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Porn VCD Case
Azad blames BRO for frequent mishaps
Union Minister for Health Ghulam Nabi Azad
waves to his supporters in Jammu on Wednesday. Tribune photograph
Missing Youths |
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Two Shopian women were murdered: Commission
Shopian remains shut as girls protest
Girl
students protest against the Shopian incident in Srinagar on
Wednesday. Tribune photo by Amin War
Amarnath Yatra
SIM Card Scam
Priest accused of cheating
Gaddies on the warpath
Mirwaiz seeks withdrawal of powers to armed forces
Top Harkat ultra among two shot
Help revoke powers to troops, PDP urges PM
Bungling in working of MDA alleged
7 killed in road accident
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Medical re-examination of Anara ordered
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 10 Sources told The Tribune that the CJM, Jammu, issued directions to the GMC authorities to constitute a medical board of doctors to re-examine Anara. The sources in the GMC confirmed that order copy of the CJM had been issued to GMC medical superintendent Dr Ramesh Gupta. Acting upon the court order, the doctors’ panel would be constituted in a day or two to re-examine Anara Gupta, they said, adding that the medical board would examine certain marks on the body of former Miss Jammu so as to draw parallel between Anara and the girl that featured in the porn VCD. Subsequently, the report would be submitted to the court, they said. A week ago, the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of Jammu and the Kashmir police had moved an application before the CJM with a request that it wanted another medical examination of Anara. After minute analysis of the porn VCD in question, the SIT noticed some marks on the body of the girl featured in the VCD and, hence, it requested the court to get Anara Gupta re-examined so as to come to a logical conclusion, they said. The SIT had already completed its investigations recording the statements of those associated with the case, but it had been finding itself in a tight spot due to two conflicting reports of FSL Hyderabad and Chandigarh. If FSL Hyderabad had given a clean chit to the beauty queen, FSL Chandigarh had claimed that the girl featured in the porn CD had resembled with Anara Gupta.
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Azad blames BRO for frequent mishaps
Jammu, June 10 Commenting upon the accident that claimed 26 lives in Doda on last Sunday, Azad said the government had taken up the matter with the BRO earlier also when 39 persons died in an accident at Kishtwar on May 4. “What has come to the fore in these accidents is that the BRO piles up boulders and stones along mountains, forcing passenger vehicles to ply on the lose soil along the Chenab bank,” the minister said, adding that “soil caves in easily resulting into frequent accidents.” Azad said the government was going to take up the matter with the BRO authorities in a forceful manner this time, besides initiating action against the officials concerned. Azad was on a maiden visit to Jammu after being sworn in as Union minister. He was speaking at a welcome function organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), Jammu, here this evening. Earlier in his welcome address, president of the CCI Ram Sahai underlined several demands regarding the cross LoC trade, included setting up of communication links through ISD and a courier service between the state and the PoK and the establishment of cross banking system. He also urged Azad to convince the Central government to facilitate of a buyer-seller meeting. Ram Sahai also rued that matter
regarding the use of currency was not yet sorted out which had been restricting the cross LoC trade. Sahai drew the attention of Azad toward lack of health care infrastructure and equipment in the state. Meanwhile, Azad was given a warm welcome by leaders of the Congress
and the NC on his arrival here for the first time after being sworn as a Union
minister. “The BJP and the PDP have a tacit understanding and are conniving against the state government. Both of them stirred an agitation in Kashmir and Jammu regions over the Amarnath land row,” he said. He urged people not to fall prey to their tactics as they again wanted to create unrest in the state on the issue of the Amarnath
yatra. |
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Hapless families have little hope from Omar govt
Afsana Rashid
Srinagar, June 10 “Successive state governments have failed in coming up to the expectations of people, especially those whose dear ones have gone missing in custody of police or security forces. The coalition government would not be able to apply balm to our wounds,” Parveena Ahangar, president of the APDP, while taking part in monthly sit-in here, said. Renewing her demand for setting up an independent commission to probe disappearances, saying this step alone would settle the nerves of affected families. “Our dear ones were picked up by the police and the security forces in broad day light, but still no action was taken against them. Cases are pending in courts and a judge is not able to take action against security personnel, since they enjoy unbridled powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the Disturbed Areas Act and others Acts,” Parveena said. The APDP president said their only demand was that they should be given information about the whereabouts of their loved ones.
