Srinagar, August 11
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has expressed concern over the blast at the Army ammunition depot at Khandroo in Anantnag district and asked the civil administration and the Army authorities to ensure that the situation was put under control soon and evacuated villagers provided adequate shelter and food.

Two senior ministers Abdul Aziz Zargar and Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed along with Divisional Commissioner and IG, Kashmir, visited the site monitor the situation on the instructions of the Chief minister. An official spokesman said that residents of 13 villages had been evacuated to safer places.

As the news of the incident broke, the Chief Minister got in touch with senior army and civil administration officers to ascertain details about the extent of the incident and welfare of the people within and outside the depot. He asked them to shift civilians in the area to safer places and arrange adequate shelter, food and drinking water for them.

Meanwhile, the police said 18 persons sustained injuries in the incident. Among the injured 14 are civilians and four are from Jammu and Kashmir Fire and emergency Services. Inspector General of Police S. M Sahai along with the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir immediately rushed to the spot to have a first hand information of the incident and to chalk out a strategy how to deal with the situation.

According to the DIG, Anantnag range, Hemant Kumar Lohia about 12,000 persons from more than a dozen villages had been evacuated by the police and other civilian and security force agencies.

The civil and the police authorities have made arrangements for the food etc for the evacuated people at temporary places in Janglat Mandi, Mattan, Larnoo, Uttrsoo and Barakpora. Those injured include, Mohan Singh, a resident of Zaldoora, Sheikh Younis, of Nowgan, Suraj Singh of Palpora, Ayub Bhat from Kangan, Mohd Maqbool Chopan, from Gopalpora, Irshad Hussain from Shankepora, Yousuf Ganie, an Employee Fire Services, Khursheed Ahmad of Fire Service, Hamidullah Sheikh an employee of fire services, Ghulam Mohammad of fire services, Azad Ahmad from Khundroo, Mohd Hussain from Khundroo, Driver Nirmal Singh Koulgund, Wakeel Ahmada from Rampora, Rafeeq Ahmad from Khundroo, Meenar Ahmad Shah from Khundroo, Sajad Ahmad Wani from Khundroo. Fourteen of the injured have been admitted to district hospital, Anantnag; two of the injured have been referred to SKIMS while one each has been referred to Bone and Joints Hospital and SMHS Srinagar. 

Jammu, August 11
Terrorists infiltrating from Pakistan from now on will not only face bullets of India troops on the Line of Control but also equally armed women of the border villages who have been trained as sharp shooters to prevent ultras from entering these areas.

As many as 27 women from the border villages of Naushera tehsil today completed their training in the handling of AK-47s, INSAS and .303 rifles to match the arms carried by terrorists. These women will now be part of the village defence committees (VDCs) of their respective villages. The training was imparted by the DAH mountain division of the Army.

Three sisters, Sunita (20), Sonia (16) and Monica (18), who belong to Sariya village, were thrilled to carry the AK-47 rifles about which they had only read in newspaper reports.

These girls demonstrated their shooting skills that matched any trained army rifleman.

Satbir Kaur and Simrit Kaur of Tiper village said arms’ training was useful to them particularly at times when the men folk were away to work. This would help the women not only protect themselves, but also target the ultras who stray into their villages.

Ninety women of the area have so far been trained in handling sophisticated arms and ammunition.

Major Gen Rajinder Singh, GOC, DAH division, identified medicare and women empowerment as the key areas for the general uplift. Dashmesh battalion was tasked to explore avenues and opportunities to meet the target. Villages near the LoC fence were surveyed and Sariya village on the border was selected for training women VDC.

Young women volunteered for the arms training and a systematic capsule was conducted in which 27 of them participated. These women were trained in observing unusual and suspicious persons and movements.

Srinagar, August 11
Forces here have gone in overdrive after getting information that Hizbul Mujahideen militants have smuggled in at least three improvised explosive devices to carry out subversive activities to disrupt the Independence Day celebrations.

The special operation group of the police, though, has managed to recover one IED from Sharifabad, where an Army garrison is located, they still have no clue to the whereabouts of the other two IEDs.

