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Jammu, October 3 A Saudi national, Al Saleem, who was picked up by security forces on Monday last near the Army check post in Akhnoor for interrogation, was set free yesterday. A police official escorted to him to Delhi where he was handed over to officials of Saudi Embassy.
Demand to abolish draw system for Hajis
Militant shot in J&K
Mufti on a strong wicket in Pahalgam
State to release Rs 50 lakh for Wullar lake project
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Pilgrim raped in Katra hotel
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Saudi man let off, handed over to Embassy
Jammu, October 3 A police official escorted to him to Delhi where he was handed over to officials of Saudi Embassy. A senior police officer told this correspondent today that though Al Saleem was travelling on valid travel documents he had to be interrogated as he was picked up by the Army while entering into the border area which is not a tourist resort. The officer said, “it took us time to quiz him because he could speak and understand only Arabic language. We had to engage a Deputy Superintendent of Police and Arabic scholar, who had to be brought from Srinagar. It was on the report of the DSP that Al Saleem was let off from the police lockup. Interrogation had revealed that Al Saleem had valid visa documents and after reaching Delhi he had been duped by a cab man who robbed him of a major chunk of Saudi currency notes which he carried He had come to India to visit various places, including the hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir, but by mistake reached Akhnoor. Al Saleem was innocent and did not carry any weapon or
incriminating document. He was a truck driver in Saudi Arabia. Love for travel had brought him to Delhi. The police officer said the main reason behind “our decision to hand him over to the Saudi Embassy officials was to prevent him from being further cheated by some miscreants. We wanted him to be in the safe hands so that he could return to his place without being harmed.” |
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Demand to abolish draw system for Hajis
Srinagar, October 3 This led to demonstrations by the aspiring Haj pilgrims here during the past few days demanding the inclusion of all
applicants by abolition of draw of lots system that has been adopted by the state government this year. The State Haj Committee, however, has sought the cooperation of the applicants for the coming Haj pilgrimage, formalities for which are being completed in advance. The selection of Haj pilgrims by the draw of lots was reintroduce this year after a gap of several years as the number of applications exceeded the allotted quota to
the state. Disturbed over the draw of lots system for the selection to undertake the annual Haj pilgrimage, the aspirants feel betrayed allegedly by the new UPA government at the Centre. It, they claimed, was playing with the religious sentiments of the people. Many applicants alleged that the government was helping private travel agencies to come to the rescue of the
aspirants. There are a number of travel agencies providing Haj package for pilgrims claiming to offer better travel and accommodation facilities. A spokesman of the Haj Committee stated here that during the past few years, the quota allotted to other states like Kerala, Bihar and West Bengal, exceeded the number of pilgrims joining the pilgrimage. These seats were being diverted to Jammu and Kashmir, thereby accommodating all the applicants here. Over 7,000 pilgrims from the state performed the annual Haj in the holy city of Mecca last year. |
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Militant shot in J&K
Srinagar, October 3 One AK rifle, four magazines, two wireless sets, two IEDs and one handgrenade were found from the slain militant, who has been identified as Saqib ul Islam, he said. The spokesman said four civilians and a jawan were injured when ultras lobbed a handgrenade towards a security patrol at Chankhan crossing in Sopore area of Baramula district. The injured were hospitalised and reported to be out of danger. The security forces also apprehended two suspected militants at Kundabal in Safapora area of the district and recovered 55 kg of explosive material from Trazoo in Sopore area on their information, the spokesman said. He said another militant was apprehended in neighbouring Kupwara district at Nunwani in Kalaroos area and an AK rifle, two magazines and five rounds were recovered from him.
