Srinagar, May 25
The security forces today launched a massive search operation in the Keran sector of Kupwara district to flush out militants who had infiltrated from across the border, official sources said.

A group of militants were seen moving in the Kolarnag area in the Keran sector, 130 km from here, early today and were challenged by the Army deployed there, the sources said.

They said the troops opened fire on the militants but they escaped taking advantage of darkness, leaving two AK magazines with four rounds, two hand grenades, a radio set with antenna, a rack sack and a combat jacket which were seized in the subsequent operation.

The operation was launched soon after the movement of the militants was noticed and was on till reports last came in, the sources said. They said there was no fresh contact between the militants and the search parties.

Army troops last week scuttled an infiltration bid in the nearby Tangdhar sector by killing three militants trying to sneak into the valley from across the border. — PTI

Srinagar, May 25
A homosexual paramilitary official posted in Kashmir has the top brass of the force in a bind and he might have to pay with his job for his sexual orientation.

A senior paramilitary official told The Tribune that a departmental inquiry has been initiated against the officer of a unit deployed in Bandipore district when many of his male subordinates complained about his sexual advances towards them.

Being a gay is a crime in the security forces and a homosexual may be discharged from job as his sexual orientation is considered a threat to the harmony in the overwhelmingly male force.

What has made matters worse for him are the allegations that he abused his official position to force sexual relations with juniors.

They said a commandant-rank official is heading the inquiry. A spokesperson for the force refused comment on the matter.

An interesting aspect of the matter is the fact that the official has apparently made his sexual preference open to his superiors.

Officials said his superior had first served the officer concerned with an advisory but he continued with his ways, paving the way for a departmental inquiry as complaints grew. His movements have now been "restricted".

The stigma over homosexuality may have faded a bit in urban India but it remains a big taboo in the security forces.

Though Section 377, IPC, makes it a punishable offence despite the civil society’s growing activism against illegality sanctioned to consensual relations between two gays, there is an almost unanimity in uniformed forces against it.

“Gay officials are not tolerated anywhere in the world for the very particular environment in which we work. It may not be a crime but it can't be encouraged in the security forces” an official said.

Srinagar, May 25
A group of farmers from Kralpora village near Bandipore in north Kashmir held a protest here today seeking “due compensation” in lieu of the land acquired for the construction of the NHPC power project in the area.

Initial work of land acquisition and development prior to the construction of the power project has been started over an area of 550 kanals early this year.

Residents of Kralpora village, about 60 km from here, chose to hold protest here to bring the issue to the notice of the state government, as all their pleas in this regard had fallen on deaf ears.

Their demands included a permanent job to at least one member each of the family whose land has been acquired.

They also demanded an increase in the cost of land per kanal from the already settled Rs 3.40 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The protesters also sought to identify the land for the rehabilitation of the affected families.

Officials at Bandipore said cost of land acquired had been paid to over 90 per cent of land owners and only those cases with certain technical problems were pending.

There was no assurance on providing jobs to affected families, while they had been assured of an employment generation in view of the project coming up in the area.

The rehabilitation plan for the affected families was also in place in addition to the compensation for the land acquired, the officials added.

The 330 MW Kishanganga Hydroelectric project is located on river Kishanganga, a tributary of river Jhelum, in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, now falling in the newly created Bandipore district.

Hindustan Construction Company Ltd, in joint venture with Halcrow Group Ltd, UK (Halcrow), was awarded the construction of the project in January by the NHPC.

Work on the project would be completed within a period of seven years at the cost of Rs 2726.49 crore.

Jammu, May 25
Thousands of passengers were stranded at the Jammu railway station as all trains originating from Jammu and bound for Jammu were cancelled or terminated following the ongoing violence in Punjab over the shooting of a head of a sect in a gurdwara in Vienna, Austria.

Speaking to The Tribune, station superintendent Ashwani Kumar said, “All trains originating from Jammu have been cancelled and some of them have been terminated from their place of origin due to the ongoing violence in Punjab.”

Though the Railways started refunding ticket money to the stranded passengers, the passengers had to face hardships due to the cancellation of trains.

“We had no prior information about the cancellation of trains. We were told to wait as no clear information was available with the enquiry officer of the station,” said Ankit Kumar, a resident of Dehradun, who was to board a train for Rishikesh.

