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Monday,
January 28, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Terror won’t last long: Saxena Ultras resort to extortion for
funds
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PoK hi-tech centres continue despite ban JAMMU BYELECTION
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Terror won’t last long: Saxena Jammu, January 27 As a result of the strict security measures, including restrictions on the movement of passenger transport services, the people’s participation in these functions was limited to the parade carried out by the contingents of the Army, paramilitary forces, police and NCC boys and girls. School students presented colourful programmes. Besides the Governor, Mr G.C. Saxena, several ministers presided over the functions where they pledged to root out militancy with the cooperation of the people. After hoisting the Tricolour at the main function in the Maulana Azad stadium amid unprecedented security measures, Mr Saxena said the reign of terror unleased by Pakistan would have an early end. The Governor said while the people around the world yearned for peace believing rightly that terrorism was no solution to any problem, those in Jammu and Kashmir had lost patience against the roaring of guns and grenades. He said measures were being taken to end the menace of terrorism in the state. Mr Saxena said till 1989 Jammu and Kashmir witnessed progress in various fields but the rate of development retarded and was adversely affected after the rise in Pakistan-sponsored militancy which had also destroyed the tourism industry in the state. He hoped that the Pakistan President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, would realise the ground realities and stop aiding cross-border terrorism. In his message, the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, suggested to Pakistan to resolve bilateral problems through talks because if India retaliated Pakistan would cease to exit on the world map. |
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Ultras resort to extortion for funds Srinagar, January 27 The state administration along with Central agencies, began their crackdown during the first week of December last year and netted a whopping Rs 1.80 crore in just two weeks, official sources said. While Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said concrete steps were being taken in this direction to choke the funds for anti-national elements, senior police officials in the state feel that agencies like the CBI and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence should step in as the funds, after being received through the hawala channel, came into the valley from the national Capital. The Jammu and Kashmir police, assisted by the Central intelligence agencies, carried out six operations in the state during which it nabbed 15 persons, including a prominent carpet businessman and netted a whopping Rs 1.80 crore that had come through Dubai, the sources said. “The exact ramifications of the funding are yet to be ascertained. We here do not have much of expertise to deal with such an economic crime,” says acting Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir range Mr Ashok Bhan. He said there were some reports that militants had started collecting money from the public. Admitting that much attention was not being given to the squeezing of funds to the militants, a senior government official said, “After the implementation of the Prevention of Terrorist Ordinance (POTO), things have started moving and we can now also act under Section 22 of the ordinance.”
The security agencies feel that after the promulgation of the ordinance, there is a widespread scare among the separatist outfits. Recently, the authorities clamped down on the second rung leadership of the Hurriyat Conference and arrested some of them for allegedly being the suppliers of money to their masters. The funding channels were traced to Dubai where the ISI had targeted Kashmiri businessmen for carrying out nefarious activities, the sources said. Though the channel has been flourishing for the past four years, since the past two years it has become very active as the ISI conduits have not been successful in routing the money through Nepal. Confessions by various militants revealed that the ISI and “Tanzeems” governing some of the militant outfits in Kashmir had started sending money to carpet dealers, who were mainly from Kashmiri origin. Originating from Pakistan, money is routed through various channels to these carpet dealers in Dubai who accommodate this in their book of accounts by over-invoicing their business and show huge profit, the sources said. The money is then sent to India using the hawala channel and conduits of these militants collect it from a hawala operator after using a pre-fixed code, the sources said. The carpet dealers revealed during their confession that it was easy money for them as they used to have their share of commission (15 per cent for every lakh). Another share of commission went to the hawala dealer who used to make the final delivery, they added. The Dubai connection of funding came to light in March, 2000, when the police intercepted one person at the border of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab and recovered Rs 33 lakh from him, which was meant for the People’s League, one of the constituents of the Hurriyat Conference, the sources said. The actual problem of funding started last year when the police and intelligence sleuths gathered evidence against some of the carpet dealers with their showroom in Dubai as being involved in the racket. Some of these carpet dealers were picked from the posh Lajpat Nagar area of South Delhi, which threw more light on the entire ramifications of the Dubai channel of funding militancy and the separatist movement in the state, they said.
