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Hill Kaka Relief Scam
Shopian Case
Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom addresses a press conference in Srinagar on Friday. A Tribune
photograph
BJP wants autonomous council for Jammu region
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Lone’s disclosure ‘exposes real face of separatists’
Members of the Progressive Students Association protest against the move to set up a police post on the University of Jammu campus on Friday.
A Tribune photograph
Geology dept organises science camp
Security forces rescue 57 stranded passengers
Antony’s remarks on withdrawal of troops flayed
Students at the prize distribution function of “Display Your Talent Competition” in Jammu on Friday.
Photo: Inderjeet Singh
1 killed, 24 hurt as bus overturns
NCP backs farm technocrats’ stir
MPs demand more flights to Kargil
Five CRPF men hurt in grenade attack
Medico dies of brain haemorrhage
Six of family injured in cylinder blast
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6 years on, SVO files charge sheet
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria Tribune News Service
Jammu, December 18 It may be recalled here that to flush out militants and destroy their hideouts in the Hill Kaka area during Operation Sarpvinash in year 2003, nomadic families from twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch were restricted by the security forces from taking their cattle for grazing in green pastures in the area on security grounds. Subsequently, the Union government had sanctioned Rs 7.40 crore as relief and compensation in favour of the affected families. The then Deputy Commissioner of Poonch had transferred the relief amount to the then Assistant Commissioner (Revenue), directing the latter to disburse it among the affected families as per the prescribed scale for each cattle head of livestock, sheep and goat owned by the affected families. In addition, Rs 400 per month for each person up to a maximum of Rs 1,600 per family was ordered to be paid to 90 such families residing in the Hill Kaka area. The compensation was to be disbursed as per the lists of the affected families prepared and submitted by the tehsildars concerned strictly on the basis of seasonal permits issued to the nomadic families by the competent authorities for years 2001 and 2002. The government, to compensate the nomadic families unable to go to green pastures in the Hill Kaka area, released Rs 3 crore during 2003 and Rs 4.40 crore during 2004-05. The relief distribution work was carried out under the overall control and supervision of Hafiz, who was assisted by two junior assistants Sohan Singh and Maqbool Ahmad. However, in August 2005, a complaint was received by the SVO against some officials for abusing their official position and misappropriating a huge amount of public money during relief distribution. A preliminary inquiry by the SVO prima facie substantiated the allegations leading to the registration of an FIR under Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. After a detailed investigation, the SVO found that the government officials in connivance with touts and beneficiaries manipulated records, wherein the number of cattle owned by beneficiaries was artificially inflated and fake records were prepared to confer undue benefit on themselves and other accused persons. It was conclusively proved during investigation that a loss of Rs 2.46 crore was caused to the state exchequer. The next date of hearing has been fixed as January 29, 2010.
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Bar calls for boycott of courts against CBI report
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, December 18 He added that Chidambaram had not seen the police reports or statements related to the Shopian case early this year. “Our lawyers from Shopian were called to the humhama (CBI camp) and detained for two weeks during investigation in the case,” Qayoom pointed out. Expressing concern over the statement of the DG, CBI, he said the investigating agency had “done a fraud”. Addressing reporters here today, Qayoom called for the boycott of courts across the state on Wednesday next to “show solidarity with the lawyers chargesheeted by the CBI in its report. There was threat to the lives of doctors and lawyers, he held, adding that 12 lawyers had lost lives fighting such cases during the past two decades. Bar association representatives from Shopian, Pulwama, Anantnag, Budgam and other districts were also present. “We will not succumb to pressure. We have been fighting for the cause of Kashmiris,” Qayoom from Shopian said. He also alleged that the CBI, which submitted its report in two months, had investigated the case without the proper permission of the High Court. He lamented that the judiciary of the state had also done nothing in the matter. The CBI in its report on Monday chargesheeted 13 persons, including six doctors, five lawyers, brother of Asiya and a member of civil society of Shopian. Referring to the statements of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, his ministerial colleague Ali Mohammad Sagar, senior civil and police officers, Qayoom said they all “conspired together” and thus were the “real accused”. The delay in filing the report in the local police station, inadequate qualifications of doctors engaged by the CBI in exhumation and different statements by the authorities had raised questions about the investigations, he said. In view of these developments, the Bar had sought a public trial in the case, Qayoom said.