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Two Shopian women were murdered: Commission
Srinagar, June 10 Official sources said cops had now begun probing the murder angle as doctors’ initial statements to the commission and detailed report to the government have made their earlier stand untenable. The commission’s secretary, Mukhtar Ahmad, said Aasiya (17), who was unmarried and bore many injury marks, was definitely killed, as per the doctors’ statements to the commission, while the cause of death of Neelofar (24), who was pregnant, was being ascertained. “Aasiya seems to have been killed after hit on the head by a sharp-edged weapon,” he told The Tribune. When asked about the cause of death of
Neelofar, who was Aasiya’s sister-in-law, he said they were still probing it. But he suggested the murder of Aasiya made it a strong possibility that Neelofar was also killed. Doctors have submitted a detailed report to the police which has reportedly mentioned “excessive bleeding” and “neurogenic shock” as the likely cause of their deaths. The commission’s statement based upon the statements of the same doctors is more conclusive as it asked them to give their
opinions. Mukhtar Ahmad said they were trying their best to wrap up the probe as soon as possible but the ongoing protests, especially in
Shopian, was hindering witnesses from recording their statements. Justice Muzaffar Ahmad Jan (retired), who heads the commission, has begun recording their statements in the Circuit House. A medical report had earlier confirmed the presence of sperm stains on both bodies, forcing cops to register a rape case. The whole saga, which began with the findings of bodies on May 30, is increasingly becoming an embarrassing commentary on the police handling of this sensitive investigation. They first refused to register a FIR and began inquest proceedings under Section 174,
CrPC, something done for suspicious deaths like suicides or accidental deaths like drowning for which nobody else is thought to be responsible. Some heads in the police may roll in the coming days as NC president and union minister Farooq Abdullah hinted, saying that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had said what he was told by his officials. The CM has come under a lot of flak for his initial statements in which he had discounted the possibility of the women’s rape and murder. The whole affair handed the separatists an emotive issue as they brought life to a halt for eight days in the valley. |
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Shopian remains shut as girls protest
Srinagar, May 10 Girl students today took out rallies in different parts of the valley, protesting the alleged rape and murder of two women in Shopian, amidst the flow of normal life, especially in Srinagar. Dressed in uniforms, girls chanted Islamic and azadi slogans and demanded swift punishment for the accused. A few woman police personnel, supported by much larger contingent of their men colleagues, followed these protesters to keep the situation under control. The police used force to disperse an agitating crowd, which included girls, in Kulgam and some of them were left injured. The situation in Shopian, the epicenter of protests, remained tense and shops and commercial establishments were largely closed today. Government offices were mostly closed or remained unattended and traffic was hardly on the road in the south Kashmir town. Local sources said normal life remained paralysed and a curfew-like situation prevailed there with security personnel on extra vigil to thwart any violent protests. |
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Omar conducts aerial survey of Pahalgam route
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, June 10 Chief Minister Omar Abdullah conducted an aerial survey of the track between Pahalgam and the holy cave today. He directed the divisional administration to support all efforts of the shrine board to double efforts for clearing the track and putting in place all requisite facilities and services, particularly electricity, drinking water, supply of essential commodities, medical and allied facilities, before the commencement of the yatra. Omar was apprised about the status of the track, various restoration works and the creation of temporary facilities by the shrine board at the base camps and other locations en route the shrine, an official spokesman here said. Since the track clearance on the Chandanwari-holy cave route received a setback in the wake of continuous rain and snowfall for the past three days, resulting in its closure near Mahagunus due to heavy accumulation of snow, the men and material of the Public Health Engineering Department and the Power Development Department from Pahalgam are now being sent via the Baltal route to restore essential power and water supply. The water stream near the cave shrine is still frozen and the piped water supply to be put in position will take a few days. As regards the facilities at the base camps, it is learnt that at Baltal and Nunwan, these have been fully established. The details of the assessment , particularly with regard to the clearance of the track, would be placed before Governor NN Vohra, who is scheduled to undertake an aerial survey tomorrow. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) has once again reiterated the board’s earlier request to all persons intending to undertake the pilgrimage to ensure proper registration before proceeding on the yatra. Jammu: A meeting of top officers of various security agencies was held today to review the security situation in the Jammu region for the yatra. The meeting at the headquarters of the Nagrota-based White Knight Corps was chaired by GOC of the 16 Corps Lt-Gen RK Swamy, who is also security adviser to the state government. The meeting was attended by senior civil, police, paramilitary force and Army officers.