The recovery of the IED came when cops intercepted a militant's conversation with a young villager, who was assigned the task of hiding it so long the militants worked on their plans. "The youth was a novice and instead of the coded words militants use he spoke explicitly about it over the phone and we nabbed him and one of his friends," an officer said. The two, the police said, were not from the militant ranks and could be at best be termed as sympathisers.

"They said they did it for money and got the IED planted in a milk pot," the official said. 

Jammu, August 11
Jammu-Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) president Prof Bhim Singh yesterday demanded a judicial probe into the killing of DSP Shailey Singh in an encounter with militants at Bhadarwah about a month ago.

He accused J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad of unleashing terror in the state, at a press conference here.

Prof Bhim Singh stated that he would soon prove the hand of the IG (Jammu range) in the killing of DSP, adding that the IG was “a close associate of the Chief Minister”.

Jammu, August 11
An all-party meeting here today condemned the police attack on Jammu migrants and activists of the Panthers Party near Katra on Tuesday last and demanded a judicial probe into the incident. Barring the Congress, PDP and BJP, leaders of several other parties participated in the emergency meeting.

These leaders criticised the government for police action on the peacefully agitating migrants who were marching towards Delhi to draw attention of the centre towards their pathetic condition.

They were demanding relief at par with the Kashmiri migrants. They flayed manhandling of Panthers Party secretary Anita Thakur, lawyer H.C. Jhelmeria and journalist P.K. Ganjoo by the police. Thakur and Jhelmeria were admitted to the medical college hospital with serious injuries.

The all-party meeting expressed grave concern on the failure of the Congress-PDP government to implement the Supreme Court’s Order of July 13, 2006, and provide relief to the Jammu migrants with arrears since March, 2004. — TNS

Udhampur, August 11
Panthers Party MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia, who was on his way to Talwara in Reasi district to meet displaced Dogra migrants, was stopped by the police at Pianthal on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway yesterday morning. He staged a demonstration there, which turned into a public rally.

A large number of people joined the rally and raised slogans against the state government for allegedly meting step-motherly treatment to the Jammu region. Speakers wondered migrants from Jammu had been denied the relief that had been given to those who were displaced from Kashmir.

Mankotia lambasted the ruling coalition for denying people of Jammu their genuine rights. He said even the court had given directions to the state government to treat Dogra migrants on a par with Kashmiri migrants. The authorities concerned had filed a false affidavit in the court in that connection.

Earlier, deputy commissioner, Reasi, Sanjeev Verma had issued orders banning entry of Panthers Party leaders in Talwara.

Meanwhile, the displaced people of Talwara, who have launched an agitation to get relief on a par with Kashmiri migrants, have decided to announce their future course of action after discussions with Panthers Party leaders.

Jammu, August 11
The union ministry of labour and employment has identified Srinagar, Jammu and Udhampur in J&K amongst the 250 districts from 21 states to provide mid-day meals and education to poor children to prevent them from doing labour.

Vice-chairperson of the ministry’s central advisory board on child labour Jyoti Setiya told reporters here yesterday that the Centre would be providing Rs 1 crore to each of the deputy commissioners of the three identified districts of the state under the 11th Plan.

The children who had lost work due to the ban on child labour would also benefit from this scheme across the country, she said.

The board had asked the state government to either identify the NGOs, if any, working in the area of child development or the government should itself initiate the micro projects under this scheme to provide mid-day meals and education to these poor children.

She pointed out that the priority was being given to the children of the families living below the poverty line in all 250 districts.

Setiya, who was on a visit here for the implementation of the scheme in J&K, said she had found children between 5-14 years of age working at brick-kilns and cement factories in Kathua district.

“Convincing the parents not to send their wards for odd jobs is not that easy as the economic condition of the families in both rural and urban areas is very poor and pathetic,” she said.

She sought the help of the media on the issue, saying that the media could play a very effective role by highlighting the key areas on the child labour issue.

Setiya said she would be holding a series of meetings with the state administration functionaries at the district level during her inspection of the state, mainly in Jammu and Udhampur districts during her ongoing tour.