New Delhi, July 20
The Supreme Court today stayed the Jammu and Kashmir High Court’s order for the narco-analysis test of two suspended police officers, arrested in connection with the alleged rape and murder of two women in Shopian.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam posted the case for further hearing for July 24 to consider the bail plea of the accused, Javed Iqbal Mattoo and Rohit Baskotra.

The police officers had moved the apex court on July 17 seeking stay of the HC order that had directed their arrest and collection of blood samples for preparing the DNA profile.

Appearing for the accused police officials, senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi said his clients had neither been made parties in the HC nor had been served any notice. He said the HC had passed the order on July 15 on a PIL filed by the state HC Bar Association in connection with an incident that had taken place on May 29.

The PIL had been filed following reports that two women, Neelofar Jan and Aasiya Jan, were raped and murdered at Shopian. 
Subsequently, the state government set up a one-member inquiry commission headed by a retired HC judge Justice Muzaffar Jan.

The accused were suspended on June 22 after the commission submitted its interim report. They said they were not provided with either the interim report or the final report.

Appearing for the state government, senior counsel Harish Salve said the HC order had been warranted by the grave nature of the crime.

Jammu, July 20
Rejecting outrightly the statement of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that two separate campuses/ branches of the Central university be opened in Jammu and Srinagar, BJP state president Ashok Khajuria said the party would oppose such a move tooth and nail. He reminded the Chief Minister that the Central university had been sanctioned for Jammu and the same should be established in Samba district, where the land for this purpose had already been identified.

Khajuria said the BJP was not against any region, but would not tolerate discrimination against Jammu at any level or in any sphere. “We did not raise any objection over the decision to set up an IIM in the valley, then why a hue and cry over the setting up of the Central university in Jammu province,” he said.

Taking a dig at the Congress leadership, he said it was unfortunate that no Congress minister, MLA or MP had said even a single word over this anti-Jammu attitude of the coalition. Such an attitude on their part showed how much concerned they were about Jammu.

Led by district president Rajesh Gupta, activists of the Jammu Mahanagar BJP today took out a march that started from the party headquarters and after passing through main bazaars of the city culminated at the City Chowk. The marchers burnt the effigy of the Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, the Panthers Party held a demonstration here today in protest against government move to shift the proposed central university to the Kashmir valley from Jammu. Panther’s party supporters along with party president and MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia and Yashpal Kaundal staged a dharna in protest against the move.

Mankotia said the land for the setting up the university was also identified in Samba district but the Vice-chaancellor of the university was appointed from the Kashmir valley, who had opened an office in the valley. “We would agitate against the move to relocate it from Jammu to Kashmir,” Mankotia said.

Meanwhile, the Jammu Justice Movement, newly framed body of students, research scholars and social activists, today served three-day ultimatum on the state government to make its stand clear on the status and location of the university.

The Central University Joint Action Committee (CUJAC) also held a protest against the government today asking it to clear its stand on the Central university.

The protesters blocked traffic on the main road for half-an-hour and burnt the effigy of the government in front of the main gate of Jammu University. Addressing a press conference today, Ajay Taloor, a member of the CUJAC, said the students would welcome the government step to open regional campuses of the Central university at Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. But the government should set up the Central university in Jammu only.

Kathua, July 20
A mob of about 200 villagers, including women, today blocked the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway at Rajbagh here for over an hour, protesting against water shortage in at least three villages.

Trouble erupted around 10.30 am today when residents of Karandi, Jasrota and Bhagti villages blocked the highway at Rajbagh here. Shouting slogans against the Public Health Engineering (PHE) authorities, the angry villagers disrupted the traffic.

The villagers said for the past 15 days the PHE authorities was not supplying drinking water to the Rajbagh area, particularly Karandi, Jasrota and Bhagti villages. Despite repeated requests, no measures had been initiated to mitigate our sufferings, said Mohan Singh, a protester.

Mohan Singh said though the PHE authorities had claimed to have pressed into service at least seven water tankers, only two tankers used to supply water, which also disappeared during the past couple of days.

Mandeep Kour, Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, besides senior officers of police and civil administration rushed to the spot. The DC assured the villagers of taking up the matter with the PHE authorities, but the latter insisted that water be supplied to their villagers through taps and not by tankers. After an assurance from the DC, the villagers lifted the blockade. 

Jammu, July 20
The Tawi, lifeline of Jammu, may soon go the Yamuna way as a study by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has found 34 dumping sites along its banks.

