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I-Day function: people ignore boycott call
3 held for selling govt cement
Mobile phone services suspended in valley
Fresh probe ordered into Anara case
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Locusts destroy crops over 240 sq km
IED with
2.5 kg of RDX recovered
2 civilians killed in gunbattle
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I-Day function: people ignore boycott call
Jammu, August 15 The day passed off peacefully as initially there were reports that terrorists might try to disrupt the celebrations at some place. A ring of tight security was thrown around the city and other sensitive installations, besides the airport and the railway station. Although a bandh was observed in the Kashmir valley, a large number of people turned out at Bakshi Stadium to witness the parade followed by a cultural function. The stadium was almost packed to capacity. Government employees were asked to be present at these celebrations, but others did not lose the opportunity to witness the Independence Day parade. About 10,000 persons came to the parade ground in Jammu where Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, Transport Minister, unfurled the National Flag. The attendance at the parade in Doda, which has witnessed a series of massacres by terrorists in the recent past, was of the order of 8,000. Haji Nissar Ali, Minister for Social Welfare, unfurled the Tricolor there. Enthusiasm was witnessed among the people in Poonch and Rajouri, adjoining Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) where they turned out at the parade grounds in large numbers. Reports said that about 6,000 persons witnessed the parade in Rajouri. About 2,500 persons witnessed the parade in Poonch.
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3 held for selling govt cement
Jammu, August 15 The Senior Superinten-dent of Police, Doda, Mr Manohar Singh, identified the arrested persons as Mr Amit Singh, district manager of SICOP, the Hari Charan Singh, truck driver and Mr Surinder Singh, shopkeeper. He said various government departments dealing in public distribution in Doda were under the scanner of the police following reports that the supplies were being siphoned to black-marketeers instead of reaching genuine people. The SSP said reports were received that the truck carrying 240 bags of cement belonging to the SICOP were being unloaded in a private shop at Tondwah. The police seized the cement. The driver of the truck and the shopkeeper were arrested on the spot. During interrogation, the two revealed that SICOP officials had sold the cement at the rate of Rs 283 per bag to the shopkeeper against the market rate of Rs 295 per bag. The SSP said more arrests were expected to be made on the basis of the interrogation of the arrested persons. |
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Mobile phone services suspended in valley
Srinagar, August 15 BSNL mobile phones in the entire valley stopped working from 9.30 a.m., half an hour before the commencement of the I-day functions across the state. The network started functioning as soon as the function at Bakshi Stadium, the main venue for Independence Day celebrations in Jammu and Kashmir, was over. The services of private telecom giant, Airtel, were also disrupted. The customer care cell of Airtel said the service was suspended due to security reasons. Following intelligence reports that militants might use mobile phones to trigger IEDs, the security agencies decided not to allow mobile phones to the venues of the functions, official sources said. All the invitation cards carried a footnote asking invitees not to carry their mobile phones with them to the venues of the functions, they said. — PTI
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Fresh probe ordered into Anara case
Jammu, August 15 The three-member SIT is headed by Senior Superintendent of Police Aziz Khan. Its other members are Deputy Superintendent of Police Ashok Sharma and Inspector Lal Chand, official sources said today. The case had rocked the state two years ago. The police last year dropped their case against Anara, who was crowned Miss Jammu in 2001, after a forensic laboratory concluded the woman in the film was not her. The SIT has been asked to start the fresh probe immediately, the sources said. Anara was arrested with seven persons in connection with the case in November 2003. In February, Jammu’s Chief Judicial Magistrate Sanjay Dhar had directed the state police chief to reopen the case and probe it afresh through an honest and dedicated police officer of the rank of deputy inspector general. Anara, who has consistently denied appearing the porn film, has been working in a film based on her experiences.
— PTI |
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Locusts destroy crops over 240 sq km
Jammu, August 15 Sources told this correspondent today that the entire crop in the Zanskar valley had been destroyed by locusts. A high- level central team consisting of experts of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) visited the affected area yesterday to study the situation. A separate central team will assess the extent of loss suffered by the farmers. The state government has urged the Centre for an aerial spray of pesticides and insecticides as manual spray has proved to futile to control the locust. Local Buddhist farmers in certain villages have resisted the efforts of the officials to kill the locust by spraying pesticides , a senior officer of the Agriculture Department said. The officer said a swarm of locust was heading towards Kishtwar, which is close to the Pangi valley of Lahaul-Spiti and the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh. The Deputy Commissioner of Kargil, Mr. K.I. Khan, said locust had caused massive damage in the area. The Chief Agriculture Officer of the Kargil district said on the telephone that more than 50 per cent of the crops in the district had been destroyed by the locust. Two rounds of manual spray had not succeeded in controlling the pests. He said among the worst- affected villages were Kasha, Tungey, Sam, Seela and the adjoining areas. Almost entire standing crop had been destroyed in these villages. Farmers in Kargil district last week suffered a setback due to unprecedented rain and floods in the Ladakh region. Floods washed away standing crops on about 300 hectares. Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad flew to Kargil last week to take stock of the damage caused to the crops by locust and floods.
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IED with
2.5 kg of RDX recovered
Jammu, August 15 A senior Army officer said the recoveries were made on specific information following which the Army and the police combed the Choadi area, near Sainik Colony.Besides the IED, three electric detonators, one Chinese-made calibre 30 Mauser pistol with a magazine, seven rounds of pistol and 10 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition were seized. |
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2 civilians killed in gunbattle
Srinagar, August 15 The bodies of Mohammad Altaf Tantray and Mohammad Yaseen Tantray were recovered from Khandaypora village in the Ashmuqam area where a fierce gunbattle had been on for the past two days between the security forces and the militants, the sources said. An Army jawan was killed and two others were injured on Sunday when the encounter began. Although defence and police officials confirmed the recovery of the bodies, no one was willing to make a comment on how the two were killed.
— PTI |
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