J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Hurriyat leaders to visit camps for Kashmiri Pandits
Udhampur, June 25
For the first time, Hurriyat leaders are planning to visit camps housing migrant Kashmiri Pandits — a move welcomed by the community that fled the militancy-hit valley in large numbers in the 1990s.

Teacher shot, 4 cops injured in blast
Srinagar, June 25
Four policemen and two teenagers were injured in separate explosions in Jammu and Kashmir, where militants killed two persons, including a woman working in the Army-run Goodwill School. The security forces also seized a huge cache of arms and explosives from a militant hideout today, a police spokesman said.

GOC-in-C negates minister’s statement
Jammu, June 25
The GOC-in-Chief Northern Command, Lt-Gen Hari Prasad, today denied state Home Minister Prakash Jaiswal’s statement that militant training camps existed in the upper reaches of Poonch and Rajouri.

Governor refused chopper for Vaishno Devi
Jammu, June 25
The authorities today refused to provide helicopter to Governor Lt Gen S.K. Sinha (retd) for flying to the Vaishno Devi shrine tomorrow.

Hurriyat leaders to visit camps for Kashmiri Pandits

Udhampur, June 25
For the first time, Hurriyat leaders are planning to visit camps housing migrant Kashmiri Pandits — a move welcomed by the community that fled the militancy-hit valley in large numbers in the 1990s.

A Hurriyat delegation led by Chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq will start its tour of the migrant camps in July to initiate a dialogue with the Pandits, as part of their new strategy to “reach out to everyone”.

The delegation will first visit Udhampur, a town 66 km north of Jammu.

This will be the first trip by Hurriyat leaders to the camps, though Shabir Shah of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party has been a frequent visitor in the past.

The Mirwaiz said: “Our mission is to talk to all sections of the people.

Kashmiri Pandits, who are an integral part of Kashmiri society, will be visited. We want to share with them our version of the solution to the Kashmir dispute and hear from them.” Kashmiri Pandits are enthusiastic about the visit of the separatist leaders who earlier this month returned from a fortnight-long visit to Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir.

Kashmiri Pandit leaders at the Battarwallian camp, the first one listed on the itinerary of the Hurriyat leaders, have started preparing for the visit.

“It is good that they are coming first to us,” said Shyam Lal Dhar, one of the inmates at the camp.

“We have suffered a lot in the past 15 years, and we are also conscious that they (Kashmiri Muslims) too have suffered a great deal. Our common enemy is terrorism. We would be too happy to help in finding a solution to the Kashmir problems,” another inmate, Dwarka Nath Handoo, said.

“They can understand it better. Especially, when they are coming to our camps in summers, they would also know in what conditions and climate we have been living all these years,” observed Pushpa, an elderly woman at the camp.

The move of the Hurriyat Conference is seen as part of their new strategy to “reach out to everyone” and project that they are the voice of all in Kashmir. — IANS

Teacher shot, 4 cops injured in blast

Srinagar, June 25
Four policemen and two teenagers were injured in separate explosions in Jammu and Kashmir, where militants killed two persons, including a woman working in the Army-run Goodwill School.

The security forces also seized a huge cache of arms and explosives from a militant hideout today, a police spokesman said.

Four policemen were injured when an IED, went off at Pangai Morh in Rajouri district today, he said.

The explosion took place when the personnel of Road Opening Party of the Indian Reserve Police stopped at Pangai on their way from Thanamandi to Shadhra Sharief.

In another blast, two teenagers were seriously injured when a grenade exploded at Kreeri in Baramula district.

Farooq Ahmad Lone (14) and Zahid Ahmad (12) were playing along the river bank at Saloosa village when they found an abandoned grenade this afternoon, the spokesman said.

The boys started fiddling with it, triggering the blast which left both of them seriously injured. They have been shifted to hospital.

A 25-year-old woman working as a teacher in goodwill School was shot dead by the militants outside her house in Kulgam area of Anantnag district this morning. Rubai Akhter was shot by militants when she was leaving her house at Shurat village for school.

The police found the body of Abdul Ahad Malik from Dashnipora village of Rafiabad in Baramulla district this afternoon.

Malik, a resident of the same village, had been kidnapped by the militants from his house late last night and later killed.

In a major haul, the security forces unearthed an arms dump of the militants during an operation in the Tral area of Pulwama district today. A huge cache of arms and explosives were recovered from the dump at Reshibal village. — PTI

GOC-in-C negates minister’s statement
Our Correspondent

Jammu, June 25
The GOC-in-Chief Northern Command, Lt-Gen Hari Prasad, today denied state Home Minister Prakash Jaiswal’s statement that militant training camps existed in the upper reaches of Poonch and Rajouri.

“We have no knowledge of the presence of militant training camps in Poonch and Rajouri,” he told mediapersons.

When reporters drew his attention to Mr Jaiswal’s statement made in Delhi on June 23, he said there were no training camps.

He said there were militant hideouts and “we keep on smashing these”.

He said there were no areas in the twin border districts of Jammu which were in the control of the militants.

“We keep on carrying out aerial reconnaissance and we have not found any training camps. Our foot patrols are there and to my knowledge there are no training camps,” he said.

Referring to the series of IED and RDX explosions in various parts of the state, he said: “These are simply acts of desperation on the part of the militants.”

Governor refused chopper for Vaishno Devi
Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 25
The authorities today refused to provide helicopter to Governor Lt Gen S.K. Sinha (retd) for flying to the Vaishno Devi shrine tomorrow.

He is scheduled to inaugurate a development project there.

It is learnt that Raj Bhavan was today informed that state helicopter was not available tomorrow.

Raj Bhavan was now trying to arrange a helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the Governor’s visit.

The Governor is the Chairman of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and has to fly there to take stock of the arrangements.

He is scheduled to inaugurate “Darshani Deori”, the take off point for the 13-km trek to the shrine which has been constructed at Katra.

Thereafter, the Governor will fly to Bani in Kathua district to inaugurate another function.