Due to the absence of any sewerage treatment plant here, numerous drains of the city carrying night soil, hazardous effluents and sewage from the households flow directly into the Tawi, making it the most polluted river in the state.

The Jammu Municipal Corporation and the State Pollution Control Board have failed to protect the river from pollution. The survey on pollution in the river has found 12 major dumping sites on the right bank of the river downstream from Sidhra bridge and about 20 dumping sites on the left bank.

The SPCB tested water samples from 14 sites and unfavourable results were reported from spots like Tawi bridge, Makwal Nikki Tawi and the cremation ground.

Bhagwati Nagar was found to be the most polluted spot. Samples showed that the river at this point had very high biological oxygen demand (BOD) of 48 mg per litre; normally it should be 2mg per litre for inland water surface.

The same location shows dissolved oxygen (DO) level of 1.2 mg per litre while rivers having DO of 4 mg per litre or more are considered as healthy.

The SPCB has proposed a set of recommendations to various departments for the preservation of the Tawi.

It said the project allotted to the UP Jal Board for the construction of a sewerage treatment plant at Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu, be taken on a priority basis, sewage treatment plant of the Government Medical College, Jammu, be made functional, waste water of the entire city be properly treated before it is discharged into the Tawi, construction, operation and maintenance of the treatment facilities, among others.

Jammu, July 20
Amidst separatist leaders, hardened militants, notorious smugglers and illegal immigrants, there is a unique inmate in the District Jail here.

Fourteen-year-old Johai Miyan of Myanmar (Burma), who has no direct case against him, is forced to live behind bars for almost two years with his father arrested for the violation of the Foreigners Act.

They were part of a group of about 50 Burma immigrants who were caught trying to crossover to Pakistan in 2007. The boy being minor cannot be accused of the crime as he was just following his father and elders. On the other hand, in the absence of a Juvenile Act in the state, he cannot be tried by a Juvenile court nor kept in a juvenile home.

Johai will be released only when his father is acquitted or completes his jail term. He cannot get any inspiration from past cases of minors like him. Two other minor inmates belonging to Bangladesh have already turned major in the jail.

A jail official reasoned the boy had been kept here as he had no relative. The official said: “He would have been spoilt or died of hunger or fallen in wrong hands. Here, he is in the care of his father. He doesn’t know the local language. It was best if he remains with his father.”

“Moreover, the Myanmar government has refused to accept them. The same was the case with other two minors incarcerated in the jail. They have already gone past the age of 18 but yet, there country government refuses to accept them,” the jail official said.

Social Welfare director Satish Sharma said the department had the provision of keeping juvenile delinquents but only if the police, or a court sent the minor there.

Sources reveal that the Bal Ashram had three inmates only as the police did not find it appropriate to keep “criminals” with other inmates.

Interestingly, police sources said though there was not much incidence of juvenile criminals in Jammu, a few caught were often bailed out largely because of the absence of a proper juvenile home for them.

No officer is willing to say this on record. Only those juveniles caught for committing a heinous crime like rape, or murder or abetting militancy are usually taken into custody and sent to the Bal Ashram. The J&K Juvenile Justice Act, 1997, underlines setting up of Juvenile courts and Homes and Welfare Boards. Advocate General M I Qadir said the state government was seriously in the process of implementing the Act. 

Jammu, July 20
Two sisters and a priest died after they allegedly consumed some toxic substance in Hamirpur Kona, a border village in the Pargwal sector of Akhnoor subdivision, today.

Official sources said Rupa Kumari (23) and Arti Kumari (18), both daughters of Bachan Singh of Hamirpur Kona village, were spotted vomiting by their family members in their house around 6 am today.

A couple of hours before they died, both sisters had gone to pay obeisance at a village temple, Tilla Mandir, managed by the priest.

Before the panicky family members could understand anything, Rupa started frothing from the mouth and fell unconscious.

Sensing something terribly going wrong, the panicky family members rushed them to the subdistrict hospital, Akhnoor.

Meanwhile, younger sister Arti also fainted en route the hospital and doctors at the Akhnoor hospital declared them brought dead.

Sources said Rupa was engaged with a youth from Samba a fortnight ago and her marriage was likely to be solemnised next month. While villagers were shocked over the death of the two sisters, they were taken aback when village priest Mahant Motinath, aka Mahender Nath, originally a native of Ambala in Haryana, who was in his late 30s, also consumed poison and died.

The police has started investigations.

