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Rain triggers landslides, yatris stopped at Ramban
Double murder: 2 waiters held
Azad for consensus on ST quota
Power cuts inconvenience people
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2 Lashkar militants killed
2 brothers held for rape
Diesel seized
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Rain triggers landslides, yatris stopped at Ramban
Udhampur, August 6 According to the police, the yatra was stopped as heavy rains triggered landslides and shooting stones at many places on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. At Panthyal, near Ramban, the movement of the vehicular traffic was stopped as this spot witnessed heavy landsliding. At about 12 noon when a fresh batch of pilgrims reached Ramban, the cavalcade was stopped by the authorities. It was only after clearance of traffic at 2.45 pm, the yatra was resumed. Meanwhile, the authorities here reviewed arrangements for the yatris as rain continued since this morning.Civil and police officers visited community halls vacated to accommodate pilgrims in case of an emergency. Jammu: The city today was lashed by heavy rain,up to 52.2 mm, while many tourist resorts of the Kashmir valley also received moderate to heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours. Cloudy weather continued to prevail in the day at all major stations across the state as Banihal, the gateway town to the Kashmir valley, received 26 mm rainfall till in the evening. Batote near the Patnitop hill tourist resort had 42 mm rain till this evening. Other major places of the Jammu province lashed by rains included Katra (37.7 mm) and Bhaderwah (14.6 mm). The low-lying areas of the city were flooded with rain water which led to the disruption of traffic during peak morning hours at many places. The nearby rural areas along the Tawi also faced the fury of the river's high current which rose due to continuous rain in Katra and other higher reaches. In the valley,Qazikund received 24 mm rain, followed by Pahalgam 20 mm, Srinagar 11 mm and Kupwara 5 mm. Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at many places in J and K, while there has been a warning of heavy rain at isolated places in the Jammu division in the next 48 hours, according to the weather forecast. There were reports of mild snowfall in the higher reaches beyond the holy Amarnath cave in Anantnag district, while the track from Baltal to the shrine was lashed by rain during the day. |
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Double murder: 2 waiters held
Srinagar, August 6 SSP, Leh, Alok Kumar said they found two persons, Lama Nawang Chultim (32) of Kargil and Lama Tenzin Gilik (31) of Leh, dead in their rooms at Alchi, a place under the jurisdiction of Leh police station, on August 3 night. He said Nawang was manager in Sumtseg restaurant while Tenzin was a ticket seller in Alchi. The cops got first clues when they were told two Nepali waiters working in Sumtseg restaurant were missing since the murder,which was committed with some sharp-edged weapon. The suspects were identified as Gajendra Kumar Khatri, alias Ganesh, and Parmod Budhataki. The police arrested the accused near Spang, 265 km from Alichi, on August 5. They were trying to enter Manali from Leh, they told the police. The SSP said the accused had confessed to their crime, and Rs 66,000 looted from the victims had been recovered from them. Police chief Kuldeep Khuda announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for the police team which had effected the arrest. |
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Azad for consensus on ST quota
Jammu, August 6 Azad,who was addressing members of the Gujjar community here,said he was not averse to reservation of seats for theScheduled Tribes in the Assembly if all political parties reached a consensus on the issue. He said political reservation for a section of the population required a Constitution amendment for which political parties in the legislature would have to reach a consensus. He said so far as his Congress party was concerned, it had no reservation in accepting the demand. However, he said given the numbers in the Assembly, the Congress on its own could not effect the amendment to the Constitution. Support of other political parties, particularly the PDP and the National Conference, was also required for this purpose. He said he had convened a meeting of all political parties for a consensus on the setting up of a delimitation commission and 25 per cent increase in the seats of the state Assembly for which a Bill had been drafted. Azad said development of the down-trodden and economically backward sections of society was a priority of his govrnment. To prove his point, he cited the setting up of a separate directorate for tribal welfare and upgradation of 100 primary schools in Gujjar and Bakkerwal inhabited areas during the current year. His government was aware of the problems and development needs of Gujjars, Bakkarwals, Pahari-speaking people and others living in far-flung areas, he asserted. Mobile teachers would be imparted elementary medical training to attend to first-aid needs of nomadic population while in highland pastures. |
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Power cuts inconvenience people
Rajouri, August 6 Residents alleged the PDD did not adhere to its time-table of power cuts and resorted to unscheduled power cuts. They said the department extended scheduled power cut beyond five hours,making people suffer. "They (PDD) resort to power curtailment every now and then. The department has no time table for imposing power cuts and sometimes the duration of cuts is bone breaking." said Safeer Ahmed, resident of DC Colony. "The duration of scheduled power cuts is five hours, but sometimes they (PDD) impose power cuts for more 10 hours". Aijaz Ahmed of adjoining Fatehpur village alleged the PDD resorts not only to unscheduled power cuts but even when power supply is there, voltage is too low. "In my village and many adjoining villages, unscheduled power curtailment is a huge problem affecting people. Even when the department concerned supplies power, the voltage is very low", he said. "The government must take effective steps to redress the problem which affects all". Assistant executive engineer (AEE), M&RE division, Rajouri, Muhammad Maqbool Naik admitted unscheduled power cuts being imposed in the town and its adjoining villages. "Sometimes we have to impose unscheduled power cuts because of the heavy load. People should also cooperate and try to reduce the load for uninterrupted power supply", he promised. |
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2 Lashkar militants killed
Udhampur, August 6 In one year 15 LeT militants, including most-wanted Khalid-ur-Rehman, alias Abu Umar of Pakistan, have been eliminated by the Doda police till date in the district. SSP, Doda, Manohar Singh said on a tip-off on the presence of some militants,including Abu Shakil Afghani, the police started a search on Sunday night at Kakardhar hamlet of Gandoh. This morning when security personnel zeroed in on a hide-out, militants opened fire on the search party which was returned by cops. In the encounter, which lasted more than nine hours, security forces gunned down Jan Mohammed, while Abu Shakil sneaked away from the cordon. The cops chased the militant and eliminated him near Goh Nullah. |
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2 brothers held for rape
Udhampur, August 6 The police has nabbed both accused from a nearby village. It is said a middle-aged woman of Chirdhi village was alone in the house when two brothers, Khemraj and Jagdishraj, sons of Munshi Ram, overpowered her and allegedly raped her and decamped with gold ornaments. The victim, along with her husband, today complained to the Chenani police after which both accused were nabbed. |
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Diesel seized
Srinagar, August 6 On a tip-off, the police impounded a truck carryng barrels of diesel, illegally secured, being smuggled to Sopore. The police said driver of the vehicle Abdul Majeed Lone, and two other persons, Abdul Majid Bhat and Fayaz Ahmad Lone, were arrested on the spot.
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