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J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R    E D I T I O N

Grenade blast injures 2 BSF men, civilians
Security personnel inspect the damaged vehicle at the Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Tuesday.Srinagar, October 6
In yet another show of their might in the summer capital, militants injured two BSF personnel and a couple of civilian bystanders in a grenade attack at Lal Chowk this afternoon.

Security personnel inspect the damaged vehicle at the Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Tuesday.Tribune photo: Amin War

Students demand updated books
Jammu, October 6
Students of Government Science College protest against the college administration in Jammu on Tuesday. The Jammu Joint Students Federation (JJSF) today alleged that books being issued to the first-year students in college library are outdated.Students boycotted their classes and held protest against the college administration. 

Students of Government Science College protest against the college administration in Jammu on Tuesday. Photo: Inderjeet Singh

Ration for BPL category
Villagers’ committees to monitor distribution
Udhampur, October 6
After exposure of the scam in the ration meant for Below Poverty Line (BPL) people by the crime branch of police, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) minister Qamar Ali Akhoon along with senior officers of the department today checked the stock in depots located in remote areas of Udhampur and Reasi districts.



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Jammu
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EARLIER STORIES


Women select bangles for the “Karva Chauth” festival in Jammu.
PINK OR BLACK? Women select bangles for the “Karva Chauth” festival in Jammu. — PTI photo

Central team reviews security scenario
Srinagar, October 6
The Central team led by Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrshekhar reviewed the security scenario in the state at a meeting with senior police and security officers here today. Union Home Secretary GK Pillai was also present in the meeting held at the SKICC.

Surrendered ultras hold protest against govt
Jammu, October 6
Surrendered militants from Poonch, Doda and Reasi districts held a protest against the government outside the Press Club here yesterday and alleged that they received a lukewarm response from the paramilitary forces during a recruitment drive.

Mirwaiz for joint dialogue on Kashmir
Srinagar, October 6
Describing Kashmir as an “internationally accepted” issue, APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has sought to set up a contact group of India, Pakistan and China to work out a common strategy for resolving all issues and ensure safety in the region.

Patients bear the brunt of docs’ stir
Doctors hold a protest outside the Government Medical College in Jammu on Tuesday. Jammu, October 6
Week, frail, old and illiterate Baldev Raj squatted in the deserted OPD of Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu, is waiting for medicos’ strike to get over since yesterday. He has come all the way from Bakhar village of Sunder Bani tehsil in Rajouri district for the treatment.“I come here for the check up every month,” he said, adding that he will prefer to go back if the situation remained the same.
Doctors hold a protest outside the Government Medical College in Jammu on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma

Amandeep Murder
Pre-arrest bail application of Nagar, brothers adjourned
Jammu, October 6
The Second Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Chatterji Koul today adjourned the pre-arrest bail application of prominent businessman Choudhary Nagar Singh and his two brothers — Ujagar Singh and Rakesh Singh — till October 8.

Agitating SRTC workers plan to meet Sonia 
Jammu, October 6
Irked by the indifferent attitude of the state government, employees of the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) have decided to approach the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi to apprise her of their “genuine demands”.

Baramulla limps back to normalcy
Srinagar, October 6
After four days of shutdown amidst clashes between protesters angry over the death of a 12-year-old boy, allegedly in police action, Baramulla limped back to normalcy as shops opened and traffic plied amidst strong police presence.

Mob attacks police-excise team, two hurt
Srinagar, October 6
Two policemen were injured when a mob pelted stones on a police team and excise officials engaged in destroying banned crops in Anantnag district today, official sources said.

 






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Grenade blast injures 2 BSF men, civilians
Tribune News Service

Army jawans carry their colleague, injured during a gun-battle between militants and security forces in the forest area at Ladoo Pampore in district Pulwama, 28 km from Srinagar.
Army jawans carry their colleague, injured during a gun-battle between militants and security forces in the forest area at Ladoo Pampore in district Pulwama, 28 km from Srinagar. Tribune photos: Amin War
 

Srinagar, October 6
In yet another show of their might in the summer capital, militants injured two BSF personnel and a couple of civilian bystanders in a grenade attack at Lal Chowk this afternoon.

Unidentified militants lobbed a grenade into a stationary BSF vehicle, in which the jawans were sitting, and fled. A BSF official identified two jawans as Om Prakash and Shambhu Sharan Singh. The condition of one of them is stated to be critical.

Although the BSF is not deployed in law and order duties, its men had come to the commercial hub of Srinagar to make some purchases, police sources said, when they were targeted by militants.

The particular locality near the clock tower is full of police and CRPF men and the attack today only highlighted their growing audacity.

With this attack, they have targeted police and security personnel five times in Srinagar in the last 12 weeks, - a frequency unseen for last many years - and left eight persons, seven police and CRPF personnel and a woman civilian, dead.

