Udhampur, July 14
Taking undue benefit of ongoing ceasefire, Pakistan has started building concrete bunkers along the border. Besides constructing cemented bunkers, Pakistan has also erected a number of observation towers just near the border to keep a watch on his side of the border.

Interacting with mediapersons at Sher-e-Kashmir Police Training Academy here this morning, Special BSF Director-General UK Bansal said after the 26/11 Mumbai attack, Pakistan had stepped up activities along the border.

“We have repeatedly taken up this issue with the Pakistani authorities but no action has been taken so far”, he said, adding that there was,however, no need to get worried as security agencies were well-prepared to meet any challenge.

In some isolated cases, the Pakistani Rangers have heeded the Indian objections and stopped construction but in most other areas the activities were being carried out unabated.

The BSF officer said that no big infiltration has been reported on border during the past six months . “Violation of ceasefire on the LoC has been witnessed at some points but the border is by and large peaceful”, he said.

The Disclosure made by the BSF DG assume significance as inhabitants of border areas have repeatedly raised concern over activities of Pakistani soliders near the border.

He said the BSF would be deployed in Naxal-affected areas of various states. The BSF DG was in the local Police Training Academy as the chief guest in the passing-out parade of 184 fresh recruits of the Indian Reserve Battalion of the Orissa Police. Jawans of the Orissa Police were trained in the police academy to meet the challenge of terrorism, especially the menace of Naxalism, in their state. 

Jammu, July 14
Air Marshal NAK Browne, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Air Command, today visited the local Air force station where he was received by group captain Ghar Singh

The Air Marshal inspected the guard of honour presented by Air Warriors of 23 Wing Air Force. He also met the station commander of the Air Force station.

Browne reviewed all units of the station, construction sites of various projects and welfare amenities.

The visit is a part of Brown’s familiarisation tour to the units under the Western Air Command. The Air Marshal is scheduled to meet senior Army and IAF officers during his visit.

Phinder (Jammu), July 14
Tears well up in the eyes of Dev Raj, an iron smith of this nondescript village near Jammu, whenever he reads or hears about the Shopian rape and murder case. Living hundreds of kilometres away from Shopian, Dev Raj and his family actually empathise with the family of the two women killed in Shopian.

For, he and his family had lived through the same ordeal. Ten years ago, he lost his 23-year-old daughter Chanchal and eight-year-old granddaughter Ruby, both of who were allegedly raped and murdered by unknown persons.

The two had gone missing on July 11, 1999, and their bodies were found from a well a few kilometres from the village on July 21. Chanchal was scheduled to marry on July 20.

Dev Raj at times also cringes at the kind of support the family of the Shopian girls has got. “People of my village staged demonstrations for a few days. After that, it was left to us. The police could not find the murderers till date.”

He just hopes he could know the truth about the case before he breathes his last. “The post-mortem report clearly said Chanchal was raped, but the police could not find the culprits. There was a suggestion that the minor girl was also molested.”

A decade down the memory lane, one doesn’t get any problem in locating their house in the village. Even though The Tribune team was well informed that a twin rape and murder case had happened, the first persons contacted directed towards the house reached through a narrow lane. Dev Raj tells they have lost faith in the police. “July could have been a cheerful month for us every year, but since the incident we rue the month.”

The police had closed the investigation into the case two years after the incident. DSP Jagjit Singh Jagga (retd), now a PDP leader, was the investigating officer in the case. Posted as the SHO of the area where the crime occurred, he claimed during the investigation that Chanchal had committed suicide with her niece and there was no rape.

“The doctors wrote in their report about the rape but there was no clinching evidence. The bodies were mutilated. I believe Chanchal committed suicide. She may not be happy with the marriage.”

Dev Raj and his family members refuse to buy the argument. “If Chanchal wanted to commit suicide, she wouldn’t have taken the eight-year-old niece along. Also, Chanchal never raised any objection to the marriage.”

Udhampur, July 14
In a fierce encounter in the Gulabgarh area of Reasi district, the security forces killed a Hizbul Mujahideen militant today. Trained in the PoK, the slain militant was involved in the killing of three members of a family, including a newly married boy. The family members were killed because they had opposed the forcible marriage of their daughter with the slain militant.

