 |
Saturday,
July 5, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Hill Kaka militants fan out in valley Patwari held in land scam;
arms, cash seized BJP flays NC demand on autonomy Amarnath pilgrims
end fast Flyover gets govt nod |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Students organise run for peace Pak spy among 3 arrested
|
|
Hill Kaka militants fan out in valley Jammu, July 4 Official sources said that infiltration of militants from the Surankot belt of Poonch district into south Kashmir, after traversing mountain routes, was confirmed when six rebels were eliminated in areas near Yusmarg and in Abu Hama in Pulwama district recently. The source said that out of over 100 militants hiding in the Hill Kaka area, prior to operation Sarap Vinash, between 50 and 60 gun-weilding youths were believed to have entered into the valley. Soon after operation Sarap Vinash was over the Corps Commander of 16 Corps, Lieut Gen T.P.S. Brar, had claimed that 63 militants had been killed in the Hill Kaka area. However, government agencies had confirmed the killing of only 28 rebels in the operation and 35 others had been eliminated in the adjoining areas of the Hill Kaka forests. According to the official sources, since the mountain routes between Poonch-Rajouri and Banihal and between Surankot and Kishtwar were porous and unmanned, militants, after crossing into the Indian territory, had sneaked easily into the twin districts of Anantnag and Pulwama. The sources said that after the plan of fencing several stretches of the LoC for checking
infiltration of rebels became known, agencies across the border had started aiding bigger groups of militants in infiltrating into Jammu and Kashmir. Between middle of April and end of May the rate of infiltration had shown marked decline, particularly from across the Kupwara and the Uri sectors but during the last one month several groups of rebels had made it to various areas in the state from across Kashmir’s northern border belt. Sources said that activists of various rebel outfit had instructions not to carry out any operation that may hurt the feelings of common people in the Kashmir valley. In this connection militants, sources added, had been asked to fortify their bases in different parts of the state and avoid doing anything which could disrupt tourist traffic and the ensuing Amarnath pilgrimage. Sources explained that possibly it was under these instructions that no rebel outfit had announced its plan to disrupt the Amarnath pilgrimage. They said “We have taken in hand all possible measures to foil any mischief during the yatra period because we do not find any substantial change in the threat perception.” The sources said that unless the mountain routes linking Poonch, Rajouri with areas in South Kashmir were not plugged, the overall security situation in the state may not witness any improvement. Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir National Panther’s Party (JKNPP) today demanded extension of operation “Sarap Vinash” in Doda district to flush out foreign militants. In a statement issued here today, JKNPP vice-president Kuljit Singh said the tourism potential of Doda remained unexplored due to militancy. Urging the state government to launch the operation mainly in the upper reaches of the district, Mr Kuljit Singh said about 1500 terrorists were operating in Dechan, Marwah in Kishtwar area, Sui-Begar, Balpadri, Haddal Manoo in Gandoh area and Chinta Valley in Bhaderwah area of the district. A large number of Laksher-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists were hiding and running training camps from Bhart hills, 20 km from Doda town, he added. |
|
Patwari held in land scam; arms, cash seized Jammu, July 4 Vigilance Department officials last night raided premises of the four officials — one patwari, two tehsildars and a naib tehsildar against whom it had registered FIRs in Kathua town in connection with the land scam. During a search at the patwari’s residence the officials seized documents pertaining to the scam, two Chinese pistols, seven pistol magazines, 105 rounds of .38 pistol, 30 rounds of 9 mm pistol, 130 rounds of AK 47 rifle, nine .303 cartridges and two .303 chargers following which the official was arrested, the sources said. Several kilograms of some powder suspected to be either gun powder or brown sugar was also seized during the raids conducted by the Vigilance team led by Senior Superintendent of Police Alok Puri at the official’s house. He has been brought here for interrogation and another case under the Arms and Ammunition Act is likely to be slapped against him, the sources said. Rs 1.29 lakh cash, jewellery, papers connected with the scam and a pass book of a bank account of Rs 10 lakh were seized from the premises of other officials, the sources said adding that one of them was absconding. The officials have been accused of irregularities in the sale of prime government land worth Rs four or five crores in Janglot areas of Kathua, they said. Vigilance sources said the revenue officials tampered with records and sold state government land measuring 48 kanals in Kathua illegally to a Pakistani refugee. Later four “influential” persons took possession of the land, one of whom, a top businessman, was constructing a private school on it. The case came to light after the registration of an FIR against senior IAS officer Aslam Qurashi and state administrative official Tushar Sharma in connection with multi-crore land and commercial building allotment and backdoor appointment scam in Jammu Development Authority in May this year, the sources said. — PTI |