The Jammu railway station witnessed chaotic scenes when passengers eagerly awaiting the arrival of trains got the news that all of them had been cancelled.

“We do not know where to go, as we have spent all that we had with us. We had gone to Kashmir, then we went on a pilgrimage to Mata Vaishno Devi and now we have not a single penny left with us,” said Supreet Kumar from New Delhi.

He added, “The railway authorities are refunding ticket money only, but they should have made some arrangements for our stay.”

Though a drop in daytime temperature due to overcast conditions brought some respite from heat for the stranded passengers, the overcrowding of the railway platform made things difficult.

Divisional traffic manager, Jammu railway station, Ashok Sharma said, “So far a majority (all) of trains have been cancelled and we are refunding fare charges to the passengers. I am personally supervising it so that the passengers are not harassed.”

Meanwhile, as the news that rioters in Punjab have burnt three bogies of the Jammu-bound Jammu Tawi express spread, visibly tense people, whose relatives were travelling by the train, lined up outside the railway station for information.

“My son was travelling in the train that was attacked. As we heard the news, we rushed to the railway station. But here they don’t have any information,” said Keval Krishan, a resident of Nanak Nagar, Jammu.

He added, “We were lucky that we later got a call about the safety of our son, who managed to escape during rioting in Punjab.”

Parveen had come to his native Gande village to collect some household items last night when a police party nabbed him, said the SSP.

Udhampur, May 25
Entire Kishtwar district and some parts of Doda plunged into darkness after a tower of the 132 kV line collapsed due to forest fire, near Thathri, yesterday.

Over 3 lakh residents will perforce have to live without electricity for more than one week because there is no alternative arrangement to supply power in this backward mountainous belt.

“We do not have any alternative arrangement for the power supply in Kishtwar district and adjoining localities. The restoration of the power supply in this belt depends upon officers of the NHPC as this line has been maintained by the central agency,” chief engineer, Power Development Department (PDD), Ajay Kumar Gupta told The Tribune.

Gupta said he had brought the matter to the notice of senior officers of the NHPC, including general manager, to start restoration work.

“Repairing the damaged tower in the higher reaches is difficult and time-consuming process,” he said.

However, local alleged that though they had repeatedly informed the authorities that some 132 kV towers would be collapsed due to soil erosion, nothing concrete had been done so far.

They expressed resentment over the casual approach being adopted by the authorities in the restoration work. Sources in the NHPC said it would take more than a week to restore power.

Due to non-availability of road connectivity, the authorities have been finding it difficult to take the equipments and material at the damaged site.

As there is no power supply in the district for the past 24 hours, communication system has virtually collapsed.

The water supply in the district has also been affected as most of the pumps are
also not functioning.

Poonch, May 25
Residents of Poonch district are reeling under unscheduled power cuts ranging from 10-12 hours.

Irked over this, they alleged that long power cuts being imposed by the Power Development Department (PDD) could worsen the situation in the coming dehydrating monsoon.

Muhammad Shafi, a resident of the Mandi area, said, “The department has not only worsened the life of common people but also of college students who are taking their final examination. The worst scenario is seen in the rural areas like Loran, Sawjian, Chandimarh, Poshana, Dugran and Balakote areas, where the PDD is enforcing power cuts for 15-20 hours.”

“The state produces a huge amount of electricity but nobody knows where it goes. The government should immediately supply power in our areas or we will have no other option but to take to streets,” said BSC final-year student Azhar Usman Khan, who is taking his final examination.

Even as officers of the PDD refused to come on record on the matter, but sources in the department told The Tribune that the department had to impose massive power cuts due to huge load.

Jammu, May 25
Speaking in the backdrop of the utterances of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the VHP today appealed to people in Kashmir to cooperate during the Amarnath yatra and set an example of ‘Kashmiriyat’.

Addressing mediapersons here this afternoon, state VHP president Dr Ramakant Dubey, however, said the state government and Shri Amarnath Shrine Board had assured of all possible assistance in ensuring a hassle-free yatra, which is likely to begin from June 7.

Recalling year 1996 when militants had threatened to disrupt the yatra, Dubey said Baba Amarnath Yatra Nyas, an offshoot of the VHP, had been looking after Baba Amarnath yatra and Baba Budda Amarnath yatra since then.

“A meeting of 25 social, religious and traders’ organisations was convened here yesterday at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) where an advisory committee was constituted for both pilgrimages,” he said.

