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Sunday,
August 10, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Deal firmly with militants:
Mufti Bid to trigger blasts in Kashmir
foiled APHC seeks nod to send team to
Pakistan Additional forces for Aug
15
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CRPF to the aid of
Amarnath pilgrims Inter-state liquor gang busted BSF jawan dies of snakebite Ladakh council members sworn in Non-cadre officers’ appointment decried Cop, revenue official held
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Deal firmly with militants:
Mufti Srinagar, August 9 Addressing a joint meeting of the Unified command for Jammu and Kashmir here last evening, Mufti held that there was greater realisation that the gun was no solution to any problem. He said India and Pakistan were moving in the right direction for sorting out bilateral problems, including the Kashmir imbroglio. He held that the changing political situation, improving ties between the two neighbouring countries, greater people-to-people contacts and creation for a congenial atmosphere for dialogue were indicators of restoration of peace in the region. The Mufti said the government would continue its efforts to further normalise the situation in the state in line with the people’s sentiments despite incidents of militancy. Referring to the continued incidents of militancy and killings of people by the militants, the Chief Minister asked the security forces to remain vigilant and deal firmly with the enemies of peace. He cautioned them against custodial killings and said no innocent person should be harassed. While reviewing the overall security scenario in the state, the Chief Minister said though there had been noticeable improvement in the ground situation leading to a good tourist season a successful and a Amarnath
yatra, “we have not yet crossed the hump.” He said while the rehabilitation of those who surrendered would be considered, the fight against militancy had to be taken to its logical end with the support of the people. In his comments, the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma said ever since the coalition government came to power, the distance between the people and the government had become shorter. The Chief Secretary, Dr Sudhir S.
Bloeria, Corps Commanders, 15 and 16 Corps, Lt-Gen T. P. S. Brar and Lt-Gen Nirbhay Sharma, the DGP, Mr. Gopal Sharma, and heads of the Central and state intelligence agencies apprised the Chief Minister of their assessment of the ground situation and new trends in militancy. |
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Bid to trigger blasts in Kashmir foiled Srinagar, August 9 Security forces, during a routine search, detected a powerful IED planted by militants at Sogam bus stand this morning, official sources said. The bomb disposal squad was immediately summoned and the explosive device was defused. Security forces also detected and defused a live grenade at the Sopore bus stand. Official sources said security forces killed two militants at Bandipora in the North Kashmir district of Baramula in an encounter last night. The encounter ensued after a search party was attacked by the militants. In another encounter, a militant was killed at Gandipora in the central district of Badgam last night. Meanwhile, security forces picked up four youths hailing from the frontier district of Kupwara for questioning during search operations at Mehjoor Nagar locality in uptown Srinagar, official sources said. The youths, identified as Mohammad Abdullah Malik, Mohammad Maqbool, Arshid Lone and Gulzar Ahmad Gojri, were taken into custody, the sources said. All residential houses in the locality, failing in the close vicinity of Bakshi Stadium- the venue of the main Independence Day ceremony - were searched by troops during the operation, the sources said. Two persons, including a CRPF jawan, were injured when militants lobbed a grenade on security personnel guarding the house of the People’s Democratic Party leader and MLA Ghulam Hassan Khan at Shopian in Pulwama district of south Kashmir today, the sources said. Mr Khan was not present inside the house at the time of the blast which occurred at around 12.30 p.m., they said, adding that the grenade exploded with a big bang injuring a jawan and a pedestrian, who had been shifted to hospital. The sources said the blast caused panic among the people. Within no time the whole market wore a deserted look as people ran for cover following the explosion. No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. JAMMU: Militants killed two persons in the Mendhar area of Poonch district and villagers caught a Pakistani national in the Akhnoor sector of Jammu division since Friday evening, official sources said here today. Some militants entered the house of Mohammad Khursheed at Kasblari village in the Mendhar sector of Poonch district on Friday night and killed him and his son Shamim, the sources said, adding that security forces and the police had launched search operations to arrest the culprits. In another incident, locals of N.S. Pura village in the Akhnoor sector nabbed a teenaged boy moving about in suspicious circumstances on Friday evening, the sources said. The villagers handed over the youth to the Army, they said, adding that after preliminary questioning the youth was identified as Mohammad Shakeel of Saidpur village in Sialkote district of Pakistan. —
UNI, PTI |
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APHC seeks nod to send team to