The bloodiest and most powerful attack came on September 12 when a powerful IED planted in a stationary car ripped apart a police bus, killing three cops and a woman.

Although police picked up some suspects, no serious headway has been made in probes to these attacks. Various groups, especially Hizbul Mujahideen and LeT, are believed to have coordinated these strikes with the former providing logistics while the latter masterminding the operation.

 

Top Hizbul ultra killed in Doda

Udhampur: Security forces eliminated a self-styled commander of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit in the Marmat area of Doda district today. The slain militant has been identified as Iqbal, alias Mohammad Usama, of Degna, Marmat. On specific information about the presence of militants in Degna forest, the Special Task Force of the police and the Rashtriya Riffles (RR) launched a joint operation in the area. As soon as the security personnel reached the spot where militants were hiding, the ultras resorted to indiscriminate firing.

The security personnel retaliated the attack and in the encounter one militant was gunned down. An AK-47 rifle, two magazines and 44 AK rounds were seized from him. Usama was accompanied by three other ultras who have reportedly managed to escape from the encounter site.

As the encounter took place in the area bordering Udhampur district, all routes connecting Marmat with Udhampur have been plugged by the police. Additional cops have been deployed in Sudhmahadev and adjoining localities to foil any attempt of ultras to sneak into Udhampur district.

The police said Usama was the mastermind behind many militant activities in this belt. The slain militant had gone to Pakistan and was expert in making IEDs.

Meanwhile, the Army busted a hideout in Mahora belt of Reasi district late last night and seized two grenades, one grenade launcher, one pistol and two magazines.

Jawan injured in gun-battle

Srinagar: An Army jawan was seriously injured in a gunbattle that broke out today between militants and security forces in the forests of Khrew in Pulwama district, the police said.

Intermittent firing between the two sides was going on in the forest area of Khrew, 20 km from here, since this morning, the police said.

The firing started immediately after the Army and the police launched a joint search operation in the Noor Takia forest area in the district around 6 am.

However, the firing stopped briefly and started again around this afternoon when the troops confronted the militants who were attempting to flee the besieged area. An Army jawan was seriously injured in the intermittent firing. Reinforcements have been rushed to the area to neutralise the militants, the police said. — PTI

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Students demand updated books
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 6
The Jammu Joint Students Federation (JJSF) today alleged that books being issued to the first-year students in college library are outdated.Students boycotted their classes and held protest against the college administration at Government Gandhi Memorial (GGM), Science College. The students garohed the office of the college principal for more than one hour.

Sahil Choudhary, a student leader, said: “Due to the lack of books in college library, they are giving us old and outdated books. All books are of old edition.”

He said the students were facing this problem from many days but the college administration was not serious about this matter.

Partap Singh Jamwal, state vice-president of the JJSF, warned the administration to take quick action and solve their problem within two days.

Meanwhile, principal of GGM Science College has assured the students that their demands will be fulfilled soon. 

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Ration for BPL category
Villagers’ committees to monitor distribution
Dinesh Manhotra
Tribune News Service

Udhampur, October 6
After exposure of the scam in the ration meant for Below Poverty Line (BPL) people by the crime branch of police, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) minister Qamar Ali Akhoon along with senior officers of the department today checked the stock in depots located in remote areas of Udhampur and Reasi districts.

After checking the stocks at Mahore, Basantgarh, Latti and Reasi, the minister interacted with people and listened to their problems.

A delegation that called upon the minister at Udhampur pointed out that a large number of undeserving persons have been included in the BPL list and it was time to single out such persons so that the deserving lot could be included in the category.

MLA Udhampur Balwant Singh Mankotia and MLA Chenani Krishan Chand stressed on the need of re-verification of the BPL list so that the deserving people could avail the take benefits.

People also demanded that there should be proper checking of ration record of private depot owners who have been charged with selling the stock meant for BPL people in the open market.

The group also demanded that ration should be directly supplied to the districts from the departments concerned.

Later, the minister announced that just like the Village Education Committees, the CAPD department had also decided to constitute Village Vigilance Committees (VVCs) to monitory the supply and distribution of ration.

He said the proposed VVCs would maintain a strict vigil on distribution of ration in their respective villages and prevent black-marketeering. 

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Central team reviews security scenario
Ehsan Fazili
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 6
The Central team led by Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrshekhar reviewed the security scenario in the state at a meeting with senior police and security officers here today. Union Home Secretary GK Pillai was also present in the meeting held at the SKICC.

An official spokesman said the meeting was attended by Chief Secretary SS Kapur, Financial Commissioner (Home) Sameul Vergheese, DGP Kuldeep Khoda, GoC 14 Corps, GoC 15 Corps, GoC 16 Corps, Jammu Divisional Commissioner Pawan Kotwal, Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Naseem Lankar and other senior civil and police officers.