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Reliance Telecom deactivates 36,000 connections
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 10 Official sources told The Tribune that Reliance Telecom had deactivated 36,000 SIM cards, which had been issued in total contravention to laid norms. They said Reliance Telecom dealers had issued these SIM cards without proper verification, and in some cases after forging documents. Confirming this to The Tribune, SSP (Crime Branch) JP Singh said ever since the case was registered on May 31, the Crime Branch in its investigations found that authorised dealers of private cellular companies like Reliance Telecom, Vodafone, Aircel, Airtel and Tata Indicom had issued SIM cards in utter violation of norms, threatening the security of the country. “During the course of investigations we found many irregularities committed by these dealers while issuing SIM cards,” JP Singh said, adding that hundreds of customer application forms were found to be signed and attested by particular gazetted officers carrying their seal on the forms. But the signatures and telephone numbers of particular gazetted officers were found to be forged, he said. Similarly, 36,000 SIM cards of Reliance Telecom had been issued on such forged documents, he said. After the company in its internal check found that 36,000 SIM cards were issued in violation of norms, it deactivated them and we hope that other private cellular companies take a clue from Reliance Telecom, the SSP said. “We had been getting intelligence inputs that militants and their sympathisers had been using such SIM cards to carry out their nefarious designs in the state,” he said. The SSP said the Crime Branch anticipated more arrests in the days to come. Continuing with their investigations into the scam, Crime Branch sleuths had conducted surprise checks on an authorised outlet of Vodafone last evening, seizing the record for scrutiny. It had already arrested three dealers for issuing SIM cards without proper verification.
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Children engaged to clean Sanasar lake
Jammu, June 10 Surprisingly, neither Minister for Tourism and Culture Nawang Rigzin Jora nor Joint Director, Tourism, SK Sahni had any knowledge of this violation when The Tribune broke this news to them. Taking cognisance of the matter, Jora said, “If children have been employed to clean the lake, it is indeed a serious matter. It cannot be tolerated at all. I will order an inquiry into the matter, and take action against the guilty.” Sahni too expressed ignorance about the issue saying “just three days ago, I went with Tourism Minister Jora. When the cleanliness issue came up, villagers expressed their willingness to do the task. We were happy to allocate them the work so that they could earn some money. But we had no idea that children would be employed for the task.” Sahni added that a contractor, a team of a teachers and a sarpanch were hiring people for the task. He said he would take up the matter soon and address the problem. Amid all this, children extracting weeds from the thick marsh of the lake while sitting in a boat had no clue about the existence of any such law. Vicky, a child labour, said, “I don’t know anything about any law. It was my father who asked me to come here with two of my brothers for the work.” He also had no idea about how much money he would make. It was on last Sunday that Jora visited the lake and directed the department officials to get it cleaned.
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Priest accused of cheating
Jammu, June 10 Samiti president Geeta Thakur, who contested the last Assembly elections from Jammu West, today alleged that Naresh Kumar of Vikas Nagar in Patoli had cheated innocent people in land deals. Posing as a priest in a temple at Vikas Nagar, he had become famous among gullible people. He assured them of big returns on their money, she said while addressing mediapersons here today. Naresh also married four girls after ‘hypnotising’ them and later eloped with the fifth one from Bakshi Nagar, she said. Geeta also produced an FIR of April 12 registered against Naresh at Janipur police station for fraud in various land deals. Naresh’s first wife Tripta Devi of RS Pura had also lodged an FIR against him, which awaits disposal, she added. An application in this regard was also submitted to the Women Cell on the Canal road on January 8 last year, but no action was taken by the police to nab the culprit, she said. The brother of Ruchi, one of the five girls married by Naresh, said he hypnotised his sister into marrying him and later they eloped. “We disowned Ruchi after she got married to a married man (Naresh) in November 2007. And now we came to know that he has also duped several innocent people of their hard-earned money,” he said. Tripta Devi, the first wife of the conman, also said Naresh Kumar had abandoned her and sought divorce. “The case is still pending in court,” she said. Geeta said if the government failed to take stern action against Naresh Kumar, the samiti would launch an agitation. Meanwhile, Naresh Kumar has gone into hiding.