According to the police, on a specific information a joint team of Rashtriya Riffle and the state police launched a search operation in the Gulabgarh area this morning. They tracked down the militant and in the ensuing gunfight gunned him down. The slain militant was later identified as Bashir Ahmed Sheikh, alias Jan Baaz, alias Ghulam Ullah.

Jammu, July 14
Even as 10 districts of Jammu province today bore the brunt of tool-down strike by 30,000 employees of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, the minister concerned this evening avowed not to give up to the “blackmailing tactics” of the agitating employees.

Out of eight demands of the agitating employees, I had conceded seven but there would be no compromise on the new transfer policy, Taj said. However, to end the stalemate, he said the state government had decided to implement Minimum Wage Act. Hence, he would do whatever possible to get a minimum wage of Rs 3,000 for the daily wagers but deadwoods would not be tolerated anymore.

Though the government did not want to be on a warpath, if required the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) would be invoked against the agitating employees, he said.

He said tool-down strike there had just 10 to 20 per cent impact on water supply. We had sought 400 more jawans from the Home Guards Department to ensure smooth water supply, he said.

An action plan to ensure smooth water supply in the region had been formulated and all executive engineers and junior engineers been asked to ensure hassle-free supply, he said.

The transfer policy, which has been formulated after 25 years, was aimed at ensuing accountability and transparency in the functioning of the department, he said.

Meanwhile, the PHE Employees United Front, an umbrella organisation of various PHE employees’ associations, claimed that water supply remained affected in the 10 districts of Jammu province.

However, general secretary of the PHE Workers’ Welfare Association Subhash Chander Verma said the employees would not get intimidated by repressive measures of the minister. He also flayed the police action of arresting five of its ‘activists’. To sabotage our strike all PHE installations in Jammu had been taken over by cops, who harassed and even abused our employees, he said.

Jammu, July 14
In the state where unemployed youths take to the street every other day seeking jobs, thousands of employees of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department that supplies water to residents, just don’t retire. They continue to serve even after they attain the age of 70 or more.

Nearly 4,000 employees of the PHE Department continue with the government job allegedly due to the wrong disclosure of age at the time of recruitment. But not anymore.

A determined PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din has announced that suspected employees would have to undergo a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test, probably a first ever in the country at such a large scale, to catch overage employees.

None other than the minister himself disclosed the scandal while talking to reporters about the government handling of the strike by the PHE employees here this evening.

“The overage employees have been given a last chance. I have announced a general amnesty to the person, who comes clean about his age and takes voluntary retirement. For others, who are caught, the extra money given to them after they completed 58 years would be recovered. Besides, they would also lose pension benefits,” he added.

Taj’s amnesty to the employees begins today and would last next three months before he initiates action, including MRI. I have learnt there were some employees even beyond the age of 75, he said.

“When I started inquiring into this, I got a huge response from public and within the department. I got a letter from villagers telling how even a 78-year-old employee was working while his son had retired,” said Taj.

He blamed the serious lapse on his predecessors saying such employees were engaged way back, some 25 years ago, but promptly added that he would set the house in order.

On daily wage workers engaged between January 1994 to November 2005, he described their engagement as illegal. There had been no order from the Finance Department to engage them and such employees were engaged against hand receipts issued to them, he said. However, he assured that he would try to get an order issued in their favour from the state Cabinet.

Jammu, July 14
The newborn baby who went missing from the Shri Maharaja Ghulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital on Sunday evening is being seen as direct fallout of staff shortage and surplus bed occupancy.

The Tribune had reported last month that SMGS Hospital was equipped with dismal nursing staff strength of just 118 to look after 700 patients on daily basis.

Official sources said the hospital was under-staffed and congested. “Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), from where the infant went missing, has a capacity of 10 patients only, but even today there were 35 patients. At the time of incident there were 37 patients in the NICU while there was only one nurse to attend them,” they said.

The sources said the burgeoning loads of patients had been impacting the quality of care in the wake relatively lesser medical and paramedical staff.

“The 69-year-old hospital, which is the only government-run specialised gynaecology and paediatrics hospital in the region, houses 700 patients besides catering to more than 1,000 outdoor patients on regular basis,” the sources said.

The sources said as per health norms set by AIIMS, there should be one nurse manning each bed in the ICU and CCU, but in SMGS a single nurse is supposed to take care of entire ward. “The paramedical staff and senior doctors have been performing their for extra hours in a state of chaos and confusion,” they rued.

