Jammu, December 4
Following the alleged fake encounters with the Pakistani troops in the Siachen area, the surrender by fake terrorists in a bid to grab the cash incentives announced by the Jammu and Kashmir government has caused yet another embarrassment for the Army.

Having first taken the credit for these surrenders, which were organised with much fanfare at the headquarters of the 16 Corps at Nagrota last month. Army personnel are now finding it difficult to explain it.

The then GOC of the Corps, Lieut-Gen Ashok Kapur, who was yesterday promoted as GOC-in-C of the Southern Command and the Director General of Police, Mr Gopal Sharma, were present in the ceremony in which 47 ultras surrendered on November 9.

The GOC-in-C of the Northern Command, Lieut Gen Hari Prasad, today faced questions on the issue from mediapersons when he visited a water mill near Udhampur.

He said none of these terrorists at many stage before the surrender mentioned that they were innocent civilians. They admitted their involvement in terrorist activities and during the surrender they insisted covering their faces to avoid “terrorists’ wrath”.

The Army was reportedly contacted by a civilian who conveyed the willingness of some terrorists to surrender.

Ruling out a probe into the “fake surrender” of militants last month, General Hari Prasad said the Army had no mechanism to check the antecedents of those who surrender.

“The media reports on surrender controversy are totally wrong and baseless as the Army had facilitated the surrender of militants last month to bring misguided youth back to the national mainstream,” Lieut General Hari Prasad told reporters.

The Army has no axe to grind in the matter. We were just a facilitating agency for the surrender, He said adding that Army do not have a mechanism to check the antecedents of surrendered militants.

“We had handed over all these surrendered militants to the police for verifying their details and rehabilitation,” he said.

Refusing to institute a probe into the fake surrender, he said “Where is the need to order probe? The Army does not have any verification mechanism for it.

An Army officer told this correspondent that the Army was not to be blamed for these fake surrenders as these “ultras” had come to various camps to lay their arms and ammunition. Terrorists after their surrender are handed over to the police for further verification. It was during such investigations that the truth came out.

Reports indicate that these boys had posed themselves as terrorists in a bid to avail the cash grant of Rs 1.50 lakh, a monthly stipend of Rs 2000 and government’s guarantee for bank loan that has been announced by the Mufti government for the ultras who join the mainstream.

It is suspected that some other “fake” surrender might have been offered in the past with this objective as unemployment was growing among the youth.

Doubts had been expressed over the foolproof implementation of the government’s surrender policy right from the beginning as it had created heart burning among the unemployed youth who did not believe in the gun. Some of the political organisations while criticising the policy had described it as an incentive for those who indulged in killing of innocent men, women and children and were dancing to the tunes of the Pakistani ISI.

This call for re-screening of the over 300 terrorists who surrendered during the past four years. As many as 210 terrorists have surrendered in the Jammu division since 2000.

Jammu, December 4
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent announcement lifting the recruitment ban on government services has proved to be a bitter pill for the state government. The reason: the state authorities have not received an assurance from the Centre that it would share the financial burden.

At present the annual wage bill in Jammu and Kashmir is over Rs 3200 crore and it may not be possible for the state government to fill all vacant posts. The state government banks on the Central financial assistance for meeting the wage bill.

According to senior state government functionaries, there are over 10,000 posts vacant in different departments which could not be filled owing to the memorandum of understanding the Kashmir Government signed with the Centre in 2000. Under this agreement a blanket ban on recruitment was imposed and only those posts were filled which came under essential services.

During the last five years the state government had resorted to a convenient practice of appointing educated youths on contract basis. Those appointed were entitled to a monthly salary of Rs 1500. The maximum recruitment was carried out under Rehbr-i-Taleem scheme.

A government officer informed that even for these services “we had to bank on the financial assistance from the Centre.” He confirmed the incident when students of three schools had to suffer as the owner of the buildings locked the classrooms after they did not receive rent for several months.

More than 5,000 educated youths have been appointed as teachers under Rehbr-i-Taleem scheme. But most of them have not received their wages for the past several months due to severe financial crunch.

Finance Department sources said several hundred crore of rupees had to be diverted from the non-plan sector to the plan sector for meeting the wage bill of the employees.

The state government requires additional financial assistance to the tune of Rs 70 crore a year for giving regular jobs to about 10,000 educated youths. Since the number of unemployed youth in the state had crossed over two lakhs filling 10,000 vacant posts may not solve the problem.

