Jammu, April 3
The police in Jammu today claimed to have solved the double murder case that took place in Shimla on the intervening night of March 28 and 29, 2008.

Police sources said they had arrested Deepak Dogra, alias Minta Langra, the main accused in the murder of Ashwani Kumar, alias Ashu, and Rajeev Kumar, alias Raju, who were wanted criminals in the Bakra murder case.

The Himachal police had recovered two naked bodies of Ashwani Kumar, alias Ashu, and Rajeev Kumar, alias Raju, who were wanted criminals in the Bakra murder case in Jammu.

Bakra, a notorious gangster of Jammu, was killed on November 25, 2006. Since then the Jammu police had been after on the look out for Ashu and Raju, main accused in the murder.

“Both Ashu and Raju were accused in the murder of Bakra and were hired by one Vivek Sandhu, alias Bunty, who is settled in Shimla. As both of them were regularly extorting money from Bunty, he again hired two criminals to eliminate the duo,” said, Farooq Khan, DIG, while addressing a press conference.

According to police, Bunty contacted Jitender Singh, alias Shallu, who hired Deepak Dogra for killing Ashu and Raju.

“Bunty took Ashu and Raju along with him in his car to Shimla, from where he intoxicated them with wine and sedative pills and gave them his car to drive. Jitender and Deepak Dogra were waiting for them at a spot and when they both reached there, they both shot Ashu and Raju,” the DIG said.

Adding he said, “They threw the bodies there after removing their clothes which were again thrown a few kilometres away.”

He said the following day, all accused left for Jammu from Shimla and on a specific information, the police laid a trap and arrested Deepak Dogra.

“We arrested Deepak Dogra, the main accused and recovered a 9mm Chinese pistol from his possession. We have also booked him under possession of illegal Arms Act and an FIR 61/08 under Section 3/25 A has been registered,” the DIG informed.

Jammu, April 3
With state already into election mode, the father-son duo of Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah along with the National Conference top brass today embarked on a two-day conference of party leaders of Jammu province so as to do some soul-searching and come out with a foolproof strategy for the upcoming polls.

Even though former Chief Minister and National Conference patron Farooq, this time around, is spearheading party campaign, his son Omar assured party leaders and workers of vehemently raising issues of poor and downtrodden in the upcoming polls.

It may be recalled here that after handing over the reins of the National Conference to his son Omar, Farooq went abroad during 2002 Assembly elections, when the party had to face a stunning debacle.

Sources close to Omar said he assured party leaders, starting from block-level presidents and secretaries, to exploit issues during elections that would be conveyed to him by grass root leaders so as to romp home this time.

“I will raise those issues of substance during elections that would be conveyed by all of you,” sources quoted Omar. He, however, told the party leaders and activists to reach out to the people and garner their support.

“The most crucial phase has started and, hence, all of you must stand by them trying to solve their problems with utmost seriousness,” sources quoted Omar.

“Since holding elections is the prerogative of the state government, we shall not be caught at the wrong foot,” sources quoted Omar as saying.

Omar said the party think-tank would do its job to corner the Congress-led coalition government on issues like corruption, human rights abuse, unemployment and inflation.

“Corruption has crossed all limits in this state despite much hyped so-called crackdown of the coalition government while rising inflation too has been taking its toll on commoners,” he said.

Jammu, April 3
With trains set to chug along the picturesque Kashmir valley this summer, the Railway department has drawn a plan to set up nine railway stations in the region.

The railway stations would come up at Anantnag, Baijpora, Pampore, Kakapora, Awantipora, Rajvoser, Srinagar and Budgam and Baramulla, northern railway sources told PTI.

Some of these stations have already come up and others are under the process of completion, they said, adding that one car shed for repairs had also come up at Budgam.

Over 15 boogies, three engines and track repair vehicle had already been sent to the Kashmir valley. The trial run of the inaugural train was conducted in February. The trial started from central Budgam district railway station and ended at Panzgam railway station in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

The rail project is being commissioned in two phases. In the first phase, the rail link between south Kashmir's Anantnag district and north Kashmir's Baramulla district will be completed, while in the second phase, railway operations between the valley and the rest of the country will begin. — PTI

Jammu, April 3
Pahari-speaking people in the state may soon be accorded Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. This was disclosed by Union minister of state for home, Sriprakash Jaiswal, to mediapersons during his two-day visit to the state. He said the long-pending demand of the people was under consideration by the Centre and a decision on this would be taken soon. Assuring a delegation of the Pahari board led by its vice-chairman, Shabir Khan, Jaiswal said the Centre was aware of the long-pending demands of the people.