“At the time when incident happened, it was change of shift,” he said. “On the basis of prima-facie evidence, the hospital administration has placed three nurses and an orderly under suspension besides constituting an inquiry into the entire episode. The inquiry report would be submitted within next two days,” he said.

However, the police was clueless about the whereabouts of the infant till evening and was conducting raids.

Meanwhile, adding insult to her injuries, Rajni Bala, mother of the missing newborn baby, has been kept in a room of a police post on the hospital premises instead of a sterile room. “Me and my family members were looking for our baby in all wards of the hospital on Sunday when another patient occupied my bed,” Rajni said.

“Neither any doctor nor any one on paramedical staff came here for her health checkup till this evening. It was only after protest demonstration by the people that a nurse visited her,” her husband Sunil Sharma said.

Meanwhile, people of Kathua and Samba staged a peaceful sit-in on the hospital premises and warned administration that if the “kidnapped” baby was not recovered by tomorrow morning they would resort to protest at Indira Chowk.

Heavy police deployment was made in and around the hospital by the administration to thwart any untoward incident. “We did not shouted any slogan or disrupted the functioning of the hospital despite that hospital administration in a face saving exercise has been accusing us of irresponsible behaviour,” state general secretary of the Panthers Party Anita Thakur, who was leading the protest, said.

Alleging that someone from the hospital administration was in cahoots with the “kidnappers”, she said. “In the CCTV footage, there is no record of any person who took away the infant. It clearly indicates that the kidnapper was aware of location of the camera,” she said.

Srinagar, July 14
In its first meeting after the recent Cabinet expansion, the state government under Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here today ordered a major reshuffle in the police with transfers and postings of 62 officers, including Director General (CID) Ashok Bhan, who had been posted as DG (Prisons). Bhan, a 1976 batch IPS officer, was the DG (CID) when the Shopian incident took place.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by the Chief Minister and it was also decided to shift IG (Kashmir) B Srinivas as IG (Security). A government spokesperson, however, described the transfers as a routine exercise.

Srinivas, a 1990 batch IPS officer, had taken over as IG (Kashmir) at a difficult time on September 1 last year, when the entire valley was in turmoil over the Amarnath land row. After successfully handling the situation, Srinivas was part of the efforts to ensure peaceful holding of Assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Srinivas would be succeeded by Farooq Ahmed, a 1995 batch IPS officer. He is heading the special investigation team probing the Shopian case.

IG (Jammu) K Rajendra, a 1984 batch IPS officer, had been promoted and posted as ADG (CID). He would be replaced by Ashok Gupta, a 1987 batch IPS officer.

Rajesh Kumar, DIG of south Kashmir, in which Shopian district falls, had also been shifted and appointed as DIG, Vigilance. Kamal K Saini would take over from him.

DIG (Srinagar) Muneer Khan had been shifted to the traffic department and Hemant Lohia would take his place.

DIG (North Kashmir) Farooq Khan moves in the same capacity to the Jammu region, while Sunil Kumar had been appointed as DIG (CID). Khan would be replaced by Qayum Manhas.

PL Gupta, who also stands promoted as ADGP, had been posted as Vigilance Commissioner with Sheikh Owais as his IG.

DR Dole, who had been out on deputation, had been brought back and she had been posted as IG (Headquarters).

Amin Anjum had been posted as IG (CID) and Dilbagh Singh and Gopal Reddy as IG for Armed Police and Home Guards, respectively.

Deepak Kumar had been posted as DIG of Doda and Ramban, while Farooq Bedar would be the new SSP, Srinagar.

Srinagar, July 14
To maintain the spiritual ambiance of the Amarnath shrine, Governor NN Vohra today approved the relocation of helipad from the cave periphery to Panchtarni, the forward base camp on the traditional Pahalgam route.

The decision taken at the 16th Board meeting of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) was also to meet the pilgrims’ perception that the helicopter movement, close to the cave, impacted on the longevity of the holy ice lingam.

Also, environmentalists had averred that the exhaust fumes, vibrations and sound waves arising from the helicopter operations could adversely affect the fragile ecology of these snow-covered mountain ranges.

A spokesman of the SASB here said Vohra, chairman of the SASB, today approved the relocation of the helipad, adding that the helicopter service would now operate on the Baltal-Panchtarni sector with effect from July 22.

