Jammu, February 6
Panic gripped the Janipur area this morning when security forces launched a search operation against the suspected movement of two militants in the forest area near Gujjar Colony here.

Sources said the security forces received information that two militants carrying weapons were seen in the colony and they immediately launched a search operation that lasted for about three hours.However, no suspect was found in the area.

The operation created panic among the residents.

A visit to the area revealed that people were panic-stricken and shopkeepers, who opened their shops feared that militants had entered the area and might strike in a big way.

“I was returning home after morning walk when I saw a lare number of cops searching the colony,” said Khushi Ram, an octogenarian, who added that he immediately rushed home and locked the doors.

A securityman told this correspondent they were ordered to step up security as there was a threat from militants.

A senior police officer said they had alerted the security agencies against any untoward happening,but there was no need to panic.

Jammu, February 6
Even as the state government is contemplating to postpone elections of the civic bodies, scheduled to be held in March, political parties have started preparations for the same. Most of the parties have already constituted committees to shortlist potential candidates, especially for the prestigious Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC).

The ruling Congress, which is desperate to snatch the JMC from its arch rival BJP, has constituted a screening committee headed by Relief and Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla to finalise names of prospective candidates.

“We are ready to face the municipal committee elections”, Ravinder Sharma, spokesman of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), told The Tribune. He informed that the process has already been started on the direction of party chief Saif-ud-Din Soz.

Keeping in view the recent performance of the party in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is hopeful to get the JMC from the BJP. It has already formed a high-powered screening committee. Besides Raman Bhalla, other members of the committee are former Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, Lok Sabha member Madan Lal Sharma, Ravinder Sharma, Amrit Malhotra and former minister Mula Ram.

As far as the BJP is concerned, it has already constituted a committee to finalise names of candidates for the JMC.

As party corporator Kavinder Gupta has managed to win the election of Mayor for three terms, the BJP has entrusted to him job of selecting strong candidates to improve the tally in the coming elections. Although the BJP has won only 25 seats in the present corporation of 71 members, party’s nominee Kavinder Gupta has won election of Mayor for three times.

“This time we will try to get majority of our own”, Kavinder told The Tribune while claiming that the party has already completed first stage of its preparations. The party has divided the city into five divisions to finalise names of potential candidates.

BJP state president Shamsher Singh Manhas along with Mayor Kavinder Gupta convened meetings in different areas in connection with the preparations for the JMC elections.

Manhas said the forthcoming JMC elections were of great significance for the party. He exhorted the workers to put more efforts to ensure that the BJP get absolute majority so that party has its own Mayor, Deputy Mayor and chairmen of different committees. “To achieve this target, the party activists at the gross roots level have to thoroughly check the voters’ lists, approach the concerned authorities for making additions, alterations and corrections in the present lists so that maximum voters are in a position to use their right to franchise,” he said.

Opposition PDP has also started preparations in this regard. In the last JMC elections, the party registered its presence by winning two seats. This time PDP has been targeting to improve its tally.

Jammu, Febraury 6
Expressing grave concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, especially in the Kashmir valley, the PDP today warned that the wrong policies being adopted by the state government would prove disastrous as discontent among masses had been increasing with each passing day.

A meeting of senior leaders of the PDP was held today under the leadership of party vice-president and former Rajya Sabha Member Trilok Singh Bajwa to discuss the prevailing situation in the state. The party decided to hold protest demonstrations in all districts on February 18 against failure of the government on all fronts.

Expressing concern over the law and order situation and “killing” of innocent people at the hands of “security forces”, the meeting observed that the coalition regime had failed to take steps to keep a check on the excesses being committed on masses by the forces.

“Situation is sliding back to the pre-2002 situation due to the wrong policies pursued by the present dispensation for the last one year,” leaders present in the meeting observed and added people had started comparing performance of the present coalition regime with the three-year tenure of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as Chief Minister of the state”.

“As Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had not only carved out a path of equitable development but also pursued reconciliation and peace process which restored peace in the region,” pointed out Trilok Singh Bajwa. He, however, regretted that the present government failed to carry forward the developmental and peace agenda of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Speaking during the meeting, party general secretary Balbir Singh said the coalition regime had been exposed before people as it failed to fulfil the promises it had made to the people during the Assembly elections. He said the government’s claim of accelerating developm ental activities were hollow as its performance just existed only on papers.

Former Minister Rangil Singh, Daman Bhasin, Ved Mahajan, Shanti Devi, Suram Singh, Falail Singh, Jagjit Singh Jagga, RK Bali, Ashok Jogi, Surjet Kour, Deepinder Kour, Choudahry Hussain Ali Bafa, Abdul Rashid Malik, Rashid Malik, HR Chargotra, and others also addressed the meeting.

Srinagar, February 6
Traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway was suspended due to a heavy snowfall since last evening.

There was heavy rain and snow in the Kashmir valley and the upper reaches since yesterday. The day temperature here fell to 2.4 degree Celsius today.

The Srinagar-Jammu highway remained blocked due to the accumulation of snow around the Jawahar Tunnel between Qazigund and Banihal since yesterday. More than 400 vehicles and trucks carrying essential commodities to the valley were stranded on the highway.

