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Wednesday,
July 9, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Top Hizb commander killed in Kupwara Kashmiri Shahnaz Awan, 22, a border-shelling victim, has his feet and legs wrapped in bandage while lying on a hospital stretcher in
Srinagar
on Tuesday.
— Reuters Nation page: Infiltration
on rise
CRPF to escort ‘yatris’ to Banihal |
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Army to adopt
Maulvi’s son Mufti opens Gupkar Road to commoners
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Top Hizb commander killed in Kupwara Srinagar, July 8 The militants opened fire on the security forces, who retaliated killing two militants, including a district commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen identified as Mohammad Akbar Peer, they said and described Peer’s killing as a “major breakthrough”. Peer, a local militant, was active in the district and was wanted in connection with a large number of militancy-related incidents, the sources said. They said an AK assault rifle, an under-barrel grenade launcher, two wireless sets, two hand grenades and some ammunitions were recovered from the scene of the encounter. Meanwhile, unidentified militants opened fire on Kreeri police station in Pattan area of Baramula district in North Kashmir last night. Police guards also fired in retaliation, but none was hurt in the shootout, they added. JAMMU: One SPO was killed and three others were wounded in an ambush laid by the militants in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar on Tuesday. Official sources said a police party, engaged in patrolling the sensitive Chatroo area, was ambushed by militants who opened indiscriminate fire killing one SPO on the spot and wounding three others. The patrol party
retaliated but the militants escaped in the nearby forest area. The Rajouri massacre, in which five civilians were killed, could have been done by exfiltrating terrorists, security sources said on Tuesday. Sources, quoting eye witnesses, said Monday’s massacre, in which five civilians, including two women, were shot dead while two women were injured at Dandhok village in the Nowshera sector near the Line of Control (LoC), might have been the handiwork of the militants, who were trying to cross over to Pakistan. The terrorists remain untraced despite a massive search operation launched by the Army and the police. The sources said a group of civilians observed three militants at Dandhok at about 11 am on Monday while they were working in their agricultural land. The militants in Army fatigues, brandishing rifles, reportedly asked one of the civilians to guide them to the LoC. However, the civilian refused to oblige and instead raised an alarm in an attempt to attract the attention of the security forces. Sensing trouble, the militants opened firing, killing five civilians and injuring a woman. The militants escaped from the village before the Army and the police could reach the spot. Army teams immediately started a search operation. DIG Rajouri-Poonch range S.M. Sahai and SSP (Rajouri) Prithvi Raj Manhas also rushed to the spot along with police and para-military personnel. Mr Sahai said efforts were on to trace the ultras and the ongoing search operation had been intensified to nab them. The civilians killed in the firing had been identified as Joginder Lal, Kali Dass, Munshi Ram, Tarowanti and Babli Devi — all residents of Langar and the Dhaneka villages in Dhandok area in Nowshera tehsil. |
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Geelani splitting Hurriyat: Lone
Srinagar, July 8 “Geelani has come with a simple design to split the Hurriyat Conference. That is what India wants,” PC chairman Sajjad Gani Lone told reporters at his Rawalpora residence. Lone circulated a letter among journalists by his brother Bilal Gani, who represents the PC in the Hurriyat executive, to the amalgam’s chairman Abdul Gani Bhat detailing party’s charges against Geelani. Describing Geelani as an “ideological nightmare for the Kashmiri struggle,” Lone said for Geelani, Kashmir is not a cause but an excuse for pursuing some other agenda. Endorsing Bilal’s letter, Sajjad charged Geelani with putting up his close aide Abdul Khaliq Hanief as a proxy candidate in last year’s Assembly elections. He accused Geelani’s supporters of indulging in tactical voting to ensure victory of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) nominees. “Our impeccable sources suggest that in South Kashmir, his faction tactically voted for the PDP,” he said. Referring to Geelani’s statement asking Kashmiris not to take relief from government, Lone asked “did he not accept huge sums by government on his treatment?” Lone, who took over the People’s Conference after his father Abdul Gani Lone was killed last year, accused Geelani of adopting double standards saying he was not averse to sharing a stage with government functionaries. Accusing the Jamaat leader of bringing militancy into politics, Lone said “is Geelani creating the same environment which he created before the assassination of Lone senior.” Asked what happened to the Hurriyat committee to probe his father’s killing, he said the inquiry was yet to take off. Asked if the PC would seek Geelani’s permanent ouster from the Hurriyat following the charges against him, Lone said it was for Hurriyat to decide. “We will not push for his expulsion. We are not an indisciplined lot.” — PTI
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CRPF to
escort ‘yatris’ to Banihal Jammu, July 8 According to Inspector-General CRPF, V.B. Singh, two other tasks given to the CRPF were to escort the pilgrims from Jammu to Banihal and secure sensitive areas on the Jammu-Banihal highway. He said eight teams, equipped with highly, sophisticated weapons, have been constituted to prevent militants suicide attack on the pilgrims. He said heavy deployment of security forces had been ordered between Ramban and Banihal which is considered highly sensitive. He said 16 more companies of the CRPF have been deployed for the yatra against 12 last year. He said the troops had sanitised small towns situated between Udhampur and Banihal and the road opening exercise too has been given to the Army. A BSF spokesman said that in collaboration with the Army and the police areas around the holy cave and the two routes, one from Pahalgam and the other from Baltal, too have been sanitised against any explosives and rebel hideouts. The BSF has constituted 12 medical teams. Each team has doctors and paramedical staff to provide assistance to pilgrims in distress. Mr V.B. Singh said that nearly 300 buses and other vehicles will carry 3500 pilgrims each day. He said while 2700 piligrims will be allowed to reach the cave, situated at a height of 13500 feet, from Pahalgam the remaining 800 were to travel via Baltal route, which is much shorter than the former. He said “we have taken in hand all possible security measures for ensuring incident free month long pilgrimage”. About 85,000 pilgrims have been registered and several hundred pilgrims have been agitating in Jammu for the last one fortnight demanding extension in the registration period. The government has so far resisted the pressure on the plea that in the interest of the security and safety of the pilgrims “we cannot allow more than 3500 pilgrims to leave Jammu for the cave per day. About 19,000 men of the Army, Paramilitary forces and the police have been deployed from Jammu to the holy cave. A senior officer of a security agency said “intercepted messages sent to militants from across the border had indicated that the rebels had been directed not to disrupt the yatra and attack any pilgrim”. He said “despite such messages we have taken adequate measures for ensuring incident free pilgrimage”. In reply to a question Mr Singh said “bomb disposal and dog squads at group centres have been kept ready for meeting any eventuality”.