The state government has on several occasions recommended to the Centre that Pahari-speaking people be included in the list of ST. The state Assembly had also passed a resolution urging the Centre to consider the demand of the Pahari people. The minister said the issue of providing relief to disabled people in Nowshera and Rajouri would be looked into by the government. He said the announcement by Jaiswal had, however, not been received well by the Gujjar and Bakerwal Scheduled tribes who had issued an ultimatum to the Congress to shun their anti- tribal Gujjar polices or to face the wrath of STs in the coming Assembly elections.

Jammu, April 3
Three mediapersons were ruthlessly beaten by the Army while they were covering a fire incident that broke into a fuel depot of the Jammu Kashmir Rifles here.

As the news about the fire incident at oil depot of the Akali Kour Singh Nagar-based Jammu and Kashmir Rifles spread, the entire Jammu-based media rushed to cover the incident.

While the mediapersons were covering the incident army soldiers deployed at the station resorted to stone pelting ‘towards’ mediamen who were standing at a distance.

Three mediapeople from national electronic channels who were covering the incident from a distance were attacked and ruthlessly beaten up by the Army. The army personnel snatched their cameras and 
dragged them from their collars inside the camp.

The mediamen were kept hostage for several hours and were only released after the intervention of the public relations officer of the ministry of defence.

“We were busy covering the incident from a safe distance, when suddenly the army soldiers deployed inside the camp started pelting stone on us, when we tried to save ourselves they came running towards us and snatched our cameras and dragged us inside the camp and kept us hostage there for several hours,” said Neeraj Upadhaya, a cameraman of a private news channel.

Panic gripped the entire locality when people saw heavy smoke coming out from the army unit as they feared that the ammunition depot might have caught the fire.

A large store of ammunition was also present near the spot of the fire, and it seems that army authorities failed to have learnt any lessons from the recent incidents of fire in its arsenals in Khunrdo in south Kashmir.

“As soon as we saw flames and smoke coming out of the army cantonment, we thought that the ammunition dump inside the cantonment have caught fire so we rushed towards the open, however we later returned back to our houses when we came to know that fire had engulfed the oil depot of the camp.” Said a local resident.

Many civilians and passerby were also injured as army resorted to stone pelting; even windowpanes of various vehicles were also damaged.

However, army sources say that the oil depot was deliberately set ablaze to label the bungling going on in the depot as a mishap.

When contacted PRO of the ministry of defence Lt-Col S.D. Goswami said, “A court of inquiry has already been ordered into the incident.”

Srinagar, April 3
The police made another breakthrough today with the arrest of top ideologue of the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), Abdul Khaliq Dar, who used to go to jehadi camps in Pakistan to motivate recruits for “martyrdom”.

The police nabbed Abdul Khaliq Dar, known more by name of Junaid-ul-Islam, a name he used as a chief spokesperson of the HM, from Srinagar. A masters in Arabic literature, he spent over two years in Afghanistan and was a regular jehadi preacher at training camps in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, north range DIG B. Srinivas said.

When asked if there was more to the arrest of a number of HM militants of late, the DIG said these successes should be seen as a reflection of depleting capabilities of militant outfits.

A man in his mid-forties, Junaid is one of the oldest surviving leaders of the HM. He was active since the inception of armed militancy and its top ideologue, the DIG said. He sat in sessions with top HM leaders like Syed Salauddin, Shamshul Haq and Gazi Naseerudin and his loss would deprive it of a major source of ideological motivation, he said.

One to brainwash others into dealing with Kalashnikov rifles, while keeping a safe distance himself, he did not offer any resistance to swooping cops. “We have not recovered any arms or ammunition from him and it was expected due to his profile,” Srinivas said, adding, “We expect to bruise HM further with operations to be carried out after his interrogation.”

In the last four days, the police has arrested four major HM militants and killed two besides, nabbed several over ground workers (OGWs).

Srinagar, April 3
Describing it as a good omen for restoration of peace in Jammu and Kashmir, Union minister for water resources Saifuddin Soz has expressed satisfaction over the Pugwash Conference held in Pakistan that was attended by leaders of mainstream parties from this troubled state.