Pakistan Jammu, August 9 During a recent visit of a team of APHC leaders, headed by the party Chairman, Molvi Abbas Ansari, to Delhi, a demand for granting permission to the Hurriyat team to visit Islamabad and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was placed before their political friends in the Union Capital. Molvi Ansari told this correspondent that “our friends in New Delhi have assured us that they will take up the matter with the Union Home Minister.” Two years ago, the APHC leadership had suggested to New Delhi to allow a five-member Hurriyat team to visit Islamabad and Muzaffarabad so that it could discuss with men who matter in Pakistan the need for ending violence in Kashmir. The permission was not granted because the team had included Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Since then the Hurriyat leadership had not repeated its demand. However, with the change in the chairmanship of the conglomerate and the peace initiative taken by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Molvi Ansari and his colleagues have revived the demand and are hopeful that permission will be granted to the team to visit Pakistan and occupied Kashmir. “We will not be going on a pleasure trip but for persuading leaders of different militant outfits to opt for dialogue,” Molvi Ansari said. “We are not in a hurry because we have to first finalise our strategy in consultation with the Jamait-e-Islami, which is yet to decide whether it will retain Syed Ali Shah Geelani as its representative in the executive committee of the APHC or not,” Molvi Ansari said. He stated that the Jamait-e-Islami’s majlis shoura meet was slated for August 18 and 19 and after that it would be known if the Jamaat was replacing Syed Geelani, in case he refused to go back to the Hurriyat Conference. Regarding the meetings the APHC team had with the Pakistan High Commissioner and other diplomats, Molvi Ansari said “our demand for the resumption of India-Pakistan talks at an early stage received wide support.” In reply to a question, the Hurriyat Chairman said, “I support Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed’s plea for reopening of Uri-Rawalpindi and Suchetgarh-Sialkot roads.” |
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Additional forces for Aug
15 Jammu, August 9 A senior officer of a security agency said these measures had been initiated following reports that militant groups, including Laskhar-i-Toiba, Jash-e-Mohammad, Al Badr and Harkatul Jehadi Islami, were planning to carry out bomb and grenade explosions in different areas of the state before and during the Independence Day functions. He said Hizbul Mujahideen activists had been allotted Srinagar city and those belonging to Lashkar-i-Toiba and Jash-e-Mohammad had been told to strike in the Bandipore, Genderbal and Mudgam areas. Al Badr had been assigned the task of disrupting functions in the Kupwara and Baramulla areas, he said. The officer said his information was based on intercepted messages received by leaders of rebel groups. He said militants had been told to concentrate in the summer capital, where the main function would be held on August 15. The plan of militants was to hoist Pakistani flags at public functions and stage pro-Pakistani demonstrations on August 14, independence day of Pakistan. However, the areas where Independence Day functions were to be held had been kept under tight security cover. The biggest security cover had been ordered in the Bakshi stadium in Srinagar and the sports stadium in Jammu. All necessary measures had been taken to foil any strike by the militants. “Rebels cannot break the security ring in the stadiums and may resort to grenade and IED explosions in far-flung areas to register their presence,” the officer said. |
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CRPF to the aid of
Amarnath pilgrims Jammu, August 9 The CRPF has established medical camps on the entire route to the shrine starting from Pahalgam. Eleven specialist doctors, along with para-medical staff, are available round the clock. Essential medicines, oxygen and other equipment are available in the camps and pilgrims with symptoms of acute mountain sickness and high-altitude oedema have been provided treatment. According to an official spokesman, a 70-year-old sadhu from Uttaranchal, Shiv Dutta, with many chronic symptoms was admitted in one of the camps and provided a healing touch by the doctors. An 86-year-old Gandesh Anand of Kerala and 83-year-old Bholanath from Rajasthan were among the pilgrims who were given medical aid by the CRPF doctors. |
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Inter-state liquor gang busted Jammu, August 9 On a tip off, the police conducted raids in the Trikutanaga area in the Jammu city and arrested the smugglers identified as Arvinder Kumar, Surinder Kumar and Mohammad Shafi of Jammu, they said. During the raid, 3000 bottles of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) were seized, the sources said adding that the alleged kingpin of the gang, identified as Dharam Pal, has managed to escape. The police have launched a manhunt for Dharam Pal who was reported to be involved in smuggling of liquor from neighbouring Punjab to the state, they said. —
PTI |
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BSF jawan dies of snakebite Jammu, August 9 Another BSF jawan Mohammad Shafi, was bitten by a snake in the Kanachak area of Akhnoor sector during the period, the sources said adding he had been removed to hospital for treatment. —
PTI |
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Ladakh council members sworn in Kargil, August 9 Members of the state legislature, Mohammad Abbas and Nasrullah and prominent citizens, religious leaders and senior officials of the district administration attended the function. —
PTI |
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Non-cadre officers’ appointment decried Srinagar, August 9 A spokesman of the KAS Officers’ Association has urged the government to fill the posts in super time scale of the KAS adding that the posts were vacant for the past over a decade. The spokesman said that transfer and posting orders issued by the state government recently had glaring distortions with many Managing Directors of Corporations posted as Head of Departments against KAS or the IAS cadre posts. This, he added, was in violation of rules and procedures as there were no matching deputations of government officers to the corporations. |
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Cop, revenue official held Srinagar, August 9 Ghulam Mohammad Lone, a nazir in the Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag’s office, was caught yesterday while accepting Rs 30,000 from Ghulam Mohammad Bhat for settling his relief case, he said. In Kupwara district, head constable Abdul Jabbar of Handwara police station was apprehended yesterday while accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a complainant, the spokesman said. —
PTI |
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