Jammu, January 24
Without taking up any business for the day, the State Legislative Assembly was today adjourned till January 28, as opposition parties relentlessly demanded the resignation of finance minister Tariq Hameed Karra and forest minister Qazi Mohammed Afzal.

The names of two People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ministers had purportedly figured in the Kundal Inquiry Report that probed the forest scam. For the third day, the House was adjourned by Speaker Tara Chand for one-and-a-half hour, after National Conference (NC) legislators stormed into the well of the House demanding that the two ‘tainted’ ministers be dropped immediately.

Simultaneously, the Panthers Party, the BJP and the State Morcha legislators, while describing the Congress-led coalition government an utter failure, created ruckus demanding imposition of the President’s rule in the state.

The House reassembled at 11.40 AM but NC legislators again stormed into the well, while Jammu-based legislators stood up on their tables in the first row shouting slogans against the coalition government for what they termed a deliberate attempt to shelve the issues of Jammu region.

A hapless looking Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and his ministers were mute spectators and watched the chaos in the House. Amidst prevailing mayhem NC and Panthers Party legislators turned tables upside down and threw pieces of papers towards the Speaker. Marshals, who encircled the agitating NC legislators, had a tough time controlling them.

Later, NC legislator Ali Mohammed Sagar in a fit of anger rushed towards the Treasury Benches where finance minister Tariq Hameed Karra was sitting. However, marshals prevented Sagar from creating any trouble.

Eventually, Speaker Tara Chand adjourned the House till January 28 amidst intense sloganeering from opposition parties.

Later fielding media queries in the Assembly lawns, opposition leader Abdul Rahim Rather said, “We can not remain a mute spectator to rampant corruption in the government. We would make this government listen to us and we will take this fight to the end.” “If the Chief Minister fails to take action on an established prima facie case then his credibility and integrity would be at stake,” he added.

State Morcha legislator Ashwani Sharma, however, accused government and the NC of hatching a conspiracy to shelve Jammu specific issues. 

Srinagar, January 24
Just two days before the Republic Day, the police seized eight kg of RDX from two former militants in Anantnag district and said it has foiled their plans to carry out blasts.

The arrest of these former Hizbul Mujahideen militants have also underlined the double-game played by several militants who return to mainstream after laying down guns and then help their mentors with renewed vigour and resources as cops take their eyes off them.

Anantnag SSP Abdul Gani Mir said both militants, who were acting in sleeper cells of HM outfit, had collected explosives and detonating materials like remote controlled devices and mobile phones to launch spectacular blasts.

“They apparently wanted to time it with January 26 to make a statement,” the police said.

On a tip-off, the Srinagar police in a joint operation with the Anantnag police arrested the duo. The SSP said both militants had been lodged in jail under Public Safety Act (PSA). They opened shops after their release, but turned back to their former profession in some time, albeit clandestinely. 

A full dress rehearsal was conducted at the Bakshi Stadium - the venue of the Republic Day celebrations today. Divisional commissioner, Kashmir, Mehboob Iqbal unfurled the tricolour and took salute at the march past presented by contingents of the JKP, JKAP, CRPF, fire and emergency services, NCC and schoolchildren. A rehearsal of cultural programmes was also held.

Inspector general of police, Kashmir, S.M. Sahai and other senior officers of the civil and police administration were also present on the occasion. Republic Day full dress rehearsals were also conducted at the district headquarters of Baramulla, Anantnag, Kupwara, Budgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Bandipora, Ganderbal and Kulgam. Deputy commissioners of respective districts also hoisted the national flag and took salute at the march past presented by different contingents.

Udhampur, January 24
A female militant of the Laskher-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit, active for the last three years, was arrested by the Doda police. The arrest has turned out be a “prize catch” as the female militant was stated to be very close to the self-styled divisional commander of the LeT, Shabir Ittoo, and actively worked for the outfit in Doda and its adjoining localities.

“The arrested girl has been sent of the joint interrogation centre (JIC) for questioning”, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Doda, Manohar Singh told the Tribune, while confirming the arrest of the girl from her residence.

The SSP said 23-year-old Samrina Bano, daughter of Ghulam Nabi Shah of Doda, was undergoing nurse training at the Health Department in Doda. She was very close to LeT, divisional commander and was instrumental in shifting cash consignments and arms and ammunitions for the militants.