There would, therefore, be no service to the holy cave for the remainder period of the current year’s yatra.

The spokesman stressed the importance of having an adequate number of helipads in the yatra area for evacuating those injured in accidents and for launching rescue operations in exigencies, keeping in view the difficult terrain and fast changing weather conditions in the region.

Meanwhile, 9,845 yatris performed darshan at the cave shrine yesterday.

Around 1,400 pilgrims left from the Baltal and 3,600 from the Nunwan base camps today, while another batch of 1,699 yatris left from Jammu to Pahalgam and Baltal this morning.

Srinagar, July 14
In a fit of rage, a CRPF personnel shot dead his colleague before shooting himself in a camp here in the wee hours today, official sources said.

Constable Manoj Pakhwan shot dead his colleague Manjeet Singh after a heated argument inside their camp in the Sanat Nagar locality around 2 am, the sources said.

Before other CRPF personnel could react and overpower Pakhwan, he shot himself, they said, adding that he was immediately shifted to the Soura Medical Institute where his condition was stated to be ‘critical’.

It was not immediately known what led to the scuffle between the two jawans, the sources said. They added that a case had been registered. — PTI 

Udhampur, July 14
For the third day in a row, NC workers, enraged over exclusion of Sajjad Kichloo from the Council of Ministers, staged a demonstration and shouted slogans against Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for, what they alleged, discrimination against Kishtwar district. Amidst a downpour a large number of NC workers today took out a rally from the party office and marched towards various bazars of Kishtwar.

Workers shouted slogans against the party leadership for not including Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo in the ministry. Annoyed workers blocked traffic and shouted slogans against Omar Abdullah. They alleged that Sajjad Kichloo became a victim of a conspiracy hatched by some senior leaders of the party.

Rajouri: Surankote town in Poonch district observed a near-total bandh against the non-inclusion of veteran Gujjar and CLP leader Chowdhary Muhammad Aslam in the Council of Ministers. Thousands of supporters of Chowdhary Aslam took to the streets in Surankote against the Congress High Command’s decision not to include him in the state Cabinet during the recent expansion.

Thousands of people under the leadership of Sayaid Muhammad staged a demonstrationat the main bus stand and blocked traffic on the Jammu-Poonch national high way for hours in the morning. Later they faxed a memorandum and also sent telegrams to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the inclusion of Aslam in the Cabinet.

Udhampur, July 14
Two youth raped a middle-aged dumb woman in a remote village of Ramban district. Both accused have been arrested. According to the police, Farooq Ahmed (25) of Seri village and Zahoor Ahmed(28) of Dandri village entered the house of 55-year-old woman at Gala village on Sunday night,. The woman was alone in the house as her husband, also dumb, had gone to attend a marriage in a nearby village.

Both accused, who were under the influence of liquor, raped the woman and managed to escape. The woman last evening narrated the incident to her family members, who reported the matter to the police.

A case under has been registered against the accused.

Jammu, July 14
In a drive against adulterated food items, the police today arrested two persons namely Naresh Kumar of Datyal village in Akhnoor, who was putting up in Shiv Nagar of the Domana area, and Tarsem Lal Sharma of Patoli Brahmana, the Jammu SSP, said.

Three truck loads of adulterated ghee was seized from their possession, he said, adding that the adulterated ghee was packed in tins exhibiting names of well-known brands.

The adulterated desi ghee was purchased by the accused from Delhi through a middleman and the consignment was meant for supplying to Rajouri and Poonch districts and other local areas.

A case under Section 420, RPC, 3/7 Essential Commodities Act was registered at Domana police station.

Udhampur, July 14
Following their failure to rape a helpless widow, a government teacher along with his brother-in-law allegedly killed the woman by setting her on fire after sprinkling kerosene in the presence of her two kids. Although the teacher is still at large, his brother-in-law, Gian Singh, of Pandiyarana village has been arrested and a murder case registered.

According to Kishtwar SP, Gian Singh along with Rakesh Kumar entered into the house of widow Rita Kumari of Pida village on Wednesday last.

They under the influence of liquor tried to rape the woman. As the woman raised alarm, they sprinkled kerosene and set her on fire. The woman later succumbed to her burns in the JMC on Monday night.