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BJP wants autonomous council for Jammu region
Jammu, December 18 The BJP has taken this decision as a damage-control exercise as the party has been facing criticism from other pro-Jammu organisations for not supporting the demand of statehood. Though the state unit of the BJP is not against the demand of statehood for Jammu, locals leaders failed to convince the party highcommand on this issue. “We are in favour of a separate statehood for Jammu, but our Central leadership is not giving us green signal to come out openly in favour of the demand,” a senior BJP leader said, and admitted that they were forced to launch an agitation in support of the provincial-level regional council for the Jammu region. “By and large our demand of the provincial-level regional council is equal to the statehood demand,” he argued. Sources in the party said the decision to launch an agitation for the regional council demand was taken in a meeting in which representatives of some other organisations were also present. Party leaders observed that by raising the demand of the regional council, the BJP would sabotage the game plan of Kashmir centric political parties to divide the Jammu region on the basis of religion. “We will not allow the division of the Jammu region on religious lines as suggested by the NC and PDP,” Bali Bhagat, general secretary of the state BJP, said. |
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Lone’s disclosure ‘exposes real face of separatists’
Jammu, December 18 In a joint statement issued here today, leaders of the JSM-P said the so-called leaders of Kashmir, who have been instigating gullible youth to take guns, were least concerned about the betterment of the common masses of the valley. “Disclosures made by Bilal Lone has exposed that these leaders have been making money on the bodies of innocent people,” the statement stated, adding that during the two-decade-long turmoil these leaders have accumulated a huge wealth. “We strongly condemn this free flow distribution of money and demand that the Centre should immediately come out with a white paper on the total flow of funds to these leaders who are nothing more than double agents and acting as sleeper cells in the state. The Centre should also publish the amounts received by these leaders from Pakistan and other countries so that they are exposed before the common masses of Kashmir as well as that of the country,” the JSM-P demanded. He said quiet diplomacy with these such disgraced people be stropped immediately as it was now clear that the problem in the valley was confined only to minting money in the name of “movement”. Signatories of the statement are Dr Virender Gupta, Abdul Rouf Ganai, HB Khajuria, Capt. Anil Gour, Digvijay Singh, Chandra Uday Sharma, Devinder Singh, Balvinder Singh and Surjit Singh. |
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Students hold protests
Tribune News Service
Jammu, December 18 The PSA and the AJKPYF along with students and scholars of the university held a protest against the university administration and the state government for allegedly establishing a police post inside the university. Expressing resentment, Rahul Bahu, state president of the PSA, said once such police post was opened on the campus, it would directly affect the liberty of university students. Rohit Bharti, a member of the PSA, said: “The university authorities says that there is a shortage of funds for the welfare of students and for academics, but they are ready to incur a money loss of about Rs 70 lakh in addition to their financial burdens for the establishment of the police post.” Nilanjan, a student of the university, said there were so many internationally recognised institutions in the country but no one had police posts, then what was the need of establishing a police post on the campus here. The students warned the administration to launch in case the order of opening a police post was not cancelled. Meanwhile, members of the JJSF held a similar protest demonstration at MAM (PG) College. Students boycotted their classes and gathered at the main gate of the college. They raised slogans against the state government. The JJSF warned the authorities concerned that they would intensity the protest if such police post was set up on the campus.
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Geology dept organises science camp
Jammu, December 18 According to a statement issued here, the programme would conclude on December 22. The programme was inaugurated by Minister for Higher Education Abdul Gani Malik and the function was presided over by Prof Nissar Ahmad Ganai, Dean, Academic Affairs, University of Jammu. Around 250 students from various schools of the Jammu province are participating. The programme is meant for those students who have secured more than 85 per cent marks in 10th class and are pursuing science at 11th and 12th classes. It has three components. These are scheme for early attraction of talents for science (SEATS), scholarship for higher education (SHE) and assured opportunity for research careers (AORC). The mentors for the science camp would be Prof M R Puri, Prof Y R Malhotra, former Vice-Chancellors, Prof S K Shah, Prof A K Koul, Prof R N Gohil, Dr A Bhattacharya, IIGM, Mumbai, Dr K R Gupta, former Adviser, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Other top Indian scientists would give lectures to motivate the young students to take up science education. The programme is being organised in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. |
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Security forces rescue 57 stranded passengers
Srinagar, December 18 A defence spokesman said here today that due to inclement weather and sliding due to heavy snowfall on the Chowkibal-Tangdhar road a number of civilian vehicles and passengers got stranded on this side of the NC Pass in the middle of the night. The Army detachment located nearby provided food and shelter to 44 civilians, including eight women and two children. They were accommodated in warm shelters and given food for the night at the Army post and dispatched safely the next morning after the road had been cleared by the General Reserve Engineering Force personnel. In another incident, 13 persons, including two women, were trapped near the snowbound Razdhan Pass between Bandipore and Gurez after a sudden and unprecedented snowfall in the area. The passengers were on their way from Gurez to Bandipore in a vehicle when due to heavy snowfall their vehicle got stuck. They were without food and warm clothing and got stranded and exposed to ice cold winds in the open, with weather showing no signs of improvement. On learning about this around 10 pm, Army and BSF troops deployed at the Razdhan Pass launched a rescue operation to provide succour to the stranded civilians. The stranded passengers were brought to the nearest security post and provided with shelter, food, clothing and necessary medical aid for the night. They were later sent to Bandipore the next day, the defence spokesman said.