According to police sources, intelligence agencies intercepted messages of the LeT divisional commander who was in constant touch with Samrina Bano. It was only through this input that the Doda police conducted a raid and picked up the girl. “Her involvement in militant activities has been established”, police sources said and hoped that some more people would also be arrested after the girl was questioned.

This is the third such incident during the past six months when female militant was arrested in Jammu region. On September 7, 2007, the Jammu police had arrested a law student, Nahida Altaf, who was close to Saifullah Karri of the Jaish-e-Mohammed. Karri was killed in a joint operation of the Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir police.

In similar case, Kishtwar police arrested two sisters from the Sangram Bhatta area. One of the girls was arrested with a Hizbul Mujahideen “divisional commander” and Rs 2 lakh cash was also recovered from their possession.

Meanwhile, the Kishtwar police this morning busted a hideout of a militants and recovered a huge quantity of explosives from Barunder area of the district. Over one quintals of ration, 10 kg of RDX, 8 kg of PEK explosives and some medicines were also recovered from the hideout. SSP Kishtwar, Mumtaz Ahmed, said the police acted on a tip-off and conducted a raid at a militant hideout.

Jammu, January 24
The confrontation between the opposition National Conference and its arch rival, the People's Democratic Party, seems to have touched an all- time high. The NC has been demanding the removal of two PDP ministers from the Azad government, both of them, staunch loyalists of the PDP patron, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Interestingly the Chief Minister, who is known for maintaining a delicate balance between the two, has so far stayed away from the controversy. How will he be able to defend the two ministers in the backdrop of having made the state president of his party to resign from the ministry and the party post almost under similar conditions remains to be seen.

The PDP is the alliance partner of the Congress in the state government. The NC started the game by getting the Education Minister and the Pradesh Congress Committee president, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed removed from the ministry and also the party post. This followed the allegations levelled against him by an NC-supported, independent MLA Shoaib Lone.

The NC plan of action appeared to be too obvious from the day one. The scheme seemed to be working perfectly according to the plan. After it managed the removal of Peerzada following the allegations, which are yet to be inquired and proved, it felt confident about getting two PDP ministers, Tariq Hameed Qarra (Finance) and Qazi Mohammad Afzal (forests) removed after they were allegedly implicated in an inquiry conducted by senior IAS officer, BR Kundal, who is now the state Chief Secretary.

The NC has been stalling the proceedings of the legislative assembly and the legislative council for the past few days. This led to the assembly being adjourned till January 28. Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has been insisting none of the ministers had been implicated in the Kundal Committee report.

The NC has the reasons to see exit of Qarra and Afzal from the ministry. Qarra is a staunch loyalist of the Mufti. He has been most vocal against the NC. And Afzal had defeated the NC president, Omar Abdullah from Ganderbal constituency in Kashmir. Ganderbal was considered to be an NC stronghold represented by generations of the Abdullah family.

Deputy CM Muzzaffar Hussein Beg, had offered a discussion in the legislative assembly on the Kundal Committee report. But the NC has been insisting that the ministers must be removed prior to any discussion. 

Srinagar, January 24
The probe into the mysterious death of a young girl, which reminded many of the infamous sex racket in the valley involving several government officials and politicians, has not offered any substantial disclosure, investigating officials told The Tribune.

The still awaited postmortem report in the death of Aliya may add another dimension to the sudden demise of this 20-year-old girl, more so if it points to some foul play, but statements of people associated with the case, including the two arrested accused, have suggested that this case is more of a routine crime involving flesh trade.

However, what is interesting is that Sahiba, a woman arrested by the police for allegedly exploiting Aliya, was also questioned in much-publicised sex racket case but was let off.

A senior official associated with the investigation said Aliya was a temperamental girl, who often left her home after some domestic tiff. Sahiba, he said, was staying not very far from Aliya's house in Soura, a locality in Srinagar, and she befriended her.

The official said Aliya used to take drugs, though it is not clear as to when it started, and Sahiba provided her with psychotropic substance. It is then that she came quite close to her and might have been exploited by Sahiba, well-conversant with tricks of flesh trade in the seamy lanes of Kashmir.

