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Jawan shoots his two kids
NC denies backing Cong, if PDP pulls out
While Cong, PDP measure swords over troop pullout, NC chief plays cricket
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Four militants killed
Insurgency on: MLC
Light vehicles allowed on highway
IAF flies rations to valley
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Jawan shoots his two kids Chandigarh, March 19 Sources reveal that that the accused, Nk Jagu Ram, is facing charges under Section 69 (civil offences) of the Army Act read with Section 302 of the Ranbir Penal Code for murder. The court martial, preside by Col Anupam Jain, commanding officer of a field artillery regiment, began at Jammu a few days ago. The jawan was posted to a Rashtriya Rifles battalion in Jammu and Kashmir when the incident took place about two years ago. He had allegedly used his INSAS rifle to shoot his son, aged about two years, and daughter, aged about four years, at his family quarters near Samba. According to sources, the children were hit by a three-round burst each. He had initially pleaded not guilty and had maintained that the weapon had gone off accidentally. The court of inquiry ordered into the incident and subsequent summary of evidence, however, held that he was liable to be tried for murder. The exact cause for his action could not be established, sources added. Several prosecution witnesses have deposed before the GCM so far, which includes the accused’s wife as well as his elder daughter, now aged about 11 years. He is presently attached with a Jammu and Kashmir Rifles battalion. An FIR had been lodged with the local police after the incident, but later the Army authorities had taken over the case from the civil courts in Jammu. Under provisions of Section 69 of the Army Act, military personnel can be tried by a court martial for civil offences like murder and rape if the said offence is deemed to have been committed while on active duty in the field. Though there have been instances of jawans shooting their superior officers or colleagues while on active duty, ostensibly under stress, instances of jawans turning their weapons on their own children under such circumstances has been unheard of. Last month, a jawan, K.C. Behra was awarded the death penalty by a summary-general court martial for allegedly shooting his battalion commander, Lt Col Saket Saxena, after an altercation. It was the fourth death sentence pronounced by a military court in the past 15 years, sources said.
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NC denies backing Cong, if PDP pulls out
Jammu, March 19 President of the National Conference Omar Abdullah today said, “We had never stated our willingness to support the Congress in case the PDP pulled out of the government.” He told mediamen here the National Conference "has no plans of supporting the Congress. Had we such plans, I would have been knocking the doors at 10 Janpath instead of being in Jammu." Abdullah said, "I know the PDP patron, Mufti Sayeed, has no plan of withdrawing support to the Congress. The Mufti is not thinking of pulling out of the government and hence the question of our support to the Congress does not arise." He said had the Mufti been serious on quitting the coalition government he would not have started "begging" for a meeting with the Prime Minister for finding a face-saving formula. Omar Abdullah's statement on the issue is a deviation from the pronouncements of his father Farooq Abdullah, patron of National Conference,who had stated that the National Conference will consider lending support from outside to the Congress when the situation arose. The NC chief said since the PDP had no slogan left for "misleading" people, it had started raking up the issue of demilitarisation. He said the PDP leadership gained nothing from its earlier slogans of healing touch and peace with dignity it had begun demanding withdrawal of troops and the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Inside reports said the shift in the NC stand was the result of opposition from several senior NC leaders to the idea of supporting the Congress on the plea that such a policy could be construed by people in Kashmir as support for those forces which were opposed to demilitarisation and repeal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
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While Cong, PDP measure swords over troop pullout, NC chief plays cricket
Jammu, March 19 An upbeat Abdullah inaugurated the Sher-e-Kashmir cricket tournament named after his grandfather Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. On the other hand, PDP patron Mufti Sayeed was preparing for tomorrow’s meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to hammer out differences between the two parties that have plunged the state into uncertainty. Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is already camping in Delhi and today briefed the Prime Minister on the situation in the state. Sources said the Mufti might continue to stick to his demand for gradual reduction of troops from Kashmir and repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Abdullah said the NC as an opposition party had nothing to do with the current impasse a creation of the ruling coalition. He pointed out the NC was a silent spectator. Azad appears confident and has announced he had the requisite number of legislators to support the Congress-led government in case the PDP pulled out of the coalition. As such the NC does not have any role to play, Abdullah said. He said the NC was not against fresh elections to the Assembly, but many factors would have to be kept in mind before announcing elections. The tourist season and secondly the Amarnath pilgrimage would begin in the valley shortly therefore the timing of the elections has to be taken into account. Abdullah accused the PDP of indulging in a drama to befool people. Had the Mufti been serious about the party’s demands, he would have pulled out of the coalition long back. |
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Four militants killed
Srinagar, March 19 A defence ministry spokesperson said troops and the state police launched a joint operation at Putshahi, Lolab, in the frontier district of Kupwara last evening. During the operation, militants opened fire and took shelter in a house. Operation was suspended last night due to darkness, he said adding it was resumed with the first light today. Further details are awaited, he added. However, a report from Barmula said the house in which militants took shelter was blasted today by the security forces. Both militants hiding inside were killed, he said, adding troops of 62 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) launched a search at Check-Solian, Shopian, in the south Kashmir district of Pulwama early this morning following a tip-off that some militants were hiding there. However, when the troops were sealing the area, militants opened fire. The fire was retaliated and in the firing two militants were killed. Two AK rifles, five magazines and other arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants. One of those killed was identified as DC of HuM, he said, adding another was yet to be identified. A house was also damaged in the encounter. Besides, the Jammu and Kashmir police today foiled a plan of the Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) to strike in the city when they arrested a militant. A police spokesperson said acting on a tip-off, the police searched at different places in the city since early this morning. An LeT militant Assadullah was arrested by the police, he said. The arrested militant later confessed during interrogation that he was planning with other LeT militants to strike in the city.
— UNI |
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Insurgency on: MLC
Jammu, March 19 Criticising the People's Democratic Party (PDP) for its demand of demilitarisation and boycotting state cabinet meetings convened by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Niaz said at a press conference here that the people of the state were still facing a severe threat from terrorists after 17 years of insurgency. To a question, he said the Congress was ready for early elections but the atmosphere in the state was not congenial for polls. He said some locals of the Bhalesa area in Doda district were still working as “militants”, and were active in motivating youngsters to join militancy. “They have betrayed hundreds of poor children of the area and are even managing their
safe passage to Pakistan for obtaining training in the name of jehad,” he said.
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Light vehicles allowed on highway
Srinagar, March 19 They said light vehicles were allowed to leave Jammu this morning on trial basis after the landslides were cleared near Penthal. A passenger Aijaz Ahmad told UNI over the phone from Banihal after crossing Penthal, the most troubled spot on the highway, that it was heavily raining on the highway. He said trucks, loaded with essential commodities, which also left Jammu this morning, were stopped a few km beyond Penthal to enable vehicles carrying passengers to cross the landslide-prone area. Aijaz said more than 200 light vehicles reached Banihal this afternoon. Sources said rains today again triggered shooting stones. However, the Border Roads Organisation was on the job. The Kashmir valley remained cut off the for the eighth day after the Srinagar-Jammu highway was closed due to landslides and shooting stones.
— UNI
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IAF flies rations to valley
Jammu, March 19 The IAF deployed an IL-76 transport aircraft and an AN-32 for carrying rations to the valley from here. A defence spokesman said among other commodities flown to the valley were 80,000 eggs, 1,950 kg of tomatoes and 924 kg of cauliflower. Meanwhile, the highway remained closed today after yesterday's movement of some stranded trucks through Panthal where landslides have blocked the road. More than 3,000 trucks and other vehicles are still stranded at various points on the highway. About 1,500 trucks are stranded at Nagrota near here.
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