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Army to adopt Maulvi’s son
Srinagar, July 8 The government has already announced a magisterial inquiry into the incident in which the Maulvi and his son were allegedly killed by the troops. Mr Baig, who visited the family of the Maulvi at Dharaw in Baramula district last evening, said all expenses of the schooling and marriage of the girl would be borne by him. Mr Baig was accompanied by the GOC 15 corps, Lt Gen V.G. Patankar. General Patankar presented a cheque for Rs 1 lakh to the widow of the Maulvi and also announced that the Army would adopt one of his sons. Mr Baig in his earlier visit to the family, immediately after the incident, had presented an ex-gratia cheque for Rs 2 lakh to the family besides giving an appointment letter to the next of kin of the deceased. Addressing a gathering on the occasion, he urged the militants to shun the path of violence to pave the way for the return of peace and normalcy in the state. He said, an opportunity is knocking at our door to say goodbye to the violence and put an end to the bloodshed which has only brought miseries into the lives of the people. The minister urged the army and other security agencies operating in the state to ensure the safety of innocent civilians while fighting militants. He suggested a rehabilitation package for those militants, who were willing to shun the path of violence. “It is our duty to provide an opportunity to those who are willing to give up violence and join the mainstream,’’ he said and added that the people of the state were fed up of violence and wanted to live with peace and dignity. Speaking on the occasion, General Patankar said clear instructions had been issued to the army that no innocent civilian should be harmed while fighting militancy. He said the army was even ready to welcome those militants who were willing to give up the gun and join the mainstream. Such militants, he said, would be given ample opportunities to live honourably in the society. — UNI
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Mufti opens Gupkar Road to commoners Srinagar, July 8 Gupkar road was thrown open to public on last Sunday to the delight of the residents of Dalgate and Boulevard road along the Dal Lake, signalling an end to exaggerated security concerns. The state government took the decision following massive traffic jams on the Boulevard road in the evenings as the two Lane road was not capable of holding the flow of traffic, officials said here. With the tourist arrivals picking up of late, the Boulevard road lining the Dal Lake used to wear the look of a metropolitan, being over-crowded in the evenings to allow smooth flow of traffic. It was pathetic that thousands of people had to suffer for the comfort of a few, said Ishtiyaq Ahmad, who works at a restaurant on the Boulevard. He said opening up of the alternate road leading to favourite tourist spots had reduced the pressure on the Boulevard by as much as 70 per cent. Now we have only tourists and local residents plying from Dalgate to Cheshmashahi crossing and those who live in areas further up take the alternate route, said Mohammad Yousuf, a houseboat owner in the Dal Lake. Gupkar road, which was closed to commoners following the eruption of militancy in the state in 1989, houses the residences of former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, his son and National Conference president Omar Abdullah and several ministers in the coalition government. Another decision which has won praise for the coalition government has been to initiate work on the first flyover in the Kashmir valley. Mr Sayeed sought a proposal for building a flyover from Jehangir chowk to Civil Secretariat Junction from the Chief Engineer of roads and buildings department during his whistle stop tour last month. The Chief Minister approved the proposal on July 3 and work began in right earnest the next day. Let us hope this project did not go the way previous flyover project went, said Haji Mohammad Ali, a shopkeeper at Jehangir chowk, who added that the project should have come up at least three years back. The number of vehicles in the city has increased heavily in the last few years, without better road coverage, he said. The project was initiated in 1997 by the previous government but was rolled back following objections by security agencies as the flyover passed just next to the state high court, the civil secretariat and Accountant General’s office. The flyover, whose foundation stone will be formally laid on July 13, has been scheduled to be inaugurated the same day in 2004. according to the officials, there was provision of connecting the flyover to Indira Gandhi airport road later at a cost of Rs 3.60 crore. — PTI
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2.7 kg of heroin
seized Srinagar, July 8 Acting on a tip-off yesterday, BSF officials laid a trap and arrested Abdul Rashid Mir from Sangrama and seized three packets of heroin each weighing 900 gm from him, the sources said.
— PTI |
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