Another official source said they have not found any list of clients, as claimed by some, and chances of finding any such thing is remote. "We don't think that Sahiba was doing it in a big way and any such possibility has evaporated after the death of Aliya," he said.

Aliya had died last month a day after a local NGO, Forum against Social Evils (FACE), had taken her to court to have her statement recorded to expose flesh trade. The police believe that her dependence on drugs and her parents' shock and anger at her going court with her "scandalising" bit of information might have something to do with her death.

But they have ruled out the theory of her being killed by those whom her disclosure might have hurt. "Whatever happened, happened inside the four walls of her house. We saw her dead body only after it was exhumed several days after it was buried. Only a postmortem report could make it clear," he said.

When public outcry followed her death, the police took her purported statement to FACE and registered a case under Acts of Immoral Trafficking and NDPS. 

Jammu, January 24
Though no case of bird flu has so far been reported in Jammu and Kashmir, the outbreak of the disease in West Bengal has worried the residents of villages that are situated near the Gharana wetland reserve situated at the India-Pakistan border in R.S. Pura sector fearing that their winged visitors could bring the disease.

Two years ago the residents of Gharana and adjacent villages had a harrowing time as they had to leave their houses to shift to some safer places, as they had little knowledge to handle the disease. As the fear of an outbreak looms large, residents said they are planning to shift to safer places till the disease is completely gone.

“The return of the bird flu disease is a nightmare for we people as last time when the outbreak was reported we had to shift to a safer place, leaving everything behind,” said Krishan Lal, a resident of Gharana village.

Adding he said, “So far the Health Department is telling us that there is no case of bird flu in the migratory birds but still we are worried as it is the matter of our lives.”

Speaking to The Tribune, regional wildlife warden Naseer Kitchloo said, “No case of bird flu has been reported in Jammu and we have been taking regular blood samples from the birds vesting all the wetlands in the regions and regular tests are being conducted on them, but so far no case of bird flu has been reported in any of the migratory bird.”

He said a red alert has been sounded and all the necessary measures are being taken to prevent and such outbreak.

“We are fully prepared to handle any such outbreak and we have imparted special training to our staff, and we also educate local population who live adjacent to these wetlands to take necessary precautions to avoid the spread of this disease,” Kitchloo said.

He said though the inflow of the migratory birds was on its peak during the season, but no specie of the bird adopts the route where the disease has been reported in India.

“I don’t feel that the migratory birds that come to India adopt the route of West Bengal where the disease has been reported,” he said.

Regarding the concern among the residents of the villages adjacent to these wetlands Kitchloo said, “There is no need to panic as yet, and first no case has been reported and if the birds get infected every strain of the virus does not affected the human population. There is only few type of the virus that affects the human being.”

Srinagar, January 24
Even though there was no case of bird flu reported from any part of the state, the Animal Husbandry Department organised awareness camps for farmers.

An official spokesman said the Block Veterinary Centre of the Animal Husbandry department organised an awareness camp at Zewan in which local farmers participated. He said the camp was organised to make people aware about various ailments afflicting cattle and poultry birds, including bird flu.

Veterinary experts, including Dr F.A. Kaloo, Dr N.D.A. Reshi, Dr Sheikh Salim, Dr Ghias-ud-Din, Dr M.S. Sharma, Dr G.M. Rather and Dr Ghulam Rasool Mir discussed in detail the causes and prevention of the ailments. He said on the occasion, free literature and medicines were distributed among the farmer.

Authorities in the state said there was no need to worry as samples taken for bird flu were found negative.

However, still the authorities have taken all measures to prevent transportation of any such virus into the state, official sources said. — UNI

Jammu, January 24
The Panun Kashmir chairman, Agnishekhar, has expressed serious concern over the delay in the adoption of Kashmiri Pandit Shrine Bill by the government. The bill was supposed to be adopted in the last assembly session but was stalled due to inexplicable reasons.

In a statement issued here today, Agnishekhar said in the present assembly session also the bill is being delayed and now when the session is reaching its end there is unlikelihood of its getting adopted.

He alleged, “There seems to be a deep-rooted conspiracy to delay the bill indefinitely and allow the temple land mafia sufficient time to misappropriate the temple properties.”