J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Farooq poaching on Cong, BJP men
Jammu, July 26
With the Assembly elections approaching, the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, is poaching on Congress and BJP activists to strengthen the foothold of his ruling National Conference (NC) in the Jammu region.

Hawala money for ultras seized, 1 held
Srinagar, July 26
With the arrest of one person and detection of an illegal transaction of over Rs 10 lakh, the police here today claimed having achieved a breakthrough in the illegal funding of militants from abroad.

J&K prescribes consultation fee for doctors
Srinagar, July 26
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has prescribed guidelines for charging consultation fee by doctors in the state following widespread complaints that they were charging exorbitant rates from the patients.

Kargil Vijay Divas observed

Srinagar, July 26 “Even three years after the Kargil conflict, the situation on the border continues to be tense. But we are ready to face any challenge,” General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, Lt-Gen V G Patankar said on Kargil Vijay Divas today.

Army men stand after paying respect to soldiers killed during the Kargil conflict, in Srinagar on Friday. — Reuters photo In video (28k, 56k)

Bank employees lathi-charged
Srinagar, July 26
The police here today resorted to lathi charge to disperse a group of employees of Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd who observed a day’s strike protesting against the failure of the management to accept their demands.

Strike cripples life in valley

Srinagar, July 26 Normal life was paralysed throughout the valley today by the strike in response to a call given by the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association protesting against the VHP’s reported anti-Muslim utterances. A jawan keeps a vigil during a bandh at Budshah Chowk in Srinagar on Friday. — PTI photo

39,717 devotees pay obeisance at Amarnath

Jammu, July 26 As many as 39,717 devotees paid obeisance at the holy “ice-lingum” at the cave shrine of Amarnath till last night while another batch of 5,186 pilgrims left here today for Kashmir valley on way to the shrine. Devotees cross a glacier near the holy cave of Amarath on Friday.  — Reuters

• 2 kids die in house collapse

Farooq poaching on Cong, BJP men
S.P. Sharma
Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 26
With the Assembly elections approaching, the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, is poaching on Congress and BJP activists to strengthen the foothold of his ruling National Conference (NC) in the Jammu region.

Although he has not yet been able to lay his hands on some strong BJP leaders, there are reports that senior functionaries of the NC are in contact with some leaders of the party who are annoyed over certain developments.

However, the Congress has suffered a blow as Dr Abdullah succeeded in weaning its three stalwarts, Mr Iftikhar Ansari, Mr Janak Raj Gupta and Mr R.S. Sharma. Mr Ansari and Mr Sharma are sitting MLAs, while Mr Gupta is a former MP and enjoys a considerable influence here. The entry of Mr Sharma in the NC last week was celebrated with much fanfare here and Dr Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, who is Minister of State for External Affairs and also President of the NC, welcomed Mr Sharma in the party.

A senior Congress leader, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, who was visibly upset over the gameplan of Dr Abdullah, told TNS here today that the latter was trying to weaken the Congress by engineering defections. He indicated that there was no use seeking the unseating of Mr Sharma from the Assembly under the anti-defection law because now it was the fag end of the present Assembly term and fresh elections were due in October. Mr Ansari had already been expelled from the party, he said.

Mr Mangat Ram demanded that to prevent rigging and ensure free and fair poll, the elections should be held under Governor’s rule and not with Dr Abdullah in the chair. On the other hand, the BJP is facing a revolt by a section of the party. This was evident from the “coup” in which Mr Shiv Charan Gupta was recently removed as leader of the BJP legislature group in the Assembly by the party MLAs and Mr Prithvi Chand was installed in his place without consulting the party leadership.

This is learnt to be the fallout of the rivalry between the two groups, one of which is led by the Union Minister of State for Defence Production, Mr Chaman Lal Gupta. Mr Shiv Charan Gupta is considered to be a supporter of Mr Gupta. The other group has been complaining that Mr Shiv Charan Gupta failed to carry all party legislators along and did not take some of them into confidence on major issues.

Faced with a sharp division in the party, Mr Raj Nath Singh, who was recently given charge of the BJP affairs in Jammu and Kashmir, is arriving here tomorrow to take stock of the situation. This is his first visit here after being given charge of J&K.

However, Mr D.K. Kotwal, state president of the BJP, denied that there was any groupism and said that Mr Raj Nath Singh would preside over the meeting of the seven-member election management committee which is headed by Mr Chaman Lal Gupta. He will also address a meeting of party workers in a bid to mobilise them for the coming elections.

Hawala money for ultras seized, 1 held
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 26
With the arrest of one person and detection of an illegal transaction of over Rs 10 lakh, the police here today claimed having achieved a breakthrough in the illegal funding of militants from abroad.