He was addressing a public meeting organised by the Congress in his home constituency of Baramulla in north Kashmir, where he was given rousing reception after taking over as president of the JKPCC. He said it was for the first time that mainstream political parties were recognised and that Kashmir imbroglio was discussed with open mind in the conference. Top leaders of the ruling PDP, Mehbooba Mufti and opposition National Conference president Omar Abdullah attended the two-day meet in Islamabad.

The minister said all issues could be resolved through democratic process, which could be achieved by marching forward within the constitutional limits. He said some important matters with regard to CBMs were in the pipeline aiming to boost trade and commerce across the border.

He said the Congress led UPA government in the Centre had done much for restoring lasting peace adding that dialogue process without the Congress and the Central government could not be carried forward.

Soz said UPA chairperson and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had time and reiterated that their doors were always open for dialogue to restore peace in the state. He said he was “always ready to assist any party and work as a facilitator for carrying forward the dialogue process for resolving the issues.”

He assured that the democracy would flourish shortly, dialogue would continue and peace again prevailed in the state, adding that the government and his party would continue its interaction with the people, as several political issues need to be solved soon.

Regarding the development scenario, Soz said the state was touching new heights of development by virtue of gigantic infrastructure development programme launched by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad adding that socio-economic profile of the people had improved a lot.

Later, talking to mediapersons, the Union minister said for protection and preservation of water bodies in the state, an ambitious plan was formulated and Rs 65 crore had been released for the purpose.

Regarding protection of Wular Lake, he said after Dal Lake, special attention would be paid towards restoring the originality and grandeur of this lake adding that water navigation facility would be made available shortly on 172 km distance from Khanabal to Khadinyar.

He said forests and water resources have to be protected and preserved, as these were symbiotic to each other. He appealed to the people to extend their hand in preservation of precious resources.

Srinagar, April 3
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has urged Indo-Pak leadership to address Kashmir issue with a constructive outlook to ensure peace and future economic cooperation in the sub-continent.

Ms Mufti, according to a PDP spokesman here, called on the Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief in Lahore today. The PDP president and MP had meetings with various other senior leaders, including PPP co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari during her tour to Pakistan where she attended the Pugwash meet to discuss Kashmir. This was for the first time that the PDP leader visited Pakistan to attend the conference, while the opposition National Conference president and MP, Omar Abdullah attended the Islamabad meet for the second time. The separatist leaders including the Hurriyat Conference chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who had attended previous Pugwash conferences, and the Peoples Conference leader, Sajad Lone, did not attend.

At her meeting with Sharief today, Ms Mufti stressed the need for expediting the peace process to ensure speedy implementation of the J&K-related confidence-building measures (CBMs) and for pulling down the political barriers in the region. “India and Pakistan, instead of looking at Jammu and Kashmir in military terms, could seek mutual economic advantage of the state’s geo-strategic location by opening up the clutch of traditional trade routes passing through it,” she said.

Sharief, while appreciating the substantive suggestions of the PDP president, assured her that the new Pakistan Government would take measures to consolidate the gains of the peace process for the larger good of the region and its people. The PDP spokesman added that Sharief expressed his desire to visit Kashmir in a personal capacity, to pay homage to his ancestors who belonged to Shopian in district Pulwama. “I am keen to visit my native place in Kashmir to pay homage to my ancestors there”, he told Ms Mufti.

“But the interest of the whole state of Jammu and Kashmir and just concerns of its people will have to be addressed and their liberty to move freely along the traditional routes restored as a precursor to any forward movement on Indo-Pak economic ties,” she said. 

Jammu, April 3
The state government has decided to give social security assistance in cash to the beneficiaries living in remote areas of the state. Tehsil-level functionaries of the Social Welfare Department will distribute the financial assistance among the beneficiaries in their respective block headquarters on bimonthly basis.

Minister for social welfare Abdul Gani Vakil announced this while addressing a public meeting at Ghandinagar in Jammu today.

The order would be applicable in all those villages and areas where no J&K Bank branch existed within the radius of 5 km, he said.

He said the step to give the assistance in cash was aimed at removing inconvenience faced by the widows, old, destitute and handicapped in reaching banks for obtaining pension.

Vakil said the government was also contemplating to empower corporators, councillors and ward members for verifying beneficiaries with no BPL ration cards in cities and towns.

“Till the order in this regard is formally issued, tehsildars will issue certificates for such beneficiaries. Numberdars and chowkidars have been already empowered for identifying and verifying beneficiaries in villages,” he said.