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Gaddies on the warpath
Udhampur, June 10 Though the Gaddies have been included in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list, there problems have been increasing due to the apathetic attitude of the authorities. “Out of the total 10 per cent quota allotted to the STs in the state, 6 per cent has been given to the Gujjars and Bakerwals,” rued Thakur Dass, president of the Gaddhi Sabha. He threatened to launch a mass movement in support of their demands. Besides Gujjars and Bakerwals, 12 other communities, including the Gaddies and the Sappies, have been included in the ST list. But these two communities are not getting the benefits of reservation because they lack numerical strength. “Though there is more than 18,000 Gaddi families in the Jammu region, population of this community is scattered all over the mountainous region. So political parties never take our problems seriously,” Puran Chand, another Gaddi leader, said. He added, “We do not have a solid vote bank, so our problems are being ignored.” The Gaddis are a tribe living mainly in Doda, Kathua and Udhampur districts of Jammu province. Like the Gujjars and the Bakerwals, they are also nomads. They were also given the ST status in 1993 when the Gujjars and the Bakerwals were given the same benefit. Earlier in 1982, the Gaddies were categorised as an OBC community. But in 1993, they were included in the ST list to improve their lot. “During the past 15 years, we have lost many members our community in the militancy-related incidents,” Thakur Dass said. He alleged the Gaddies were also being discriminated against in the grant of ex gratia relief and other benefits being given to the militancy-affected families.
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Mirwaiz seeks withdrawal of powers to armed forces
Srinagar, June
10 Talking to mediapersons here this afternoon, the Mirwaiz condemned the house arrest of several leaders and detention of several others, for the past several days. He said that the Centre was adopting wrong policies on Kashmir which had led to the prevalent situation. About
hartals, Mirwaiz said that these were finally a means to convey the point of view of the people. Since the hardline faction had already given a “resistance
programme” on the Shopian incident, there was no need for another by his faction..
Mirwaiz, however, disassociated himself from the general strike call given by separatist organisations here tomorrow on the occasion of the visit of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to the valley. |
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Top Harkat ultra among two shot
Srinagar, June 10 Baramulla’s SSP Viplav Kumar said it was a breakthrough for them as Ali
Sher, deputy chief operation commander of HuM, was involved in several incidents in the area which has been a traditional hotbed of militancy. The police received a tipoff regarding the presence of Ali Sher and his accomplice in a house in Dangarpora village of Sopore in the morning. It was joined by 22 RR of the Army and 179 and 177 battalions of the CRPF in the operation. As the security forces zeroed in on the targeted house, militants fired upon the advancing party. In the retaliatory fire, both were killed. Ali Sher was also known as Kalimulla while his accomplice was identified as Mumtaz Ahmad
Parray, who hailed from Sopore. Ali Sher was behind the murder of special police officer Fayaz Ahmad on May 31 and was also involved in a number of grenade attacks in
Sopore, the police said. |
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Help revoke powers to troops, PDP urges PM
Srinagar, June 10 Addressing a press conference after its central executive committee meeting today, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti hoped that steps would be taken regarding the AFSPA and the reduction of troops at a time when Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was arriving here tomorrow. “We expect that the Home Minister will be bold enough to take bold decisions on the AFPSA and the troop reduction from internal security in the state,” Mehbooba said. “The scrapping of special powers and the withdrawal of troops will give people much-needed relief,” Mehbooba pointed out. It would pave the way for the final resolution of the Kashmir issue, she said. |
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Bungling in working of MDA alleged
Udhampur, June 10 The residents urged Union Tourism Minister Kumari Shelja to personally look into the functioning of the MDA. While addressing public meetings at Ramnagar and Gandh Top, local leader Ranbir Pathania demanded sanctioning of a separate Tourism Development Authority for Dodu Basantgarh with a view to developing and harnessing the tourism potential of the area. |
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7 killed in road accident
Srinagar, June 10 Five of them died on the spot while those injured were shifted to hospital, where the condition of 10 is stated to be critical, the police said. According to reports received here the bus plunged into the Lidder river near Yarnar, resulting in the death of five persons, including three women, on the spot. Two persons, including a woman, later succumbed to their injuries in hospital. |
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Jammu, June 10
Shopian continues with its protests and strikes even as normal life has returned the valley to a large extent.
Girl students today took out rallies in different parts of the valley, protesting the alleged rape and murder of two women in
Shopian, amidst the flow of normal life, especially in Srinagar. Dressed in uniforms, girls chanted Islamic and azadi slogans and demanded swift punishment for the accused.