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Antony’s remarks on withdrawal of troops flayed
Jammu, December 18 Taking serious note of the announcement, they alleged that this decision was taken under pressure of separatists and militant groups. An emergent meeting of some organisations was held today in Jammu in which it was decided to hold demonstrations in the first phase of the agitation. In a statement here today, BJP general secretary Bali Bhagat said the situation was not conducive to withdraw troops, especially in erstwhile Doda district where a large number of militants were still active. He pointed out that militancy incidents had been going unabated in many parts of erstwhile Doda, Poonch and Rajouri districts and the decision to withdraw troops would prove counter-productive. Meanwhile, the Panun Kashmir led by its president Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo today criticised the statement of Defence Minister AK Antony that the Central government had decided to withdraw troops from the Kashmir valley. According to a statement issued here, Chrungoo said the Panun Kashmir had earlier expressed apprehension about such a move. He said, “At a time when the security situation in the neighbourhood is fast deteriorating and a large number of terrorists are waiting to sneak into India, troop withdrawal from Kashmir is fraught with dangerous consequences.” Chrungoo said the withdrawal or stationing of the troops could not be decided for the appeasement of any political group or organisation. The decision to withdraw troops was tantamount to total capitulation before the secessionist and fundamentalist forces.
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Winners of ‘Display Your Talent’ awarded
Jammu, December 18 Kanwar Iqbal, a student of Government Medical College, won four prizes in different events, whereas Farooq Ahmad, a student of the Institute of Music and Fine Arts, and Zain-Ul-Abdin Banday, a student of MAM (Morning) College, won two prizes each. In all these events, a majority of the awards were won by the students of the Institute of Fine Arts and Music. The function was organised by the Department of Students Welfare, of the university. Prof NA Ganai, Dean Academic Affairs, Jammu University, was the chief guest on the occasion. While complementing the winners, Ganai said the artists who participated in the programme had earned name and fame. He added that they had got even national and international recognition in the field of theatre, music and fine arts. Later, an exhibition of artworks by the participating students was also inaugurated by the chief guest.
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1 killed, 24 hurt as bus overturns
Jammu, December 18 Giving details, Kiran Kumar, Basantpur police post in charge, said Babu Ram, 52, of Kotla village was killed and 24 others were injured in the mishap. He attributed the cause of the mishap to rash and negligent driving. After the mishap, a police party reached the spot and evacuated 14 injured to a hospital at Shahpur Kandi and 10 others to the Kathua district hospital, he said. The officer said the erring driver of the bus, Sansar Singh of Poonda village, had been arrested and a case of rash driving registered against him.
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NCP backs farm technocrats’ stir
Jammu, December 18 Singh also urged the state government not to take oppressive measures against the agitating agricultural technocrats and solve their problems as early as possible. He sought personal intervention of the CM in this regard. Meanwhile, the agitating technocrats made an abortive attempt to march towards the Civil Secretariat, but were stopped by the police at Dogra Chowk. — TNS
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MPs demand more flights to Kargil
Jammu, December 18 As per a release issued here today, Muhammad Shafi Uri, Madan Lal Sharma, Ghulam Hussan Khan, Sharifud-din Shariq, Lal Singh and GN Ratanpuri highlighted the problems being faced by people of this area, in the wake of blockade of road to border district Kargil. Appealing to the Ministry of Defence for increasing the number of sorties, they also emphasised for operating the scheduled flights regularly on fixed dates.
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Five CRPF men hurt in grenade attack
Srinagar, December 18 Militants tossed a grenade towards the CRPF picket outside the State Bank of India in the main chowk of
Sopore, 52 km from here, around 11.50 am. The grenade exploded with a bang and injured five
jawans. A civilian, Fayaz Ahmad Teli, was also injured in the attack, they said. All injured were rushed to hospital, where the condition of one of the jawans was stated to be critical. Immediately after the grenade attack, the militants fired a few rounds in the air while fleeing. The CRPF personnel retaliated, but none was hurt in the brief firing, the sources
said. CRPF reinforcements and the police cordoned off the area and conducted a through search operation, but no arrests were made, they said.
— PTI |
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Medico dies of brain haemorrhage
Jammu, December 18 Sources close to the family said last night 28-year old Dr Mandeep Singh, a medico, complained of severe headache. He was administered a painkiller injection. This morning when Dr Rajinder Singh went to his son’s room to enquire about his health, he was found dead. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma rushed to the residence of Dr Rajinder Singh and expressed their condolence to the bereaved family. Governor NN Vohra also expressed grief over the tragic death of Dr Mandeep Singh and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family. Later in the afternoon, the body was cremated at the Jogi Gate crematorium here. |
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Six of family injured in cylinder blast
Jammu, December 18 Official sources said the blast occurred after a gas leak, resulting into the injuries to the six persons. The house belonged to Krishan Lal. The injured have been admitted to the Kishtwar hospital. |
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Srinagar, December 18
Police Post on Varsity Campus
