 |
|
Forces in a tizzy over security of
5 Jaish militants killed
Strong winds force cancellation of flights
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Forces in a tizzy over security of PoK visitors
Jammu, April 8 This has been done because of the terrorist threat to the passengers who have defied their diktat against travelling in the newly-launched bus service between the two countries. The safety of these passengers has become a headache for the police, as they will have to be provided foolproof security as long as they stay with their relatives in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir. The passengers have initially been granted permission for staying here for a month. Their security has become a concern for the para-military forces and the police in view of the Wednesday’s terrorist attack at the tourist reception centre at Srinagar where 21 passengers bound for Muzaffarabad from here were lodged under a strong security cover. Five of the passengers chose to cancel their visit to Muzaffarabad as the terrorists had threatened that they would convert the bus into a coffin. The police shall have to formulate some strategy for the security of the passengers as the bus service was initially going to be a fortnightly affair. The passengers, who reached Srinagar from Muzaffarabad late in the evening, were lodged in the hotel for the night under a multi-security ring of the CRPF and the police. Mobile police parties also guarded the area in boats. What is worrying the sleuths is that most of the persons, who have come from the PoK, will be staying with their relatives in
far-flung areas of the state. Providing a round the clock security to them would be a testing time for the cops. The problem is more in Rajouri and Poonch districts of the Jammu region where terrorism was deep-rooted. Eleven of these visitors, including a woman, were today being brought here from Srinagar under a tight security net. The nearly 10 hours drive of the PoK visitors from Srinagar to here today was keeping the police on tenterhooks. The DIG of the Udhampur — Doda range, Mr Satvir Gupta, was himself on the road throughout the day to supervise the security arrangements of these passengers as a minor error could cause embarrassment for the country. Rajouri and Poonch districts have the highest number of families that were divided between the two countries during Partition. Of the 19 passengers who finally left for PoK in the yesterday’s inaugural bus, as many as 13 belong to the Jammu region. The police was piloting the Swaraj Mazda coach carrying the 11 passengers here from Srinagar and there were many police vehicles escorting it. These passengers would be lodged at a safe place here during the night and carried to their relatives’ homes in Poonch and Rajouri districts tomorrow morning. According to reports, they were given a tumultuous reception when they entered the territory of the Jammu division at Banihal this morning. Several people accorded reception to them at other places enroute, including Ramban, Batote and Kud. They had late lunch at Ramban at 4 pm and were expected to reach here late in the evening. |
|
Srinagar, April 8 An official spokesman said troops cordoned off a village near Shopian in Pulwama today. However, while the troops were taking their positions, militants opened fire. In the ensuing gun battle two JeM militants Sarafraz Ahmad, a resident of Gujranwala Pakistan, and Zahoor Ahmad Bhat were killed. Two AK rifles, nine magazines four hand-grenades and one wireless set were seized. Three more militants of the same outfit, Shahid Maqsood Ali, alias Afghani, Kara Usman and Maqsood Ali, alias Amar Gaznavi, were killed. One chinese grenade, three magazines and one wireless set were seized. A local militant, Irfan Qazi, alias Asif, was killed by security forces at Watigam in the south Kashmir district of Anantnag last night. He said a woman was killed and another was injured in a shootout between militants and security forces at Challad village, under the Arnas police station. A VDC member, Ashiq Ahmad, was shot dead by militants at Thathri last night while two persons were injured in a cross-fire between militants and security forces at Tanta Gandoh. Two militants surrendered along with two AK rifles, two magazines and 65 rounds at Doda while another was arrested at Sopore last night. — UNI
|
|
Strong winds force cancellation of flights
Srinagar, April 8 Ten flights, four each of Jet Airways and Indian Airlines and two of Sahara, were scheduled for the day and their cancellation left nearly 1000 passengers stranded here, a spokesman of air traffic control said. He said the strong winds which swept the valley throughout the day did not allow the operation of flights and the incoming and the outgoing flights were cancelled. Meanwhile, power supply was disrupted in the valley as the windstorm uprooted trees, electric poles and roof-tops at various places, including Tral and Shopian in Pulwama district. However, there was no casualty reported from anywhere, the police said. Hundreds of mediapersons, who had come from all over the globe to cover the maiden run of the historic Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, had to return to their hotels after the flights were cancelled.
— PTI /UNI |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