It may be stated here that Budda Amarnath yatra would begin August 25. The committee would provide all possible assistance to the state government and the shrine board for the smooth conduct of both pilgrimages, he said.

However, Dubey expressed regret that the shrine board did not deem it fit to involve Baba Amarnath Yatra Nyas in chalking out modalities for the annual pilgrimage.

Evading a direct comment on Geelani’s recent statement that the annual pilgrimage should be reduced to 15 days, the VHP leader said, “We know about the situation in Kashmir and we appeal to the Kashmiri brethren to extend all possible cooperation to the pilgrimage so as to set an example of Kashmiriyat for the rest of the world.”

Asked how the VHP or Baba Amarnath Yatra Nyas could cooperate when the shrine board had not invited them to its meetings, Dubey said, “We could work as a guide for pilgrims right from Lakhanpur to Banihal, set up langars and point out deficiencies on the part of the government and the shrine board.”

Srinagar, May 25
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reviewed the arrangements for this year’s Amarnath yatra at a high-level meeting held here today.

The meeting was informed that the Anantnag and Ganderbal DCs would be the yatra officers to oversee all arrangements during the yatra period.

It was stated that medicare, drinking water, power supply, essential commodities, firewood and other facilities would be provided to the yatris en route the holy cave.

The arrangements for transportation, helicopter service, tents had also been made, besides a contingency plan to tackle any eventuality.

The Chief Minister asked the concerned officers to put in place all arrangements well in advance for the smooth conduct of the yatra.

It was also informed that total transparency would be maintained at all levels in the distribution of timber.

Jammu, May 25
A one-month-old cub that had inadvertently entered a human habitation was handcuffed by the police and put behind the bars in a village in Rajouri district.

“When our range officer in the area got information that the police had kept a one-month-old cub in prison, he along with his team went to take its possession. But to his surprise, he found the cub handcuffed in the lockup,” Dr Rakesh Gupta, veterinary officer, Manda Wildlife Sanctuary, Jammu, said.

He said: “After taking possession of the cub it was shifted to Jammu. As the cub was seriously injured we started its treatment and twice drained out pus from its left paw . The cub is one year old.”

Named ‘Shera’, this cub had become the centre of attraction in the forest reserve in Manda, where the Wildlife Department had opened a hospital with special facilities to treat the rescued wild animals like Shera.

These days the wildlife reserve has another guest in another one-month-old cub rescued a few days ago from Babeti village of Samba district.

The department has named this one-month-old cub as ‘Danny’ and the cub is currently under treatment.

“The cub was caught by residents of Samba, who later handed it over to the range officer. It is now under our care,” Dr. Rakesh told The Tribune.

Jammu, May 25
Boys outshone girls in the Jammu province securing higher per cent marks than girls in the class X results declared by the state Board of School Education on line here this morning. A Samba boy stood first in the whole province.

There is a decline of around 5 per cent in the pass percentage (55.01) this year, as last year the pass percentage was around 60 per cent. The pass percentage of boys is 55.42, while that of girls it is 54.49 per cent.

Akshay Mahajan, a student of Kristu Jyoti Convent School, Samba, stood first in the Jammu province securing 98.20 per cent marks, while Ruchi Gupta of Adarsh Bal Jyoti Public High School, Gandhi Nagar, secured the second position getting 97.80 per cent. Shivang Gupta of Model Academy, BC Road, stood third in the province securing 97.20 per cent marks.

The total number of students enrolled for the examination were 57,682 and out of which 25,388 were girls. While as many as 4,382 students failed, 21,232 students got reappear in various subjects and 102 students remained absent during exams.

“The results of 10 students would be declared later,” Dr Bashir Ahmed, secretary of the board, said.

As many as 5,786 students got distinction, 12,241 secured the first grade and 13,525 students the second grade.

The results of 160 students were withheld for disputed eligibility, whereas 53 students were disqualified for one year and three students for two years.

Talking to The Tribune, board chairman Deshbandhu said it was due to the joint efforts of teachers and students that a good pass percentage had been registered.

He said the result was not satisfactory in some schools due to a shortage of teachers, whereas in other schools the results were good.

Prof Bhim Singh, chairman of the Panthers Party, described her as a great soul whose death left a vacuum in the turbulent history of Dogras. The Shiv Sena, Hindustan, also paid homage to the departed soul.