— PTI |
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Mufti on a strong wicket in Pahalgam
Jammu, October 3 It is a four-cornered contest for the seat that has been vacated by the Mufti’s daughter, Ms.Mehbooba Mufti, who has gone to the Lok Sabha. This is after about 20 years that the Mufti is contesting the Assembly election apparently to remove the stigma that he was continuing to be the Chief Minister without facing direct elections. He is currently a member of the Legislative Council to fulfil the constitutional obligation that the Chief Minister or any member of his Council of Ministers should be a member of either of the two houses. He represented the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat for a brief period in 1998 and before that he was an MP from Uttar Pradesh The exit of his daughter from the Assembly has provided him an opportunity to contest from a seat that was being considered safe for him. His main opponent this time is Mr.Rafi Ahmed Mir of the National Conference (NC), whom Ms Mehbooba Mufti had defeated in 2002. No national party has fielded its candidate for the Anantnag and Batmaloo seats and the Congress was supporting the Mufti’s PDP in these constituencies. The BJP has also chosen to keep itself out of the fray this time in the valley. The contest is between the two regional parties, the PDP and the NC. Interestingly, of the 43 candidates for the four seats of Pahalgam, Batmaloo, Basohli and Akhnoor where byelection is being held, only two females are in the fray. While the Congress has fielded Mrs.Kanta Andotra for the Basohli seat, the Panthers Party has given the ticket to Mrs Shameema Begum for the Batmaloo seat However, allotment of tickets to Mrs Andotra in Basohli and Mr Sham Lal Sharma in Akhnoor has caused a lot of heart burning among Congress activists as these candidates are relatives of Mr Lal Singh and Mr Madan Lal Sharma, who vacated these seats after winning the Lok Sabha election. There are as many as 14 candidates for the Akhnoor seat, 12 for Basohli, 13 for Batmaloo and four for Pahalgam. |
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State to release Rs 50 lakh for Wullar lake project
Srinagar: The Central Government has released around Rs 45 lakh for the current year to cover the catchment area of Wullar lake under the Centre-sponsored Management and Conservation of Wullar Lake project in north Kashmir.
This was stated at a meeting of forest officials, which was presided over by the Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Forest, Mr Ghulam Mohiuddin Sofi, to review the project here. Around 68,417 kanal of land presently under use by various government departments and locals of the area had been identified by the Environment Department, an official spokesman said. The minister said the state government would also provide Rs 50 lakh for its demarcation as per the commitment made by the Chief Minister at a meeting last year. Mr Sofi was informed that catchment area of the lake had been divided into two sectors comprising two catchments. Various activities like fencing, sowing red flower and conifer, pasture development, contour bedding and other activities would be started shortly in the catchment area, he said. The authorities concerned were directed to complete the demarcation of the world famous lake and uproot plantation by encroachers. The minister also directed officials to formulate a proposal enlisting the departments that had occupied the lake to seek Cabinet approval for eviction. For smooth functioning of the project, the minister assured them of provision of adequate staff shortly. The meeting also decided to constitute a coordination committee to avoid inconsistency and strengthen coordination amongst various executing agencies by the Forest Department. The meeting was attended by Principal Chief Conservator Forests; Special Secretary Forests; CCF, Kashmir; Director Social Forestry and Director Soil Conservation. Mr Sofi said the committee would be headed by Principal Chief Conservator Forests and its members would be heads of allied departments of forests. He said the aim of constituting the committee was to avoid the overlapping of works among various departments within a particular area during the execution of various forestry programmes so as to cover more areas under the programme. |
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Pilgrim raped in Katra hotel
Jammu, October 3 A waiter at a hotel in Katra allegedly raped the 18-year-old girl, a resident of Hapur at Ghaziabad, last night when she was alone in the hotel, it said. The victim, along with her friends, had come to Katra to pay obeisance at the Vaishno Devi shrine. After completing her pilgrimage, she was resting in her room of the hotel when the incident took place. Seeing the victim alone in the room, the waiter locked her in the room and repeatedly raped her. Later, he managed to flee from the spot, the police said. A case has been registered against the accused and a hunt is on to nab him, the police said, adding that medical examinations have been conducted and the report is awaited.
— PTI |
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