Srinagar, June 3
Two top Al-Badr militants, including a chief co-ordinator of the outfit, were killed in a gun battle with security forces today in Jammu and Kashmir.

An overground worker of the Hizbul Mujahideen was arrested and 100 kg of explosives were seized since last night.

Al-Badr militants — chief co-ordinator Syed Dawood Shah alias Tahir, of Pakistan, and his Kashmiri associate Abdul Rashid Bhat — were killed in an encounter at Wuyan-Khrew in Pulwama district, a defence spokesman said.

The encounter, which lasted nearly 10 hours, started early today when Rashtriya Rifles troops along with a police party launched a search in the village following information about presence of militants, the police said.

Two houses, where the militants had taken shelter, were damaged in the encounter. Two AK assault rifles and some ammunition were recovered from the slain militants.

Terming the killing of the chief co-ordinator as a "major blow" to the outfit, the spokesman said the loss of Shah would force the militant group to the backfoot.

He said troops of five Rashtriya Rifles recovered 100 kg of explosives, 10 hand-grenades, some UBGL (under-barrel grenade launcher) grenades, detonators and 217 rounds of AK ammunition from a field at Kaubagh in Ganderbal last night.

Overground worker of Hizbul Mujahideen, Azad Ahmad Bhat, was arrested by a party of 30 RR from the Handwara area of Kupawara district, the spokesman said.

A resident of Shotgund-Payeen village, Bhat is the associate of a Hizbul militant Mushtaq Ahmed Malla, he said adding, two UBGL grenades were recovered from his possession. — PTI

Udhampur, June 3
Move to demarcate three districts has stirred a fresh controversy in Udhampur and Doda as residents of a large number of areas have started agitating for the inclusion or exclusion of their respective blocks and villages in the new administrative units.

Congress-led coalition regime is finding difficulty in demarcating the boundaries of the new districts where administrative functioning started from April 1 onwards.

As the government has failed to demarcate the boundaries of new districts, functioning of these have got badly affected.

In Reasi district residents of Arnas have intensified their stir for getting tehsil status while inhabitants of the four panchayats of the Tikri block of Udhampur district are strongly opposing the government’s move to include their areas in the new district.

Similarly in Kishtwar district where local MLA Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo has already announced to start a mass movement if the Boniwa Bhalesa area was included in the new administrative unit.

Although chairman of the administrative demarcation commission S.S. Bloeria visited many areas of Reasi district and interacted with people but failed to convince those who had threatened to launch an agitation.

A piquant situation emerged during Bloeria’s visit when a few sarpanches demanded teshil status for Arnas while a few opposed the demand.

Kabla Singh, who had contested the last Assembly election on the BJP ticket from the Gool-Arnas constituency, warned that they would not hesitate to take extreme steps if their regional aspirations were not fulfilled.

He said all 23 sarpanches except for one, were in favour of granting teshil status for Arnas.

On the other hand, panches and sarpanches of Painthal, Sool, Garkhayal and Bhagata panchayats of Udhampur district have already launched an agitation against the state government’s decision to include their areas in Reasi district.

They demanded that they should not be included in the new district. Bleoria also met the deputations from these areas.

At Kishtwar people were planning to launch an agitation for including Boniwa Bhalesa in new district.

MLA Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo has said that topography of this areas links with Kishtwar in every respect so there is no reason for excluding it from the new district. 

Jammu, June 3
Representatives of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat Conference and Jamaat-e-Islami, who have so far rejected the Centre’s invitation for talks, today shared a dais and deliberated on the status of Jammu in context of the state problem.

The leaders at a symposium, which was hosted by the Internationalist Democratic Party (IDP), echoed a consensus against any trifurcation of the state on religious lines or otherwise and also clarified that the state problem was a disputed and not a unilateral or a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.

JKLF Jammu province chief Masood Ahmed opined that the Jammu province should remain a part of the state which also comprises the Ladakh and Kargil sectors.

He said all previous Indo-Pak bilateral talks or pacts on the state imbroglio remained futile whether it was the Shimla agreement during the Indira Gandhi’s regime or the Agra talks during the NDA rule.

Hurriyat Conference (Jammu province) representative G.R.Sharma said the party’s chief Omer Farooq Mirwaiz had always been against the state’s trifurcation and wanted a peaceful solution to end the 18-year-old turmoil.

Jamaat-e-Islami’s Maulana Ghulam Nabi Faridabadi from Doda said this deliberation on the state problem by the Jammu province units of the like-minded parties was a welcoming step in the direction of bridging the gap between Jammu and Kashmir provinces.

He lamented that leaders like Salauddin had picked up the gun only after the rigging of the state elections in 1987 when he was arrested despite winning the people’s mandate.

Narinder Singh Khalsa of the Shabir Shah-led People's Democratic Front said: “This was a unique occasion as all like-minded parties have gathered on one platform with a consensus against the state’s trifurcation.”

He said India and Pakistan could not afford to keep the people of the state in isolation and continue talks with Pakistan for any bilateral settlement.

IDP general secretary Hoshiar Singh advocated internal autonomy, according to which the people of the specific regions should have the right on their resources and the panchayats be strengthened so that they could implement certain policies.

Jammu, June 3
An army jawan shot dead his junior at Bhimbar gali in Rajouri district last night, official sources said here today.

An altercation broke out between Lance Naik of 13 Sikh Light Infantry Battalion Harnam Singh and his junior.

Senior army officers and other jawans rushed to the area and took him to a hospital where he was declared dead.

The incident took place at 11 p.m. last night at Bhimbar gali sector, sources said, adding the Lance Naik had been arrested and an inquiry ordered in this regard. — UNI

Jammu, June 3
The dreaded Lashkar-e-Toiba, which has been banned by the USA, the United Kingdom and Islamabad since 2001, plans to carry out its operations in Jammu and Kashmir under a changed nomenclature.

Official sources said today that “we have received authentic reports from across the border that Lashkar-e-Toiba activists will operate under the name of the Kashmir freedom force.”

The sources said a decision in this regard was taken at a recent meeting of top commanders of the outfit at Sewai nallah near Muzaffarabad. A few senior ISI sleuths were reported to be present in the meeting.

The sources said the motive behind changing the outfit’s name was to free the Pakistani establishment from the blame it gets for patronizing the Lashkar outfit.

Also, by having the Kashmir freedom force as its new name the agencies across the border would convey an impression that the militancy-related violence was the handiwork of Kashmiri boys.

“It is unlikely to set the Jehlum on fire because the man power, though operating under a new name, is the same.”

Jammu, June 3
A pilgrim died in suspicious circumstances at Gauri Bhawan on the way to Bhawan from Ardhkawari for the darshan of Shri Mata Vaishnodevi last evening.

Chhotolal, a resident of Satna district in Madhya Pradesh suddenly fell on the road near Gauri Bhawan and died on the spot.

The police said his body was later brought to Katra. — UNI