Srinagar, August 31
HK Lohia, DIG, Srinagar, said today that a group of nine to 10 militants was behind the terror attacks in the city this month.

He said the mugshot of a suspect involved in the grenade attack in Batamaloo had been caught on a close-circuit camera and the photograph would be magnified to identify the culprit.

Speaking at a press conference, Lohia said various militant groups like the Hizbul Mujahideen, LeT and the JeM were coordinating to carry out attacks as they did not have the individual capability to do it.

He said the militants involved in these attacks had not been identified. They had been able to know “call signs and code names” used by the militants while talking to their accomplices, he added.

Lohia said they had succeeded in cracking one such module with the arrest of Zahid, who was the operational chief of the Al-Badr, from Sopore, which was behind the grenade attack on a police camp in Shopian.

The DIG said they had also arrested the militant involved in the grenade attack on CRPF personnel in Rambagh and had seized two grenades on his disclosure. “A grenade was still missing and we believe militants used it today in Batamaloo,” he said.

He said they had resorted to defensive deployment of forces due to improved law and order situation, but would change the strategy. The coming days, he added, would see an aggressive strategy and they would assure that such incidents were not repeated.

Srinagar, August 31
On the penultimate day of the ongoing Assembly session, opposition members here today alleged that an unjustified and disproportionate expenditure had been incurred on the construction of the new Assembly complex that was inaugurated in July last year. The complex, which came up after 27 years, had been constructed at a cost of Rs 50 crore.

The issue of unjustified expenditure on the construction of the new legislature complex here was raised by Chaman Lal Gupta of the BJP through a short notice question soon after the question hour. Several other members from both ruling and opposition benches, including the NC, the Congress, the BJP, the PDP, and the Panthers Party, expressed concern over the disproportionate expenditures and inadequate facilities in the complex.

Mohammad Akbar Lone, Speaker, taking cognisance of the allegations, directed the government to produce all tender documents pertaining to the construction of the complex for scrutiny. He also directed the R&B Department to prepare a detailed project for developing the old Assembly complex as a heritage site, besides developing residential units for legislators on the premises.

Intervening on supplementary questions raised by Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Harsh Dev Singh and Ashok Khajuria, the Speaker directed the government to make all required air conditioning and heating arrangements in the Assembly complex without delay.

Replying to the notice, Minister for R&B GM Saroori said the construction work on the complex had been completed at a cost of Rs 50 crore. He said Rs 37.23 crore was spent on civil, electric, mechanical, drinking water and providing coolers and ACs. In addition to Rs 37.23 crore, Rs 12.83 crore had been spent on the project from year 1980-81 to 2000-2001, the minister said.

He said the JKPCC had spent Rs 7.78 crore and over Rs 1.35 crore for land acquisition during the period.

Saroori said the execution work of the said complex had been allotted to M/S Baldev Timber Traders, Jammu, M/S Hind Timber Products Shaltang, Srinagar, M/S Godrej India, Nazir Ahmad Buchwara for sanitary and plumber work, M/S Design Tech India, etc.

Jammu, August 31
Justice Nissar Ahmad Kakroo of the J&K High Court has dismissed the writ petition of Mohd. Sadiq, who challenged his transfer. He stated that transfer of a government employee from one place to another was a rule and an administrative exigency but the cancellation of the order was an exception.

Sadiq, working as principal of Government Higher Secondary School, Mankote, was transferred and posted as Deputy Chief Education Officer, Mendhar, vide the government order dated June 18. However, the order was modified on June 24 and he was transferred to Mankote as such.

The petitioner challenged the order of modification on the ground that once the transfer order was acted upon and implemented, it cannot be cancelled in abeyance.

The state justified the modification of the order of transfer owing to good performance of Abdul Hamid Fani as deputy chief education officer followed by demand of public representatives.

Justice Nissar Ahmad Kakroo disagreeing with the contentions of the petitioner’s counsel said: “It transpires that order of modification of transfer on public demand, certainly does not punish the petitioner and the consequence of modification being petitioner’s continuation as principal does not entail his dislodgement. Moreover, a transfer will not be vitiated by itself because it is made on the recommendation of an MLA. There can be no hard and fast rule that every transfer at the instance of an MP or MLA would be vitiated. It all depends on facts and circumstances of an individual case. Thus, situations are conceivable where order of transfer may be mala fide and politically motivated. In such case, the court can refuse interference.”

