Srinagar, March 31
In stepped-up violence a week before the start of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, militants detonated an explosive in the house of a minister. They also killed eight persons, including three Gujjars, in Jammu and Kashmir overnight.

Security personnel gunned down two militants, busted hideouts and recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition in the state.

The militants detonated a blast in the house of Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Aziz Zargar at Manzgam Noorabad in Anantnag district last night.

The blast was so powerful that its sound was heard in the entire area.

Windowpanes of nearby houses and a mosque were damaged due to the impact of the blast.

Mr Zargar was not in the house at the time of the blast.

Militants abducted and later killed Fareed Ahmad Gujjar, Farooq Ahmad Gujjar and Fareed Gujjar from Magam Sonbrari Kokernag early yesterday. Their bodies were found in the nearby forest today.

The militants shot at and critically wounded a Congress worker and former numbardar Mohammad Iqbal Bhat at Sagam Kokernag in Anantnag district last night. He was admitted to hospital where he died.

Official sources said the militants hurled a hand grenade at a security bunker near the Khanyar police station today. Five CRPF personnel were injured.

The militants shot at and critically wounded driver Mushtaq Ahmad and conductor Mohammad Ayub Dar at Jehangir Chowk, near here, last night. They were admitted to hospital where Mushtaq died.

The militants abducted and later killed Amar Singh and Lal Husain at Thanamandi last night, while a surrendered ultra Jamal Din was killed at Banihal.

Security forces gunned down a militant in an encounter at Kalakote in Rajouri district last night. An ak-rifle, three magazines, 71 rounds of ammunition and one hand grenade were recovered from the slain militant, identified as Ali Mohammad, alias Abdu Furqan. — UNI

Jammu, March 31
Chief Minister, Mufti Sayeed today got respite from dissidence on the eve of the elections for six seats of the Legislative Council as papers of the Peoples’ Democratic Front (PDF) candidate were rejected by the returning officer.

This was after the Forest Minister, Mr Mohiuddin Sofi, claimed he had not backed his candidature.

It was an anti-climax when the Secretary of the Assembly, Mr Iqbal Ganai, who is returning officer for the elections, announced rejection of the papers of Mr Nazir Khan, PDF candidate.

At least 10 MLAs are required to back a candidate for filing the papers.

The PDF, which is a coalition partner in the Mufti government, had fielded Mr Khan as it was denied a single seat. Mr Khan is the son of Mr Sarfaraz Khan, who belongs to the PDP and is a minister in the Mufti’s Cabinet.

Moulvi Rasheed, a PDF MLA, also withdrew his support to Mr Khan.

Mr Ganai told this correspondent that he had received a letter from Mr Sofi saying he had not signed documents to support the candidature of Mr Khan.

The returning officer accepted the papers of 14 others for the six seats. Efforts by mediapersons to contact Mr Sofi over the telephone remained futile. His mobile phone was also switched off.

The returning officer rejected the objections of the National Conference (NC) on the candidature of Mr Tassadaq Hussain, who has been fielded by the ruling PDP.

The NC pointed out that Mr Hussain hailed from Rajouri district and was not competent to contest the seat that was reserved for Poonch district.

However, the returning officer accepted the papers of Mr Mushtaq Khan, candidate for the Panthers Party which is also a partner in the ruling coalition.

Later, Mr Usman Majid, Minister of State for Planning, who is also member of the PDF, said: “We will discuss the future course of action among ourself”.

He said efforts were made by the PDP leaders last evening to get the papers of Mr Nazir Khan withdrawn. The Mufti also talked to certain PDF leaders on the issue.

Jammu, March 31
The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has decided to construct over 1,000 pollution and malodour-free toilets on the route to the shrine in the Kashmir valley.

According to Dr Arun Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of the SASB, the decision has been taken to maintain the eco-balance of the Himalayan range in South Kashmir during the coming pilgrimage.

He said that exhaustive consultations with environmentalists and scientists in the field have been held. The SASB raised 461 such toilets during the last pilgrimage and the country’s top-most research organisations like NEERI and Pune University have described these as excellent work.

He said that the board proposed to cover at least 5,000 pilgrims per camp with a ratio of one toilet per 10 pilgrims. Provision of adequate water supply with use of friendly bacteria is expected to ensure faster degradation of all waste into manure.

Dr Arun Kumar said that disposal from toilets would be made in specially designed leach pits with screens and absorbent material which would be covered by concrete slabs in the interest of safety. The human waste so collected would be treated with a combination of various beneficial and naturally occurring micro-organisms mostly used for or found in foods, which include main general phototrophic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria and yeast to make the soil fertile.