PTI |
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PoK hi-tech centres continue despite ban Jammu, January 27 Highly-placed security sources told UNI here this morning that these hi-tech communication centres being run by outlaws enable the Mujahideen commanders to communicate with their frontline cadres deployed in Jammu and Kashmir to carry out massive subversive strikes. The four major communication centres which have been identified in PoK are in Zaffarwal, Samani, Kotli and Kahuta areas and are within two kilometres of the LoC. The centre in Zaffarwal is being run exclusively by the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) ultras and the Samani centre is manned by Mujahideens of almost all outfits. The Kotli centre is operated by the ultras of the Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HUJI) and the Kahuta centre jointly by the Lashkar and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants, sources said. They said recent inputs reveal that only the technically-savvy cadres are primarily entrusted with the task of manning these centres, which were built by the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) in collaboration with the technical corps of the Pakistan Army about three years back. In the early years of militancy, the ultras used vintage radio sets for communication. But with various outfits solidifying into organised groups, the ISI began arming them with latest in communication to avoid detection and centres were built to enable various Mujahideen commanders to fortify their operational bases in the Kashmir valley, sources said. Recent inputs from across the LoC reveal that apart from using brands like Kenwood and YEASU high-frequency radio sets, the ultras are reportedly using high frequency transmission centres which are concealed in the deep ravines of the Pir Panjal range. Sources inform that the security experts in Jammu and Kashmir have taken adequate measures including jamming the high radio frequencies to frustrate their coordination network which leaves the ultras clueless. In fact, the elusive Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Ghazi Baba was forced to abandon radio communication with his cadres which left to his men clamouring for his whereabouts. Sources said recent intercepts of the cadres of various militant outfits reveal that their morale is down and they have been heard arguing with their higher-ups of various orders. With heavy snowfall in the high mountains freezing the passes, the frontline cadres have been left high and dry. The unprecedented troop deployment has effectively rebuffed Pakistani attempts to pump in money and weaponry from both across the LoC and the International Boundary (IB). Moreover, some spectacular successes notched up by the Special Operation Group (SOG) and the Special Task Force (STF) have also reportedly taken a heavy toll on the morale of various outlaws operating within and without the state, sources added.
UNI |
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JAMMU BYELECTION Jammu, January 27 The dissidents have accepted AICC President Sonia Gandhi’s suggestion to support the party candidate in the interests of the Congress. This suggestion was given to an 11-member delegation of Congress leaders, led by Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, by Ms Gandhi in Delhi yesterday. Mr Mangat Ram Sharma has convened a meeting of his supporters and those in the dissident camp here tomorrow. The delegation did not place any condition for their support to the party candidate but conveyed to the AICC President certain grievances over the way the PCC chief, Mr Mohammad Shafi Qureshi, handled party affairs, thereby accentuating the problem of infighting in the organisation. Two days back Mr Madan Lal Sharma and Qureshi had called on Mr Mangat Ram Sharma requesting him to support the party candidate as his assistance was needed to give a boost to the party campaign. The dissidents have been assured of suitable adjustment in the PCC set-up and party tickets in the Assembly poll. However, the problem of infighting in the state unit of the BJP is yet to be resolved. A number of dissidents in the party said they had not been approached by loyalists for support and as such they had decided to stay indoors during the pre-poll campaign. They said the RSS high command believed that 4,000 RSS volunteers would be involved in the pre-poll campaign and that was enough to ensure victory for the party candidate, Dr Nirmal Singh. So far no senior leader, except Mr O.P. Kohli, has visited Jammu to bring the two sides closer. He has not succeeded and the wedge between the two is said to be as wide as it was when the party decide to field Dr Nirmal Singh. There are over 14 lakh voters in the constituency. Despite the fact that there are over 15 candidates in the field, the main contestants are Dr Nirmal Singh of the BJP, Mr Talib Hussain of the National Conference, Mr Madan Lal Sharma from the Congress, Mr Tasaduq Hussain of the PDP, Shaikh Abdul Rehman of the BSP, Prof Bhim Singh of the Panthers Party and Mr Dhanraj Bgargotra of the Janata Dal, who is supported by the Jammu Statehood Movement. The Jammu seat was won by the BJP in 1998 and 1999, with the National Conference in the second place and the Congress standing third. If the BJP goes to the polls without resolving the problem of infighting, it cannot expect a cakewalk win because with Mr Mangat Ram Sharma supporting the Congress candidate and Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah having goaded National Conference ministers and legislators to mobilise voters’ support, the BJP may find the going tough. Some of the dissidents in the BJP said the RSS and those supporting Dr Nirmal Singh in the BJP were “overconfident” because they had not fully realised the challenge posed to the BJP candidate from the Congress and the National Conference. |
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