Earlier, the team on the second leg of its tour to the state held meeting with all deputy commissioners, principal secretaries and commissioner-cum-secretaries of various administrative departments. The team, after its two-day visit, later returned to the Union capital this afternoon.

The deputy commissioners in the meeting highlighted the achievements registered in their respective districts and problems confronting the people. The issues discussed in the meeting include land acquisition for various development projects, four-laning of the Jammu-Srinagar highway, R&B, water supply, NREGA, education, PMRP, JNNRUM, development of infrastructure and other projects.

KM Chandrashekhar described the deputy commissioners as main driving force for speeding up the work on all development projects going on in the state in various sectors. He impressed upon them to ensure tangible and visible change in the state so that the fruits of development reach to the common people.

Chief secretary SS Kapur expressed his gratitude for evincing a positive appreciation of the demands and issues raised by the officers of the state during the two-day meeting. He assured the team on behalf of the state administration that all efforts would be made to achieve the targets fixed for various schemes.

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Surrendered ultras hold protest against govt
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 6
Surrendered militants from Poonch, Doda and Reasi districts held a protest against the government outside the Press Club here yesterday and alleged that they received a lukewarm response from the paramilitary forces during a recruitment drive.

In a bid to bring “misguided” youth back into the mainstream, the previous Congress-PDP coalition in the state in consonance with the UPA government had introduced a policy for surrender militants promising a fixed deposit of Rs 1.50 lakh, a job and accommodation etc. to each of the surrendered militant.

Khalid, alias Junaid of Kothian in Pouni tehsil of Reasi district, who had surrendered his weapons on October 29 in 2007, said: “We have been told by the SHOs concerned to contact the authorities of paramilitary forces but we were simply not entertained,” he said.

Mohammed Kalu of Kothian said he also shunned the path of violence after PDP patron and then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed announced the package.

“Like me, several other surrendered militants and their families are now caught between the devil and the deep sea as we continue to face a constant threat from militants,” Kalu said.

The protesters shouted slogans against Mufti Sayeed and the state government before dispersing off peacefully.

Mohammed and Bashir of Surankote felt that surrendered militants had become a soft target for the militants. “We regularly get militant threats,” Bashir, who surrendered in 2003, said.

However, the government policy had come under sharp criticism from various quarters, especially from educated unemployed youth and kin of soldiers who died in militancy because they felt that the government had been rewarding militants who killed innocent people. 

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Mirwaiz for joint dialogue on Kashmir
Ehsan Fazili
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 6
Describing Kashmir as an “internationally accepted” issue, APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has sought to set up a contact group of India, Pakistan and China to work out a common strategy for resolving all issues and ensure safety in the region.

The Mirwaiz, asserting that India and Pakistan were parties to the Kashmir dispute, said the basic party - Kashmiris - had the responsibility of taking up steps for involvement of the international community to resolve the issue.

The Mirwaiz was addressing mediapersons here today after an executive committee meeting at the party headquarters to brief the members upon his recent visit to New York to attend the OIC Foreign Ministers’ conference.

He said any dialogue process without the involvement of Kashmir leaders would not yield any results. “If India and Pakistan want to move forward through dialogue on Kashmir at any level, the APHC will extend its full support,” he said.

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Patients bear the brunt of docs’ stir
Ashutosh Sharma
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 6
Week, frail, old and illiterate Baldev Raj squatted in the deserted OPD of Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu, is waiting for medicos’ strike to get over since yesterday. He has come all the way from Bakhar village of Sunder Bani tehsil in Rajouri district for the treatment.“I come here for the check up every month,” he said, adding that he will prefer to go back if the situation remained the same.

“We came here from Ramban yesterday for our mother’s treatment, but due to the ongoing strike we had to spend night on a nearby temple premises,” Vikas Shan said.

The distressed patients and their attendants have been looking forward that the stalemate between protesting medicos and state government ends and the hospitals start operating as normal.

Though the state government has warned to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act against the protesting doctors, they were seen defiant for the second day.

The protesting doctors continued with their strike, affecting the routine functioning in all district, sub-district hospitals, primary health centres, community health centres, besides GMC hospital and its associated hospitals.

In the GMC, the striking doctors took out a rally. Addressing the protesters, leaders of the Doctors Joint Action Committee (DJAC) exhorted that they won’t step back till all of their demands were met with.

“Earlier, the government had sought deadline of September 30 and had to defer our strike twice. Now the government is seeking more time just to keep the issue lingering,” they said.

Dr Satyainder Singh, convener of the DJAC, said: “B grade specialists and assistant surgeons are also supporting the agitation of junior doctors as most of our demands that have not been addressed since long are common.”

He said several doctors’ associations in the Kashmir region had also decided to go on strike from October 9. 