Jammu, August 31
Ajay Khajuria, Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, inaugurated a shed for lawyers constructed at a cost of Rs 2.75 lakh by the Public Works Department, on the premises of the District Court Complex today.

Janak Raj Kotwal, District and Sessions Judge, Yashpal Kotwal, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Arvind Khajuria, District Mobile Magistrate, Vinod Kumar, munsif, Surinder Khajuria and Anil Vijay, president and secretary of the Bar Association, Udhampur, and other advocates were present on the occasion.

Surinder Khajuria appreciated the gesture of the district administration in improving the working conditions of advocates.

Srinagar, August 31
A comprehensive policy is being framed for the regularisation of the services of all ad hoc, contractual and consolidated employees who have completed seven years of service.

Minister for Finance Abdul Rahim Rather said this on behalf of the Chief Minister in the Assembly today. He said the government at its recent Cabinet meeting had decided to regularise the services of all such appointees who had completed seven years of service and who were academically qualified to hold these posts as prescribed under the relevant recruitment rules.

Replying to a question by Abdul Rehman Veeri, the minister said as regards casual labourers, a Cabinet sub-committee had been constituted to go into the extent and magnitude of the problem i.e financial, legal and administrative, that might arise from the regularisation of the services of temporary workers and work out an appropriate policy. Any decision on the issue shall be taken after the sub-committee submits its report, he added.

Veeri said the services of daily-rated workers (DRWs) engaged before January 31, 1994, were being regularised in terms of the provisions of SRO 64 of 1994. He said against the total number of 58,940 DRWs registered with the Finance Department, the services of 55,276 DRWs stand regularised. The services of the remaining 3,664 DRWs were being regularised on a case-to-case basis by the Administrative Department in consultation with the Finance Department, he added.

Regarding the daily wage workers, the minister said all departments had been directed to submit all details and a meeting was slated to be held on September 10 to discus the issue, the minister said.

Members cutting across party lines expressed concern over the issue and urged the government to take measures for the regularisation of the services of all such employees who had completed seven years of service. 

Srinagar, August 31
The government said today that the number of ex-gratia relief and compassionate appointment cases under the SRO 43 pending in different districts of the state is 1810 and 2303, respectively.

Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather said in the Assembly that the Deputy Commissioners had been authorised to settle the compassionate appointment cases at their own level in a chronological order.

Replying to a question of Mir Saifullah, the minister said only such cases were to be referred to the General Administration Department (GAD) where relaxation was involved.

The minister said that no ex-gratia relief was payable to next of kin of the deceased persons under the SRO-43 of 1994. However, a provision had been made in the said SRO for paying cash compensation of Rs 4 lakh in addition to the ex-gratia relief of Rs 1 lakh admissible under the government order No. 723-GR of 1990 in lieu of government jobs.

Rather said this cash compensation had been fixed in 2008 in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India,  which reimburses the expenditure incurred by the state government on this account.

Jammu, August 31
The Bajrang Dal today held a demonstration against the theft of centuries-old idol of ‘Bal Asht Dashbuja’ from Mahakali temple at historic Parna Mandir in Chingam area of Chatroo in Kishtwar district.

Activists of the Bajrang Dal raised slogans against the state government for failing to recover the idol which was stolen in December last year. The protesters also burnt the effigy of the state government to show their resentment over the issue.

“It was a matter of shame that idols of ‘Bal Asht Dashbuja’ worth crores of rupees had been stolen from Kishtwar by some miscreants,” said Neeraj, city co-convenor, Bajrang Dal.

“The state government has totally failed to trace the ancient idol,” he said, demanding immediate action by the government to trace the idol.

He warned that in case the government failed to recover the idol and punish the guilty, his party would be forced to launch agitation the faith of Hindus was associated with the issue.

