 |
Thursday,
April 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Mufti
‘misled’ PM on missing persons Central
team to review security Jawan
killed in encounter |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zargar
invites fruit traders to valley Jammu, April 23 Saying that good rain and snow after a long dry spell has brightened prospects for fruit crop this year, the Minister for Agriculture and Cooperative, Mr Abdul Aziz Zargar, has invited the fruit traders of the country and abroad to visit the state in a big way, assuring all possible cooperation and security to them. 
|
|
Mufti ‘misled’ PM on missing persons
Srinagar, April 23 “Mufti misled Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and the people of the state” by saying that 60 persons had gone missing and the rest had crossed the Line of Control, APDP patron Pervaiz Imroz told mediapersons at the conclusion of his seven-day fast strike. However, on February 26, the Chief Minister, expressing concern at the missing persons, had said that 1,553 had reportedly disappeared in 2000, 1,586 in 2001 and 605 in 2002, Mr Imroz claimed. Quoting Finance, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister’s statement in the Assembly, he said 3,744 persons were declared “missing” since 1992. Mr Imroz said the Chief Minister’s statement during Mr Vajpayee’s visit was “a humiliation hurled at the people and the judiciary” as at least 500 cases of “disappeared persons” had been established in various courts of the state”. He claimed that the Mufti’s contradictory statements had “exposed” his healing touch policy. “The policy is nothing but rhetoric...The truth is this regime is no different from the erstwhile regimes and has no will or determination to address the problem of disappeared persons”, Mr Imroz said, adding that the APDP would continue its campaign as it believed that only civil society could pressurise the government to stop this heinous crime, not permissible even in times of war.
PTI |
|
Central
team to review security Jammu, April 23 The Directors General of the BSF and the ITBP will also participate in the meeting which will be attended by senior Army officers. Infiltration of terrorists has increased here in the past few days. As many as 27 highly motivated Pakistani terrorists have been killed by the Army in Poonch and Rajouri districts in the past two days. It is learnt that some terrorist outfits have joined hands to carry out their activities in the summer. The central team is expected to finalise a strategy to counter the plans of the terrorists. The BSF is already engaged in the work of barbed wire fencing and lighting of the nearly 192 km international border between Kathua and Akhnoor to prevent infiltration. The fencing costs about Rs 23 lakh per km while Rs 11 lakh per km is being spent on floodlighting. The authorities are planning to fence the Line of Control between India and Pakistan occupied Kashmir but this may be done in areas which are prone to infiltration. Fencing of the entire LoC is not possible because of the terrain. |
|
Jawan killed in encounter
Srinagar, April 23 Two unidentified militants were shot dead during an encounter with security forces in the Pattan area of the Baramula district last night, the sources said. A large quantity of arms and ammunition was seized from the slain ultras, they said. An Army jawan also laid down his life during the encounter, which broke out during a raid on a suspected militant hideout in the village. In another encounter, the Rashtriya Rifles killed a Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Farooq Ahmad Dar, at Takia Maqwood village in the Bijbehara area of Anantnag district early today. An AK assault rifle, an under barrel grenade launcher and some ammunition were seized from the slain militant, the sources said. A militant Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat was arrested by the police from the Pahihallan area of Baramula district last night, they said, adding that six grenades, 10 detonators and some explosive material were seized from him, they added. JAMMU: A huge quantity of arms and explosives was found from the encounter site in the Hill Kaka area of Poonch district where 14 militants and an Army jawan were killed and an ultra was apprehended yesterday, a defence spokesman for Northern Command said today. The recoveries included three Pika guns, two AK rifles, one snipper rifle with its sight, one under barrel grenade launcher, one 61-mm mortar, three pistols, one 12-bore gun, Lieut-Col S.P.K. Singh told reporters here. Besides, Army troops also seized 17 grenades, one clamore mine, 20 kg of explosives, 90 electric detonators, one fuse packet, two radio sets, two cell phones, one satellite phone, one dikta phone and two map sheets of Rajouri and Poonch districts. The searches around the encounter site also led to the seizure of 400 kg of ration in bags, 20 kg of dry fruits and 20 kg of pickle, he said. However, the identity of the slain militants and the outfits they belonged to were being ascertained, the spokesman said, adding that the search operations were still continuing in the area. One terrorist was shot dead when troops clashed with a group of heavily-armed exfiltrators in the Ghani area near the Line of Control (LoC), in the Mendhar sector of Poonch district today. Senior Superintendent of Police, Poonch, Mukesh Singh said the troops manning the LoC saw a group of three heavily-armed ultras trying to cross over to Pakistan. When challenged the ultras opened fire on the Army personnel and in the following gun battle one ultra was shot dead, he said. The encounter was continuing when reports last came in, he added.
PTI, UNI |
|
Zargar invites
fruit traders to valley Jammu, April 23 The minister has said that the law and order situation in the strife-torn state had improved considerably. The climatic conditions for fruit crop this year was congenial. The captains of fruit industry should interact with the fruit growers. Expressing his sorrow over the killing of a fruit trader from Azadpur Market, Delhi, Mr Shashi Kumar, at Shopian in
Kashmir, assured the fruit traders that the government would take all precautionary measures to check re-occurrence of such incidents. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Srinagar, April 23
