“We have advanced the marriage by 10 days so that we can perform the function as planned,” Mr Ghulam Mohammad Dar, whose son was scheduled to get married on June 16, said.

He said the new regulation, which stipulates a bar on the number of guests and the quantity of food to be cooked, had come as a surprise as it did not provide ample time to make changes in the schedule.

“Elaborate arrangements have already been made for my son’s marriage and it is not possible to make amends to the schedule in view of advance payments made to the caterers and other people,” Mr Dar added.

According to the Guest Control Regulation under Essential Commodities Act, the hosts on the bride’s side can invite only 75 guests including the ‘baratees’ while the groom’s side can invite 50 persons only. The maximum quantity of food allowed to the cooked is 45 kg and 30 kg mutton for the two sides respectively.

He said the only way to perform the ceremony and the feast as per prevalent norms of the society was to advance the marriage before the new order come into force on June 7.

Mr Mohammad Maqbool Bhat was a little luckier than the Dars as he had to adjust his schedule just by one day. Although most of the people are sceptic about the proper implementation of the Guest Control Order, they don’t want to lock horns with the authorities.

Mr Dar on the other hand, said the restrictions on the feasts were outdated as the Act was promulgated in the state in 1973 and needed to be amended to make it more realistic.

“When the Act was promulgated 30 years ago, the standard of living was low in the state and the valley used to remain cut off from the rest of the country for many days due to closure of highway. But today we don’t need such harsh steps as the condition of the people and well as the roads has improved,” Mr Dar said.

Although most people here advocate simplicity in solemnising of marriages, the government order has received a mixed response.

Militants lobbed the grenade at the patrol party at 4.00 pm near Bijbehara sub-district hospital, but it missed the target.

Three pedestrians, all civilians, were injured in the blast, the sources said adding they were removed to hospital. Militants targeted yet another patrol party at Yaripora in Kulagam area of the district this morning. The grenade aimed at the BSF patrol party missed the target and exploded without causing any damage, the sources said.

No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the twin attacks in the district so far. In Udhampur district, one militant was killed during a gunbattle with security forces at Katargi in Mahore area last night. One AK rifle, four magazines, 384 rounds, one UBGL, two grenades and a wireless set were recovered him.

The police recovered body of Khurshaid Ahmad Dar from Haigam in Sopore area of north Kashmir Baramula district, the spokesman said.

In Pulwama district, security forces apprehended a militants at Kashipora, effecting recovery of some arms and ammunition from him. Another militant was arrested from Gujjarpati area of Bandipora along with a pistol and some other ammunition, the spokesman said.

JAMMU: Two militants were killed in different encounters in Doda and Udhampur districts last night, sources said here today.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Udhampur-Doda) Satvir Gupta said the ultras fired at the police and 23 Rashtriya Rifles personnel who were carrying out searches in Mandakwas area of Banihal. In the encounter, a militant was shot dead.

One AK rifle, three magazines and four handgrenades were seized from the slain militant, he said.

A jawan who sustained injuries in the encounter was airlifted to command hospital in Udhampur.

The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) which had chiefly made the accusations, had released a list of 121 “disappeared individuals” in March last year.

A police spokesman today listed 39 of these “missing” people, saying they had been found at their homes.

He said around 14 names and particulars in the APDP index could not be traced, either because there were no such persons with these names in the villages indicated or, as in some cases, even the claimed village did not exist.

The spokesman said at least 21 “so-called disappeared persons” were still active in militant ranks as per police verification, while 10 others had been killed in different encounters after joining their ranks.

At least 20 individuals whose name had been included in the list of alleged disappeared persons, cases had been registered and investigation started. The police, however, believed that some of them might had been abducted by the militants, he said.

In the remaining cases probes had not been completed yet.

The spokesman said the police findings had proved the allegations, which he described as “motivated to malign the state government”, as false.