“I have resolved to simplify all procedures to remove red tappism and dispense with ‘babu-raj’ in my department given its direct link with people in distress”, he said and sought cooperation of people in successful completion of the mission.

Vakil said: “Political will of Azad-led government was evident from the fact that with a stroke of pen it implemented Wazir Commission, granted ownership rights to peasants on 22 lakh kanals of land and came out with masterpiece legislation to root out corruption in the state backed up by strong institutional mechanism.”

“These decisions were pending for decades as none exhibited courage to implement them”, he said and told the people to feel the difference in the governance of present and previous regimes in their own interest.

Srinagar, April 3
The police have registered a case of murder against the Army officers and personnel who “accidentally” shot dead a civilian in Tral area, which sparked off a public protest.

Large parts of the area observed bandh today against the killing.

Civilian and official sources said one Gama Bakerwal, who hailed from Rajouri and was here to visit his in-laws, was killed by the Army when they suspected him to be a militant.

A police official said Bakerwal was reportedly mentally unstable and was asked by the Army to stop during a cordon and search operation. But he did not stop and tried to run away and was reportedly shot dead by soldiers.

A large number of people stopped vehicular traffic, claiming it was yet another example of the Army’s highhanded ways in dealing with civilians.

In the last six months, it is the third such incident in which an innocent civilian fell to soldiers bullets.

Meanwhile, the Army has regretted the death of Gama and said it was unintentional. An inquiry has been ordered.

The deceased was reportedly returning from a mosque after offering prayers when the incident took place. Awantipora SSP said they had registered a case of murder on the complaint of the deceased’s wife.

Srinagar, April 3
The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) today directed the police to reopen a case of alleged rape of a woman by security forces in Kathua district in 2003.

“SSP Kathua is solicited to reopen the case for investigation and the investigation should be entrusted to the next senior officer,” acting chairman of SHRC Habibullah Bhat said in his order. The orders were passed on a petition by a woman, who alleged that she was raped by two jawans at her residence in Thal Lohia village in Kathua district on December 12, 2003.

The commission directed the SSP to submit a report in the case within 45 days from the date of receipt of the record and listed the case for next hearing on June 1.

The woman, in her complaint, has stated that during the intervening night of December 12 and December 13, 2003, the security force jawans knocked on the door of her house and when her husband opened the door, he was taken away.

Then the two jawans switched off the lights and raped her by turns at gunpoint.

She had registered an FIR at Basohli the next day.

The victim also approached the SHRC, which took the necessary measures and collected the police report wherein the case was reported as false.

Considering the gravity of the situation, IGP, Human Rights, was asked to conduct an inquiry into the matter. The IGP submitted his report on March 30 this year. — PTI

Srinagar, April 3
State minister for finance, housing and urban development Tariq Hameed Karra has said the greatest challenge facing the housing sector presently was to promote environment-friendly green building construction.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the 4th International Conference on Intelligent, Green and Energy Efficient Building being jointly organised by the Housing Ministry Government of China and the Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC), India, in Beijing the other day.

An official spokesman said the minister held that the task of developing the urban areas would never acquire its true meaning and significance if the concept of green buildings was not pursued significantly in the modern housing infrastructure development. He said in tune with its policy of improving the urban amenities, the Government of India had embarked upon a massive Urban Renewal Mission titled JNNURM, and the state government was working on the Green Building Guidelines and several other issues of construction industry reforms jointly 
with the CIDC.

Karra, heading the Indian delegation at the conference, said the government had formed a new housing policy with the primary objective of ensuring affordable shelter to all by the year 2010. He said the strategy to achieve this was by creating enabling environment for larger participation of private, private-public and cooperative sectors in the housing development.

He said the action plan also envisages creation of a new legal and regulatory regime for housing, redefine role of the housing boards and development authorities, improve access to market credit, and the most important of all was to innovate housing architecture and technology. He said the CIDC, as the apex organisation of the construction industry in the country, had a major role to play.

He said the first and the foremost thing would be to develop trained human resource and the CIDC and the Assam University, Silchar, had already embarked on this plan by starting various housing-related technical courses.

The CIDC, Karra said was the apex organisation of the Construction Industry in India, established by the Planning Commission, Government of India jointly with the construction industry.

Urging the globally acclaimed Green & New Technology Product Manufacturers and Service providers to increase their Indian operations for uniform technology promotion across the globe, Karra said with wider involvement of players, the green building construction would get enough impetus resulting in a universal acceptance of the movement.