It was the second snowfall of the season. Most parts of the valley had heavy rain and intermittent snow since last evening, disrupting traffic in several distant areas and on inter-district roads.

The Met Department has forecast heavy rain and snowfall in the state during the next three days.

Jammu: A heavy snowfall since Friday has made it risky to travel on the 300-km-long highway.

A senior Weather Department officer told this correspondent that several vehicles were stranded near the Jawahar Tunnel.

The police said it started rescue operations with the help of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officials, had shifted the stranded vehicles to base camps and was making arrangements for the travellers’night stay. “We have stopped the vehicles near Banihal, Ranban, Kud, Udhampur and other areas to avoid any mishap,” the police said. The heavy vehicles were stopped from going beyond Udhampur due to slippery road conditions.

Jitendra Gupta, a tourist from Delhi, who was stranded on the highway after return from Srinagar, said to this correspondent: “It was a difficult task to go ahead or come back to Jammu last night. A proper traffic management provided relief to the stranded commuters.”

Alok Kumar, SSP, National Highway, Ramban, said : “ Officials of the Met Department told us there could be a heavy snowfall in the upper areas this week. So, we have appealed to the public to go only if it is must.Otherwise, they should avoid the journey.”

Jammu, February 6
Naoshera Day was celebrated with splendour today by both the Army and civil authorities of Naoshera tehsil at the headquarters of Naoshera Brigade.

The day commemorates the supreme sacrifice made by Naik Yadunath Singh and others during the 1947-48 operations in this sector, stated an official statement released by the Defence Ministry here.

The celebrations also commemorate the sacrifice made by valiant Army and civil comrades, who fought shoulder to shoulder to ward off the raiders.

The brave defence of Naoshera was the turning point of the entire battle of Jammu and Kashmir during the 1947-48 operations.

The celebrations started on a solemn note with a wreath-laying ceremony held at Yadunath Park. Glowing tributes were paid to those valiant martyrs who left a glorious trail of victory with their exemplary display of unwavering devotion to duty 
towards their motherland. Solemn grandeur marked the occasion.

Wreaths were laid by Commander Naoshera Brigade and Commanding Officers of various units.

This was followed by presentation of awards for excellence in various spheres to those jawans who had distinguished themselves in their professional capacities.

Children participated in quiz and painting competitions held in various categories, the theme being National Integration and Environment Protection and Conservation.

This was followed by a riveting power point presentation by one of the battalions on the 1947-48 Indo-Pak war with special focus on the battles of Naoshera and Jhangar at the Butalia Auditorium.

The event was well attended by representatives from civil administration as well as the local populace. The celebrations culminated with prizes being distributed by the commander to the participants.

Jammu, February 6
After the recovery of an identity card of a government school teacher from a self-styled commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Mendhar on February 3, the police today started probing officials of the education department.

The police also claimed to unveil the truth within a week. Top Jaish commander Aziz Ali, alias Parbhat Shikari and Tipu, a Pakistani national, was gunned down by the Army and the police in an encounter in Mendhar on February 3.

“A team under the SHO, Mendhar, has been constituted and all the facts would be out within a week,” SSP, Poonch, Manmohan Singh told The Tribune.

The identity card recovered from slain ultra had the name of one Parvez Ahmed, son of Mohammed Arif, a resident of Tope village in Mendhar tehsil and duly carried seal and signatures of Zonal Education Officer (ZEO).

Though we have started investigating the case, the employee, assigned with the task of issuing identity cards in the office of ZEO, was on leave today and hence on Monday he would be questioned, said the SSP.

He added if employees of the education department were found involved strict action under the law would be initiated against them.

To a query, he said the police had to find out if the government teacher by the name of Parvez Ahmed existed in Tope village and if so then how two identity cards were issued in the name of one teacher.

We are looking into all these angles and the case would be cracked within a week, said the SSP. The police officer described it a very sensitive matter.

Jammu, February 6
The state government today constituted a committee to suggest measures for bringing improvement in the functioning of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) with focus on skill upgrade to cope up with increasing demand of trained workers.

The committee would submit its report within a month.

The decision to this effect was taken at a review meeting of the ITIs under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Vocational Training Improvement Programme (VTIP) chaired by Minister for Technical Education RS Chib.

Chib called upon reviving the technical institutions in the state so that the young boys and girls could get trained in job-oriented trades, enabling them to get employment for themselves on the one hand and contribute towards the overall growth of the state on the other.

He said the government had already moved a proposal for creation of about 50 new ITIs to cover all the uncovered blocks of the state so that facilities of technical education reach to the remote and far-flung areas.

Chib said special thrust needed to be laid on the upgrade of existing ITIs by introducing various schemes under the PM’s Reconstruction Programme, including the “modernisation of existing ITIs.” Under the scheme, it has been envisaged to construct 10 women ITIs, besides replacing 102 obsolete trade units by modern and market-friendly trades.

