 |
Thursday,
July 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Six hurt
in grenade blast Militant
strikes fail to deter pilgrims Pak troops
open fire in Noushera sector |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Bhim:
Mufti must not head Unified Command
Govt takes control of
Sher-e-Kashmir hospital Policemen
to be punished for ‘fudging’ DNA samples
|
|
Six hurt in
grenade blast Srinagar, July 23 The police said six civilians were injured when suspected militants hurled a grenade in the main market at
Qazigund, about 70 km on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, this morning. The grenade lobbed at a vehicle of the security forces missed the target and exploded on the road, causing injuries to civilians. One militant of Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit, Irshad Ahmad, was killed in an encounter with security forces at Achabal in Anantnag district today. An AK rifle, two magazines and two hand grenades were seized from the site of encounter. A Pakistani militant was killed in an encounter with the security forces at Panthatop Kandi in Kupwara district yesterday. He was identified as Israr Ahmad Khan alias Abu Ilyas from Pakistan, the police said. |
|
Militant
strikes fail to deter pilgrims Srinagar, July 23 With the arrival of a fresh batch of 2,810 pilgrims from Jammu in 136 vehicles today, the total number of yatris, who arrived in the valley, has gone up to 1.08 lakh. Of these, 29,000 yatris have visited the cave shrine via Baltal on the Srinagar-Leh highway. However, this heavy influx is in the violation of the Nitish Sen Gupta recommendations, according to which only 800 yatris are allowed via Baltal and 2700 via Pahalgam routes. Going by the recommendations, the total number of yatris during the first 12 days of the yatra should not have exceeded 42,000. Meanwhile, security along the Amarnath yatra route from Pahalgam and on hills overlooking the route has been increased following reports of militant movement in the areas. “The Core Group on Amarnath Yatra Security (CGAS) upgraded security network amid intelligence reports about the movement of militants in hill features enroute to the cave shrine,” DIG (South Kashmir) M.A. Anjum said. Mr Anjum, who is the chief coordinator of the group, said “additional domination” of all hill features on the 46-km Pahalgam-Amarnath route had been ensured and all “gaps” in the features, particularly in Sheshnag and Panjtarni, plugged with the deployment of paramilitary forces. Besides, nucleus groups of the security forces and quick reaction teams had also been deployed at all sensitive places where reports of movement of militants had come from, he said. One more tier of security had been added to the two-tier set up around Pahalgam and the cave shrine, Mr Anjum said. “Frisking and checking has been intensified along the route, base camps as well as the Jammu-Srinagar national highway to ensure incident-free yatra,” he said.
— PTI |
|
Pak troops open fire in Noushera sector Jammu, July 23 The exchange of fire along the international border was also reported at Narainpur in the Ramgarh sector last night, they said. Meanwhile, security forces continued combing operation in forests areas of Akhnoor following intelligence reports that some ultras may have sneaked in, the sources said.
— PTI |
|
Bhim: Mufti must not head Unified Command Jammu, July 23 On the other hand, Mr Omar Abdullah, President of the National Conference, which is in Opposition in the state, firmly said that being a civilian government, the Chief Minister should continue to head the Unified Command. However, the problems in the functioning of the Unified Command should be solved. The President of the Nationalist Congress Party here, Thakur Randhir Singh, has also demanded the handing over of charge of the Unified Command to the Army. These leaders were separately talking to mediapersons here in connection with the terrorist attacks on Vaishno Devi pilgrims and an Army camp claiming several lives. Mr Bhim Singh said that there was need for restructuring the Unified Command in the best interests of the security of the state so that it could be more effective in curbing terrorism and violence. He accused the intelligence agencies of failing to detect the network spread around Jammu by terrorists groups. He said the incidents at Kaluchak, Sunjawan and now Akhnoor were alarming signals for the security forces which had been direct targets of the ISI-sponsored attacks. Mr Bhim Singh said it was a pity that the Unified Command, which was headed by the Chief Minister, had not been able to address this issue in spite of three fatal attacks on Army camps. Mr Bhim Singh said that the GOC concerned should be made head of the Unified Command in the interest of the security of the state. Mr Omar Abdullah said that the Unified Command was functioning smoothly during the regime of the National Conference and it appeared that some problems had come up now. He described the terrorist attacks as a major security lapse and said that instead of patting themselves, the Centre and the Mufti government should concentrate on their primary responsibility of maintaining law and order. Unfortunately, the government had so far failed on this front. Thakur Randhir Singh, President of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Nationalist Congress Party, said that the PDP-Congress coalition government owed an explanation to the people for its failure to protect their lives from attacks of Pakistani terrorists. |
|
Former Hizb-ul commander joins politics
Srinagar, July 23 “Today, I, with the support of hundreds of comrades, announce the initiation of a political struggle for the resolution of the Kashmir issue,” former Hizbul divisional Commander Zafar Akbar told reporters at his hideout on the outskirts of the city. Akbar, earlier known by the name Fahad Rafai and later Zafar Abu Fatah, heads the Hizbul faction, loyal to slain commander Abdul Majid Dar operational in the state. The announcement to renounce the gun came days after his faction in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir reportedly decided to merge with another militant outfit Hizb-e-Islami. Asked if he had decided to float his own separatist party or join an existing one, Akbar said “we have not decided it yet .. we will take a decision in this regard in near future. We respect the work done by all (separatist) parties and have friendly contacts with all of them.” He said the decision to renounce the gun culture was prompted by the latest peace initiatives between India and Pakistan and he would play a positive role in this direction. “The governments of the two countries are coming closer ... The hardline parties of the two nations are trying to come closer. Why should we be an impediment,” he said. However, Akbar said he would not appeal to militants to lay their arms and join the political movement.
— PTI |
|
Govt takes control of Sher-e-Kashmir hospital
Srinagar, July 23 The government had also taken over the management of Kashmir Nursing Home here to “prevent the illegal transfer of possessions” of the institute to a “third party” by the Sher-e-Kashmir National Medical Institute Trust, he said. However, he did not name the “third party”. Mr Farooq Abdullah and his family had management control of the Skims. The decision was taken to “prevent enormous loss to the State and protect the interests of the people”, the spokesman said. The government also revoked an order issued in 1976 under which the land, building and annexes of the nursing home had been transferred along with all other assets including equipment, to the Sher-e-Kashmir Medical Institute Trust, he said. He said it also revoked a government order of 1978 where under 15 hectares of land at Zoonimar, the government dispensary at Soura and a drug research laboratory along with land measuring 1 acre had been transferred to the trust. The nursing home along with land measuring 0.5 acre and other assets belonging to the Health Department were also transferred to the trust, the spokesman said. This was done under the Transfer of Property Act but no transfer deed or lease deed was executed between the state government and the trust, the spokesman said.
— PTI |
|
Policemen
to be punished for ‘fudging’ DNA samples Srinagar, July 23 Thirtyfive Sikhs were gunned down by militants on March 20, 2000, coinciding with the visit of the then US President, Mr Bill Clinton, to India. However, there was a public outcry that those killed were innocent civilians. Faced with public protests, the state government ordered a probe into the killings. The bodies of the victims were
exhumed and DNA samples sent for tests. Media reports from Kolkata and Hyderabad, that there were attempts to tamper with the DNA tests, led to another probe and the tests were done afresh in March, last year. After the new government took over in the state last year, it constituted the three-member ministerial team to probe the incident.
— PTI |
 |
| 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 | |