Jammu, August 31
Jammu University declared the first merit list for various postgraduate courses today bringing smiles on the faces of students whose names figured on it. The second merit list would be declared on September 2.

Around 1,150 students had applied for admission to the Education Department, while the number of seats available was 60. The merit percentage in the department was 68.04 and the cut-off 63.47 per cent. Around 300 students had applied against 50 seats in the Urdu Department where the highest percentage was 69.66.

In the Political Science Department, the highest percentage was 67.61 and the cut-off percentage 62.28. Around 900 students had applied against 50 seats. Similarly, in the History Department, the highest percentage was 70.47 and the cut-off percentage 61.38. Around 600 students had applied against 50 seats available in the department.

In commerce, English, Hindi and Dogri departments, the merit percentage touched 77.39, 70.28, 68.14 and 68.19, respectively. In the Dogri Department, around 210 students had applied against 35 seats.

The departments of electronics and physics, the highest percentage was 84.38 and 89, respectively. Similarly, in chemistry, zoology, botany and mathematics departments, the highest percentage was 84.38, 81.95, 81.38 and 90.09, respectively. In the Mathematics Department, the cut-off was 79.95 per cent.

Due to the absence of a centralised admission system, the students, who had applied for more than one courses, had to go from one department to another for checking their names on the merit lists.

Expressing disappointment, Sunita Sharma, who had applied for more than three courses, said, “Here all departments are situated at some distance. Being unaware about their locations, I wandered the whole day in search of a particular department.”

Demanding the centralised admission system, Rahul Bhau, president of the Progressive Students Association, said, “Every year, students have to move from one block to another to get admission forms and submit them later.

BPS Sehgal, Dean Academic Affairs, said the university would start entrance-based admissions for all postgraduate courses from the next academic year, which is the basic requirement for NAAC and the UGC. He said efforts would be made for a centralised admission system.

Jammu, August 31
The Jammu Joint Students’ Federation (JJSF) today held a demonstration against the university authorities for delay in the declaration of the BA, B.Sc and B.Com results of the first and second years.

The students held a protest in GGM Science College during the evening shift. The students boycotted their classes to express their resentment. JJSF vice-president Partap Singh Jamwal said as the delay in the declaration of results was affecting students’ interest in their studies, the university should take steps to declare the results at the earliest. 

The National Motorbike Expedition that has entered the state through Upchi-Manali link, after passing through the world’s highest motor-able road Khardungla Pass, will arrive here on September 6.

The expedition, with 120 participants from various parts of the country, started from Delhi and after passing through Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh entered the state today from HP.

At a high-level meeting, which involved RS Chib, Minister for Medical Education, Youth Services and Sports, arrangements for reception of the participants were  discussed.

Divisional Commissioner Dr Pawan Kotwal, IGP Ashok K Gupta, District Development Commissioner MK Dwivedi, Director Education Zahida Khan and heads of various institutions were present at  the meeting.

The meeting sought cooperation of education department for arranging students, NCC and scouts and guides  cadets at various places enroute from Banihal to Lakhanpur, who would row up on either side of the road to receive  the bikers and interact  with them.

Security and traffic arrangements for their safe passage from Banihal to Lakhanpur were also discussed.

The minister called for a close coordination between the departments for making the programme a success. DDC Dwivedi was appointed as the nodal officer to coordinate the arrangements.

The minister urged upon each department to contribute in the best way to leave an 
everlasting impression of Jammu on the minds of the visitors. He said the participants of such mega events act as messengers to outside world in promoting the cause of the state at national level.

Jammu, August 31
Though there is a ban on the usage of domestic LPG cylinders in vehicles, a large number of people continue to defy the law and use them to fuel their cars.

As per law, using a domestic gas cylinder as fuel in the car is a crime as the government provides a huge subsidy on the purchase of a cylinder.

“To curb the illegal practice, the government has asked us to give a refilled cylinder to a consumer after every 15 days so that they cannot misuse the domestic LPG,” said Partap Singh, a gas dealer in Gandhi Nagar locality.

There is a provision to use LPG in vehicles through commercial gas cylinders. However, no subsidy is provided on them and they are quite costlier, which prompts people to flout with the norms.