|
|
BJP flays NC demand on autonomy Jammu, July 4 In a statement here today, Prof Hari Om, Spokesman for the BJP, said that the BJP cautiously welcomed yesterday’s announcement of the NC that it stood for regional autonomy to ensure balanced development of all three regions of the state. He said the BJP does not trust the “valley-centric” NC leadership because it, like other parties, had consistently “betrayed” the people of the Jammu and Ladakh regions and pursued policies which had only rendered them ineffective for all practical purposes and deprived them of their legitimate due in the state’s political and economic process. Prof Hari Om said that if the NC was sincere about empowering the people of Jammu and Ladakh through the instrument of regional autonomy, it should explain in unambiguous terms what exactly it meant by the term “regional autonomy”. He also demanded that the NC should clarify its stand on the Regional Autonomy Committee report of the regime of Dr Farooq Abdullah. |
|
Amarnath pilgrims
end fast Jammu, July 4 The sadhus, who are squatting outside the registration office closed since June 25, were critical of the state government which has fixed the number of yatris to be allowed to visit the cave shrine in the Kashmir valley. An angry Baba Giri Raj, who has come all the way from Maharashatra, alleged that the J&K government was always taking care of the Hajis bound for Mecca, but was imposing restrictions on the sadhus to proceeding to the Amarnath cave. Many pilgrims demanded that the Centre should take in its own hands the conduct of the Amarnath yatra because they have lost faith in the state government. They said why should any government fix the quota of the pilgrims when the cave shrine was situated within the country. The J&K government was handling the issue as if the devotees were bound for some foreign country. |
|
Flyover gets govt nod Srinagar, July 4 Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, chairing a high-level meeting convened for traffic management here yesterday, issued instructions for taking up work on the project within a week’s time. He said the first phase of the project would include the construction of a pedestrian subway near Jehangir Chowk. The work on the project had begun during the previous government’s tenure but has been stopped due to unknown reasons. The Chief Minister also ordered the construction of parking places in Srinagar. He asked the Planning Department to release funds for the early completion of work on the Athwajan bus stand and construction of sheds and other facilities at the Parimpora terminal. |
|
Students organise run for peace
Srinagar, July 4 The students, shouting the slogan ‘we want peace’, were cheered throughout the 10-km route from Narbal to Shariabad by people on both the sides of the road. Corps Commander of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lieut-Gen V.G. Patankar, who flagged the race, said that return of normalcy was possible only with the active involvement of the local population. “These events show that it is the desire of the local population that militancy must end giving way to normalcy and all-round development in the state”, he said. The students were led by a team of 20 motor cycles being driven in pyramid shape adding excitement to the fun. The run was organised by students of Srinagar and sponsored by anti-insurgency Kilo force of the Army.
— PTI |
|
|
Pak spy among 3 arrested Jammu, July 4 Alert BSF troops arrested a Pakistani intruder at the Phadpur border out post near the international border in Samba sub-sector of Jammu district this morning, the sources said. The youth had been sent for interrogation and was suspected to be a spy, they said. A Bangladeshi national, identified as Mohammad Aziz, was also arrested in R.S. Pura this morning. A militant named Saleem, had been arrested in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district last night, the sources said. A militant hideout was busted in Surankote in Poonch district last night and two IEDs, 70 rounds of AK assault rifle and three radio sets had been recovered.
— PTI |
|
Girl killed in
Pak shelling Baramulla, July 4 Official sources said Pakistani troops fired mortars and artillery shells in the Uri sector targeting installations of the security forces as well as civilian areas. Some of the shells fell in civilian-inhabited areas at Dandi and Kamalkote near the Line of Control resulting in the death of the 10-year-old girl. — UNI |
|
Srinagar venue for Inter-State Council meeting Srinagar, July 4 To be inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the meeting, would be attended by the Chief Ministers of all states and Lt-Governors of union territories, the sources said.
— PTI |
|
Jobs sought for ex-servicemen Jammu, July 4 |
 |
| 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 | |
Hundreds
of people participate in a peace rally organised by the Indian
Army.
(