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Amandeep Murder
Pre-arrest bail application of Nagar, brothers adjourned
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 6
The Second Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Chatterji Koul today adjourned the pre-arrest bail application of prominent businessman Choudhary Nagar Singh and his two brothers — Ujagar Singh and Rakesh Singh — till October 8.

The trio had been evading arrest since it allegedly splurged cash to change the course of investigation by fudging evidences in the Amandeep murder case so as to save the main accused Jatinder Singh, aka Raja, son of Nagar Singh. Although the prosecution represented by special public prosecutor Advocate Sunil Sethi wanted arguments in the case, absence of Nagar’s counsel Advocate MA Goni and subsequent plea by his assistant counsels was conceded by the court, said sources.

Assistant counsels submitted before the court that since Advocate MA Goni was not in the city and would return tomorrow evening, two days extension should be given to them. Subsequently, the court adjourned the case till October 8.

Sources said the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which had prepared a strong case to oppose the bail application, had submitted a detailed report to the public prosecutor.

The prosecution, however, filed objections opposing the bail application on the grounds that despite repeated summons and subsequent arrest warrants, the accused, allegedly involved in changing the course of investigation by using money, remained at large.

The SIT has already established prima-facie involvement of Nagar and his brothers in fudging evidences, said sources. Earlier, the weapon of offence - a countrymade pistol having a double trigger - was allegedly replaced to save Jatinder Singh, aka Raja.

Meanwhile, Municipal Magistrate today sent arrested ballistic expert of the FSL, Sarwar Hussain Bukhari, and constable Raj Singh in 10-day judicial remand. They were shifted to District Jail Ambphalla from Gandhi Nagar police station.

The Special Investigation Team had yesterday raided a house at Tali Morh and seized a car containing secret documents of Nagar Singh besides a laptop belonging 
to him. 

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Agitating SRTC workers plan to meet Sonia 
Tejinder Singh Sodhi
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 6
Irked by the indifferent attitude of the state government, employees of the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) have decided to approach the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi to apprise her of their “genuine demands”.

“The state government does not seem to be moved by the plight of its employees, so we have decided to constitute a team that would meet the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi,” said Ashok Mehra, president of the SRTC Employees’ Union.

He said if the UPA president does not give them a patient hearing, they would hold similar protests outside the Parliament house in 
New Delhi.

As many as 4,316 SRTC employees have been protesting for the past 42 days while demanding the release of their pending salaries and implementation of recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. “More than 21,000 families are directly affected by the strike. A majority among us are the sole bread-winners in the family, yet the government is paying no heed to our demands,” Mehra said.

On the other hand, the government claimed that the corporation has surplus staff and asked the employees to avail benefits of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS); and the department has received around 4,000 applications seeking VRS.

“The department is thinking to give VRS to as many as 900 employees, so we decided to submit our resignations en masse,” Mehra said. He added that if the state and the central government failed to fulfil their demands, they would proceed on hunger strike.

“If the government wants to give us VRS, it should give us the benefits of the Sixth Pay Commission from 2006. So, we submitted our resignations en masse,” said Paramjeet Singh, general secretary of the Union.

Anoop Kannaw, managing director of the SRTC, said the department does not have enough funds to pay the pending dues of the employees in one go and had offered the employees the salary of four months on Eid, which they refused.

Meanwhile, 69 employees of the SRTC courted arrest today. They were, however, released in the evening.

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Baramulla limps back to normalcy
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 6
After four days of shutdown amidst clashes between protesters angry over the death of a 12-year-old boy, allegedly in police action, Baramulla limped back to normalcy as shops opened and traffic plied amidst strong police presence.

Locals resumed their lives but warned that any attempt from the administration to shield cops responsible for Irfan Ahmad Lone’s death would further inflame the situation.

The protesters were demanding release of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani from house arrest when a tear shell fired by the police hit the boy who died subsequently, locals said. However, the police claimed he died in the melee as he suffered from heart complications.

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Mob attacks police-excise team, two hurt

Srinagar, October 6
Two policemen were injured when a mob pelted stones on a police team and excise officials engaged in destroying banned crops in Anantnag district today, official sources said.

Station House Officer of police station Bijbehara Shabir Ahmad and a constable were injured when a group of people pelted stones on a joint team of the Police and the Excise Department at Dupatyar-Kanalwan, 45 km from here, the sources said.

They said the joint team was engaged in destroying ‘bhang’ cultivation when they were attacked by the mob, prompting them to use batons and fire teargas to disperse them. However, no one was injured in police action.

Despite the mob attack, the team continued its drive and destroyed ‘bhang’ cultivation spread over 8 hectares of land, the sources said. The police has registered a case under various Sections of the Ranbir Panel Code and the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act against the culprits. — PTI

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