Taking a serious note of this malpractice, the traffic police is making an effort to challan the violators.

“If we find a domestic gas cylinder instead of commercial one in a vehicle, we fine the driver. If the offence is repeated, we confiscate the gas cylinder,” said a senior traffic police officer.

With the ever-soaring prices of petrol, many car owners in Jammu have either installed LPG fuel kits in their vehicles or have purchased the LPG variant of the cars.

“The petrol prices have increased to a great extend and the sale of the dual variants of cars too have increased, these cars use petrol as well as LPG as fuel,” said a car dealer.

In the absence of a gas filling station in Jammu, the car owners empty their domestic gas cylinders into the tanker of their cars, or they just fit it in the car. To provide LPG fuel to the car owners at reasonable rates, a petroleum company in Jammu would soon be opening a LPG filling station in Jammu.

“The construction work on the fuel-filling station is going on and soon the people in Jammu would get their first-ever gas filling station,” said an employee of the petrol pump. 

Jammu, August 31
The Anti-Corruption Court, Jammu, today sentenced Dr Mohan Prakash Gupta, former Director of Health Services, to one-year imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of Rs 10,000.

Acting upon a written complaint lodged by the Under Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department, Srinagar, the Vigilance had registered a case under FIR number 39/98 against Dr Gupta for making 58 illegal appointments in the department. Subsequently, the Vigilance had investigated the case.

The Under Secretary, in his complaint, had alleged that Gupta while being posted as Director Health Services had made 58 illegal appointments to various posts of Class-IV and non-gazetted categories in violation of rules and procedures.

All these appointments were made on the date of his superannuation, i.e. March 31, 1998.

During the investigations, the Vigilance substantiated the allegations and accordingly a charge-sheet was produced in the court on August 25, 2008.

After the completion of trial, the Special Judge today held the accused guilty and convicted the accused under Section 5(2)of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act.

Srinagar, August 31
The Crime Branch has busted a gang of criminals involved in the preparation of fake and forged driving licences and registration certificates and identified 2,700 persons hailing from different parts of the state to have received these fake documents.

Officials said they raided several premises in Srinagar and seized a large number of fake driving licences, fitness certificates, registration certificates and other documents and the seals used in their preparation. They arrested Aijaz Ahmad Dar of Anantnag and Tundip Gallyson. At their instance, Naresh Kumar of Udhampur and 
Niraj Jamwal of Udhampur were arrested from Udhampur and brought to Srinagar.

“The fake licence holders possessing commercial and heavy motor vehicle licences are obtaining loans from the banks for purchase of vehicles and obtaining subsidies against these fake licences, thereby depriving the deserving people from this facility,” an official statement said.

The fee obtained for issuance of these fake licences has been pocketed by the accused which has caused great loss to the state exchequer. Efforts are on to identify other such persons being in possession of such fake licences, which may lead to the arrest of other accused, it said. The list of persons having such papers would be published in the local media.

Jammu, August 31
The police today arrested a grocer and recovered 216 intoxicant capsules from his shop in Kolpur village of Ramgarh.

Acting on a tip off a police party raided the shop and recovered the psychotropic drugs.

They said shopkeeper Surjeet Kumar had been selling the capsules to addicted youth of the village at exorbitant rates. He was immediately taken into custody. The accused has been booked under the NDPS Act.

Jammu, August 31
The Community Care Centre for HIV, jointly set up by the BEE Charitable Society and J&K AIDS Prevention and Control society, today marked its 100 days of inception here.

A function was held on the occasion that was inaugurated by Kunil Bhalla, president of the centre. At least 28 patients are being treated and hospitalised at the centre.

The AIDS-affected patients discussed their problems with the eminent panel of doctors, including Dr YP Gupta, Dr Kaushalya, Dr BR Bawa and Dr TR Raina.

Speaking on the occasion, project coordinator Dr DP Sharma asked all the patients to avail facility of free consultation, free medicines at the centre. Meanwhile, blankets were also distributed among the needy patients.

Deepika Thakur, Deputy Director J&K AIDS Control Society, was also present in the function.