Chib said five women wings had been created in the existing ITIs and 10 new women ITIs constructed in the state. This has raised the intake capacity of existing ITIs to more than 9,000 per year. He said as a sequel to skill upgrade measures, two new schemes “Vocational Training Improvement Programme (VTIP) and upgradation of ITIs through PPP” have been introduced in the technical education department for converting existing ITIs into “centres of excellence” in partnership with the industry. He added the Institute Management Committee (IMC) for 22 ITIs stand constituted under these schemes.

Jammu, February 6
The police today claimed to have foiled a smuggling bid of narcotics and seized 200 kg of poppy husk from a truck at Manwal in Jammu region today.

According to the police, acting on a specific information, a naka was laid and a truck (PB-09-E-5683) was seized carrying huge consignment of narcotics. The narcotics were concealed in a box made by tin and was bolted by nuts.

Sources said the truck was on its way to Srinagar and the driver managed to flee from the spot.

Ajay Bhat, SHO, Jajjar Kotli police station, said, “A case under various sections of the NDPS Act has been registered and we are trying to locate the driver”.

Meanwhile, the police today claimed to have arrested a smuggler with a leopard skin at Hyderpura.

Srinagar, February 6
While normal life was affected across the Kashmir valley for the sixth consecutive day today, the government has ordered an inquiry into the death of a 16-year-old boy, Zahid Farooq Shah, due to a bullet injury under mysterious circumstances here last evening.

A spontaneous bandh paralysed life across the Kashmir valley following the death of the youth allegedly due to firing by security forces in Nishat area last evening. All shops and business establishments remained closed and traffic was off the roads. Major towns of the valley, including Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, Sopore, Kupwara and Handwara, observed a complete shutdown. However, a partial bandh was observed in Baramulla and Bandipore towns in north Kashmir. Very few vehicles plied on the roads and there was thin attendance in government offices.

Stray incidents of stone pelting were reported from Khanyar and Bemina areas of the city today. However, there were no reports of any injuries in these incidents, even as strict restrictions were in force across the summer capital. The police and CRPF maintained strict vigil in interior city areas covering five police stations of Nowhatta, Khanyar, MR Gunj, Rainawari and Safakadal.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, taking a serious view of the killing of Zahid Farooq Shah, has directed the Director-General of Police to immediately move to Srinagar and personally supervise the investigation into the killing, an official spokesman said. The government has also instituted a high-level inquiry to bring the facts in the matter to the fore and book the culprits. The said high-level inquiry will be headed by the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Naseema Lankar, and a report will be submitted within seven days.

The Chief Minister has expressed deep anguish on the killing of the young boy and said such incidents of innocent killings would not be tolerated and whosoever was involved in such killings would be brought to book.

Srinagar, February 6
The death of a youth, who sustained a bullet injury under mysterious circumstances here last evening, has led to fresh trouble in the valley which was still recovering from violent outbursts following the death of a teenager due to a teargas shell on Sunday last.

This has been the third such incident during the past one month, beginning with the death of a student, Inayat Khan of Dalgate, who had received a bullet injury due to security forces’ firing in the Lal Chowk area on January 8, following an encounter in the heart of the city.

Wamiq Farooq, another teenager, died due to a teargas shell at Rajouri Kadal area in downtown on Sunday, leading to complete shutdown for four days in protest. While the separatist Hurriyat Conference had called for a bandh on Tuesday last against the killing of Wamiq Farooq, spontaneous general strike continued for four days. A shutdown was also observed across the valley on Friday.The death of Zahid Farooq at Brein, Nishat, on the outskirts of Srinagar city on Friday evening led to the continued protests for the sixth consecutive day today.

Zahid’s death has caught the government on the wrong foot that is under strong criticism, both from the mainstream Opposition parties like the PDP, and the separatist organisations, even as the ruling National Conference has blamed certain elements in both camps for the trouble.

The situation arising out of the public resentment over the killings of unarmed youth, according to observers, points towards the situation that prevailed during the past two consecutive years.

The NC-led coalition government was rocked by the two-month-long agitation over the alleged rape and murder of two women, whose bodies were recovered on May 29 last year in Shopian district of south Kashmir. A prolonged agitation over the allotment of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board for the annual yatra purposes in south Kashmir shook the government in 2008, and eventually ended the then Congress-PDP coalition government in July, three months before its term was scheduled to end before the next Assembly elections.

Blaming the government for such incidents, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti said there was a hope even after the Amarnath land agitation. “We (PDP) had brought a change with healing touch after 2002 elections but the process ended in 2005,” she said adding that during the past one year “mis-governance led to anger among youth.”

Senior National Conference leader and Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats, Ali Mohammad Sagar opines that certain elements were habitual of creating law and order problem by indulging in stone pelting. “This conspiracy is created by some defeated vested interests who want to score some political mileage out of it,” he said.

“It is a matter of grave concern that lives of innocent people like Class XII student Zahid Farooq, 16-year-old Nishat of Srinagar, have become the source of grief for people of the state, the CPM state secretary and MLA, MY Tarigami, said.

Seeking an end to such killings, Tarigami held that mere ordering of inquiry was not sufficient. “What is required is identification of the elements responsible for such inhuman crimes and their punishment under the law,” he said. He urged the Chief Minister to intervene and act firmly against such miscreants without further delay