After completing legal formalities, the police handed over the bodies to the parents, said a police officer.

Since the post-mortem could not be conducted at the Akhnoor hospital, the bodies were shifted to the primary health centre in Pargwal, where the post-mortem was performed by a panel of doctors.

The sources said before dying Rupa and Arti had allegedly gone to meet the priest at Tilla Mandir around 4 am today. They said both sisters used to go to the temple regularly for listening to religious discourses by the priest.

Additional SP (Rural) Mohan Lal told The Tribune that both sisters were under the influence of the priest and they used to visit the temple frequently.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Rupa was not willing to get married and wanted to live like a sadhvi, he said. The post-mortem report was awaited, he added.

Rajouri, July 20
The Power Development Department (PDD) is resorting to massive power cuts, which is adding to the sufferings of local residents. The residents alleged even as the department had to enforce scheduled power cuts for six hours in a day but the department for the past two weeks was resorting to power cuts for more than 10 hours.

They said due to humid conditions at present they were already facing problems, now the PDD had made their lives hell by resorting to unscheduled power cuts.

“Today, the PDD instead of resorting to power cuts for four hours in the morning and during the day time supplied power for just about two hours,” Baldev Sharma, government employee, said.

A junior-level officer said: “Since there is an increase in load during peak hours, the department has no other option but to resort to unscheduled power cuts.”

Meanwhile, reports from neighbouring district of Poonch also suggest that power scenario remains grim there.

Jammu, July 20
Computer savvy Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today showed that for good governance he was quick to respond, even online, to the complaints of people.

Some migrants from Kashmir, at present living in New Delhi, this morning sent an email to Omar wherein alleging that their land had been encroached upon by the state’s Power Development Department (PDD). The copy of the e-mail was also sent to some journalists, besides Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram.

Responding quickly to the complaint, Omar replied online that he had asked for a factual report from the department concerned as well as from the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir.

The Chief Minister rebuffed the allegations made in the email that his government had discouraged anyone from returning to the valley, especially the Kashmiri Pandits. “In fact in tandem with the Central government, we are executing a well planned series of steps to encourage and speed up the return process,” Omar said.

In their complaint, some migrant residents of Murran village, falling in Pulwama district, had alleged that their ancestral residential land had been encroached upon by the PDD by raising transmission towers after razing their houses in league with the local MLA.

The migrants had questioned the government’s sincerity towards the return of the Kashmiri Pandits, saying on the one hand the Centre was pumping crores of rupees for the rehabilitation process and on the other the state government was encroaching upon the migrants’ land to discourage their return.

Jammu, July 20
Activists of the All India Students Federation (AISF) and the Progressive Students Association (PSA) under the banner of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) held a protest against the state government today.

The protesters demanded that the state government should give admission to the students of the blacklisted colleges in Jammu University by increasing its seat strength.

They also demanded that the government should open technical institutions for students who wanted to go for technical courses. Around 120 students participated in the protest and marched from Gandhi Nagar to the Vikram Chowk, where they blocked the main road for 10 minutes.

Deeraj Raina, AISF member, and Atish Riyaz, PSA member, asked the government to explain how these institutions were granted permission to operate in the state. They appealed to all students of these institutions to get united under the JAC and fight for their rights. They warned the government that the JAC would continue its agitation till the problem was resolved.

Jammu, July 20
The BSF today arrested a Pakistani national who had illegally entered into the Indian territory from the Abdullia sector of the International Border.

According to BSF sources, the arrested man was insane and could not be identified as sometimes he says his name is Arshad then he says his name is Amir.

But he was a resident of Sialkote district of Pakistan, a BSF source said. The officer said on interrogation it was found that the arrested person was insane so he would be handed over to the Pakistan Rangers soon.

Srinagar, July 20
A large number of devotees are converging on mosques and shrines for the night-long prayers on the occasion of Mehraj-i-Aalam tonight. Adequate transport and other arrangements have been made here, particularly at the Hazratbal shrine for the pilgrims.

Governor NN Vohra, CM Omar Abdullah, other ministers and leaders have felicitated the people on the occasion. In his message, the Governor hoped that this auspicious occasion would further strengthen the bonds of amity, harmony and brotherhood and be a harbinger of peace, progress and prosperity in the state.

Omar described the day of Mehraj-i-Aalam as a sacred occasion for seeking God’s blessings and forgiveness.

Meanwhile, DGP Kuldeep Khoda today visited Hazratbal and took stock of the arrangements made for night-long prayers.