A police spokesman said that it apprehended Prof Shoukat Ahmad Shah alias Shoukat Moulvi, president of the Jamait-e-Ahal-e-Hadees, Jammu and Kashmir on Monday on the charges of siphoning off money for Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen militant outfit received from abroad under the cover of charity. It earlier busted two more conduits pertaining to the channeling of finances for the Jamait-ul-Mujahideen, the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Al-Umar. The Border Security Force (BSF) recently claimed to have unearthed a channel of funding.

The police said that Shoukat Ahmad Shah, resident of New Colony, Lal Bazaar here, a member of the Ahal-e-Hadees, became a member of its general council in 1988 and ultimately was nominated ‘Sadar’ in August last year. Under the cover of the organisation, Shoukat Moulvi established a financial channel with the assistance of one Bashir Ahmad, a Kashmiri expatriate settled in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with the help of one Showkat Malik who runs a shop of readymade garments, in Srinagar. As part of this modus operandi, Bashir Ahmad would pass over funds to Showkat Malik through Delhi who would pass it on to Shoukat Ahmad Shah alias Moulvi after charging his commission of Rs 5,000 for each transaction.

Giving further details, the police said that on the receipt of the amount, Shoukat Ahmad Shah would hand over the bulk of funds to the Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen and record a fraction of the same in ledgers of the Ahal-e-Hadees. Some amount received through such transactions was also invested by him in the construction of a shopping complex in Lal Bazar.

J&K prescribes consultation fee for doctors

Srinagar, July 26
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has prescribed guidelines for charging consultation fee by doctors in the state following widespread complaints that they were charging exorbitant rates from the patients.

Stating this here today, Minister of State for Food and Supplies B.A. Nengroo, who is also Chairman of the State Consumer Council, said a government order had been issued specifying the rates to be charged by doctors.

As per the order, a maximum fee of Rs 70 could be charged by the doctors having super specialisation, and Rs 50 and Rs 30 by MD and MBBS doctors respectively.

The council also expressed concern over the sale of substandard lighting gas cylinders, which have caused damages to life and property at times. PTI

Kargil Vijay Divas observed

Srinagar, July 26
“Even three years after the Kargil conflict, the situation on the border continues to be tense. But we are ready to face any challenge,” General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, Lt-Gen V G Patankar said on Kargil Vijay Divas today.

Paying tributes to soldiers who laid down their lives during the Kargil conflict, Lt-Gen Patankar said: “July 26 is an important day for us as on this day three years ago the last Pakistani intruder was pushed back across the Line of Control.”

“My troops are ready to defend the territorial integrity, unity and security of the country even if it means making the supreme sacrifice,” he told reporters here.

Earlier, Lt-Gen Patankar laid wreaths at the memorial of Kargil martyrs at Badami Bagh cantonment here.

It was exactly three years ago that Pakistani intruders, backed by Pakistani Army regulars, occupied a number of heights in the Kargil and Drass sectors. It took about 45 days for the troops to kill or push back the intruders. More than 500 Indian soldiers died in the battle field. UNI

Bank employees lathi-charged
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 26
The police here today resorted to lathi charge to disperse a group of employees of Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd who observed a day’s strike protesting against the failure of the management to accept their demands.

A spokesman for the striking employees alleged that the police raided the union office at Haza Complex here this morning and took several of its office-bearers into custody. He said at least 10 others were held while protesting against the “apathetic” attitude of the management of the bank. The spokesman said several of its members were injured in the police action.

The All-India Jammu and Kashmir Bank Employees’ Federation had given a call for the strike.

Their demands include promotion of senior cashier-cum-clerks against posts of JMG-I, promotion of subordinate staff against the post of assistant cashier and 100 per cent increase of enhanced HRA to workmen staff posted outside the state.

Strike cripples life in valley
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 26
Normal life was paralysed throughout the valley today by the strike in response to a call given by the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association protesting against the VHP’s reported anti-Muslim utterances. Shops and business establishments were closed here and passenger transport was off the road. However, autorickshaws and private vehicles plied normally. Transport on the inter-district routes plied near normal, reports said.

There was a thin attendance in government offices, while educational institutions remained closed due to the lack of transport on the roads. At least 12 persons, including five police personnel and three students, were injured in clashes at Anantnag on Wednesday as the students took out a procession towards the office of the Deputy Commissioner in the town to protest against the reported remarks by a VHP leader.

39,717 devotees pay obeisance at Amarnath

Devotees pass by mountains at Sangam in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. — Reuters photo

2 kids die in house collapse

Jammu, July 26
Two children were killed and their mother injured when a tree fell on their house at Jaman village in Udhampur district last night, the police said here today. The “dhok” (summer house) collapsed when the tree, uprooted due to heavy rains, fell on it killing the children on the spot. Thir mother has been hospitalised. PTI