give it the deserved response,” Mr Lone said. His views were echoed by former All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq. “We will seriously consider any fresh invitation of talks from India provided it is not the repetition of the previous offer,” Mr Farooq said.
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Jamaat hails India-Pak dialogue Srinagar, August 1 A spokesman said at the end of a three day Majlis-e-Shoura meeting here last evening that the party was still optimistic about the continuation of Indo-Pak talks to resolve the Kashmir issue. He said the three-day meeting of Majlis-e-Shoura, the highest decision-making body of Jamaat, felt that the only way to resolve the 54-year-old Kashmir issue was to either implement the United Nations resolutions or to hold tripartite talks. He said the resolution of Kashmir issue would defuse the tension and put to an end the uncertainty prevailing in the sub-continent. The Majlis members, who took stock of organisational, social, political and other religious matters, said it was necessary to include the real representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the talks to make them effective and result-oriented, as bilateral talks since 1947 had failed to make any breakthrough. Further, the spokesman said the Jamaat would extend all help if steps were taken in this direction, keeping in view the ground situation. As decided by the APHC that people in India would be apprised about the Kashmir issue, two senior leaders former chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone are touring different states meeting people there. However, he said after the Agra summit, custodial killings, fake encounters and other security force atrocities have increased in the valley and the Doda district. Mr Geelani said he and another executive committee member Sheikh Abdul Aziz were detained by the police on highway yesterday and were not allowed to proceed to Doda. “The police did not allow us to visit Doda. We returned back here this morning,” he said. The Jamat-e-Islami leader alleged that a girl has been arrested by security forces this morning at Palhalan when the forces failed to arrest her brother.
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Pilgrim
traffic declines Jammu, August 1 During the past three weeks, 1,500 to 3700 yatris left for Pahalgam every day, but the last week witnessed a decline in the number of yatris which ranged between 1,200 and 1000. More than 20 buses were kept ready for pilgrims but only 85 of them reported at Maulana Azad Stadium and were carried under security cover to Pahalgam. The month-long yatra would end on August 4. Reports said that bomb and gun attack at Sheshnag, which claimed lives of 13 persons including six pilgrims forced thousands of pilgrims to cancel their yatra. Secondly, those returned from the holy cave informed others that the ice lingam inside the cave had completely melted and the entire mountain route from Pahalgam to the cave was lashed by icy winds and rain. However, the total number of pilgrims registered, who proceeded to Pahalgam from Jammu till now had touched over 1.25 lakh. Fresh registration was done after yatris staged protests following closure of registration by the government. The state government authorities have admitted that the Sheshnag incident was a great setback to the pilgrimage, otherwise more than 1.80 lakh pilgrims would have made it to the cave. In addition to this, the Agra summit also created an atmosphere of uncertainty in Kashmir which discouraged pilgrims from taking up the yatra. |
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Chhari Mubarak leaves for
Chandanwari Pahalgam, August 1 A group of over 100 sadhus and pilgrims led by Mahant Deepinder Giri carrying the holy mace from its resting place left here amid tight security arrangements. Religious slogans and hymns rented the air. Tight security arrangements have been made in the entire route to the cave shrine. Senior police and civil administration officers were present but no senior state government functionaries or ministers present here. With the departure of the holy mace from here today the annual pilgrimage at the cave shrine at the height of 3952 metres from sea level in the upper reaches of
Pahalgam, has entered the last phase. The last batch of only 95 pilgrims left Jammu for Pahalgam this morning, according to the officials here. So far the total number of yatris that have joined the annual pilgrimage has gone up to 1.16 lakh as compared to over 1.72 lakh last year. “Due to some compulsions yatris were discouraged this year”, Mahant Deepinder Giri told TNS here before leaving for
Chandanwari. He said that the yatra had been going on smoothly till July 21 last when a shootout took place at Sheshnag in which at least seven persons lost their lives. He expressed the hope that with the constitution of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board
(SASB) this year, all those willing to join the yatra would be allowed from next year. Mahant Giri said that the annual pilgrimage in the trouble-torn Kashmir was the major source of national integration and boosted the economy of the state. Referring to the incident of explosion at Sheshnag on July 21 this year and the shootout incident at Pahalgam last year, the Mahant expressed the hope that the Central and State governments would “analyse and re-assess” the situation and take adequate steps to prevent any recurrence of such incidents. |
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Health services
paralysed Jammu, Aug 1 Doctors protesting against the death of a medical student had gone on the rampage here yesterday and smashed furniture and other gadgets in the office of the Principal whom they accused of having shown negligence in arranging a helicopter for carrying the wounded medico to CMC, Ludhiana. The protesters have demanded the immediate resignation of the Principal. Today the protesters held a procession and staged a demonstration outside the residence of the Principal. They also blocked traffic outside the college. A spokesman for the Junior Doctors’ Association
(JDA) said Arjun, hailing from Doda district, fell from the balcony of the college hostel. He was shifted to the medical college where there was delay in carrying out CT scan and other tests. Later the Principal did not take immediate steps for taking the wounded boy to Ludhiana by a helicopter. The ambulance, he said, was rickety and the oxygen cylinder leaked and Arjun died on way to Ludhiana. However, Principal, Dr
H.L. Goswami, said within minutes Arjun Singh was examined by senior doctors, including the neuro surgeon. During the examination the doctors found that Arjun was brain dead. The CT scan was done and this also confirmed the diagnosis. He said he approached the district authorities for arranging a helicopter to carry the wounded medico to Ludhiana. This would have a lot of time. In the meantime the injured boy was shifted to Ludhiana in an ambulance. But the junior doctors have decided to continue the strike till their three main demands were not met. Their demands include the resignation of the Principal, Rs 60 lakh as compensation to the bereaved family and admission in the Medical College to Arjun Singh’s younger brother. Though senior doctors tried to handle the emergency cases, work in the OPDs in all hospitals was affected. |
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35 arrested in fake certificates racket Srinagar, August 1 Addressing a press conference here today, Inspector-General of Police (crime and railway) Masood Chowdhary said during the last three years lots of complaints had been received by the crime branch about the racket involving the sale of fake certificates in different parts of the state. “The crime branch had so far arrested 35 persons while some others, including the kingpins are still at large and efforts are on to nab them also,” Mr Chowdhary said. He said, “unscrupulous elements in complicity with some employees of the Board of School Education (BOSE) and other educational institutions were indulging in malpractices in an organised manner”. The arrests have unearthed a racket leading to registration of about 40 cases of fraud and forgery against 125 people. The raids were conducted in Poonch, Rajouri, Jammu, Kupwara, Handwara, Srinagar and Anantnag resulting in the seizure of documents and incriminating material, he added. Giving details, Mr Chowdhary said the seized material included forged seals and stamps of various heads of institutions and departments, including chairman and joint secretary of BOSE. About the number of people who would have attained jobs with the fake papers, the IGP said it was impossible to give the number but the department would be in a position to know how extensive the network was in 20 days. About fake finance companies operating in the state, Mr Chowdhary said about 50 such companies were operating in the state. He said a special enactment was required to deal with such cases and after consulting laws in other states, recommendations would be forwarded to the government. In reply to a question about the crime rate in the state, the IGP said it had not increased.
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