Sources said at least some beginning could be made to solve the problem of unemployment in case the Centre agree to bear the additional financial burden.

Srinagar, December 4
About 26-hour-long operation against militants, who stormed a security forces camp at Sopore killing five jawans and injuring two others, ended this morning with the recovery of the bodies of both militants, a senior CRPF officer said today.

The operation was over at 8.30 am after the bodies of both militants were recovered during search of the area. The operation was postponed last night because of darkness.

He said weapons of the slain militants have also been recovered.

He said one of the militants was killed last evening, while another was injured. He also died around 1.30 pm today.

The "Al-Mansoorian" militant outfit has claimed the responsibility for the attack which came barely a week after seven CRPF personnel were killed by their colleague, allegedly an ULFA militant.

The official said it was around 5.30 pm yesterday when, a group of two militants hurled hand grenades and opened fire on the guard posted on the main gate of the camp near the telephone exchange in the densely populated area.

The security forces in the nearby picket also returned the fire and in the ensuing clash, three CRPF personnel died on the spot and three others were injured.

Reinforcements were rushed there and the entire area was cordoned off to foil militants' attempts to escape, the official said.

The CRPF become the main target of militants after it replaced the BSF in most parts of the Kashmir valley. So far, about 20 CRPF personnel have died and scores injured in militants attacks since the first incident in the Dal Lake area. — UNI

Jammu, December 4
Two Hizb-ul Mujahideen militants, including a commander, surrendered before the police at Reasi in Udhampur district last evening, official sources said today.

They were identified as launching commander Mohammad Kalu and Mohammad Amin Bakkerwal, both residents of Reasi.

Both of them were active in Reasi and its surrounding areas for the past four years.

The militants said they surrendered before senior superintendent of police (Reasi) J.L. Sharma and brought along two AK rifles, eight magazines, 137 rounds, three handgrenades and two radio sets. — UNI

Jammu, December 4
An old water mill at Samundrani village on the Tikri-Katra road close to Udhampur, upgraded by the Army as a part of its healing touch policy, was today inaugurated by the GOC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt-Gen Hari Prasad. By the use of latest technology, the Army had enhanced its capacity to about 1,500 rpm. The water mill could also be utilised for flour grinding and cotton ginning.

The Army not only provided the necessary technology, but also provided a shelter with a cemented platform for better efficiency. A chamber for the turbine had been constructed and pipe-based water channel provided to harness the water to its full potential. The project, completed at a cost of Rs 2.5 lakh, would not only benefit the people in the surrounding areas, but would act as an experimental centre for the Army to further explore and enhance this technology.

Dr A.K. Joshi, chairman of the NGO HESCO, was the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony. He expressed satisfaction over the manner in which the Army was exploiting this concept to enhance the living conditions of the people residing in remote and inaccessible areas.

Srinagar, December 4
Four members of a family were today suffocated to death when a room in their house caught fire at Shalteng, near here, official sources said.

Jana, wife of Mohammad Jamal Najar, their daughter Meema and her two children — daughter Danish and one-year-old son Sajad — were trapped inside the room when it caught fire.

However, the fire was controlled immediately and the four evacuated and sent to hospital in an unconscious state. They were declared brought dead.

None of them had suffered any burn injuries and were believed to have died after inhaling the smoke, which had engulfed the room.

The fire was caused by mishandling of a traditional firepot, ‘kangri’, used in Kashmir during winters. — PTI

Jammu, December 4
Fourteen government officials of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir have been suspended for being allegedly absent during duty hours, official sources today said.

Deputy Commissioner of Poonch M.R. Thakur during a surprise visit to various offices of the district yesterday found the officers absent and issued orders for their suspension.

He also directed that the officials be charge-sheeted and an explanation should be sought from them.

The offices, which the Deputy Commissioner inspected, included the Public Health Engineering, the Public Works Department, the Soil Conservation, the Block Development Officer, the Assistant Labour Commissioner, the District Audit Office, the Agriculture Department, and the Zila Sainik Board. — PTI

Srinagar, December 4
About 26-hour-long operation against militants, who stormed a security forces camp at Sopore killing five jawans and injuring two others, ended this morning with the recovery of the bodies of both militants, a senior CRPF officer said today.

The operation was over at 8.30 am after the bodies of both militants were recovered during search of the area. The operation was postponed last night because of darkness.

He said weapons of the slain militants have also been recovered. — UNI