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Two top militants give security forces the slip
Pak ultra shot dead
Militancy victim rues govt apathy
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Cross-LoC Trade
UT Status for Ladakh
Arms licence to militant’s kin
Rs 4.76 cr for development works in Kulgam
Jawan kills colleague
Foundation day
Fire in central jail barrack
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Two top militants give security forces the slip
Srinagar, February 20 The police, CRPF and the Army cordoned off Warapora village on the Sopore-Bandipore road, about 55 km north of here, last evening on specific information about the presence of militants, including top LeT militant Abdulla Uni. The hiding militants, according to sources, opened fire upon the security forces after the latter cordoned off the village. The operation was suspended for the night, and a search was launched again early this morning. The police said the search operation was over ‘without any results’, while senior police officers said the hiding militants escaped under the cover of darkness. Besides Abdullah Uni, another top militant of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Numaan, was also believed to be hiding in the village. However, both militants managed to give the security forces the slip. This is the second such incident where militants managed to escape. Police sources said Abdullah Uni, responsible for various recent incidents of violence in the area, had escaped four or five times in the last couple of months. Uni along with Numan had been very active in the Sopore area during the past few months. The militants have made a series of attacks on police and CRPF personnel in the Sopore area since December last year. At least four CRPF men were killed in an attack on their party in December end. Two persons, including a policeman, were killed and two others injured when militants opened fire on a police party when people were coming out of a mosque after Friday prayers on February 5. A policeman and a civilian were killed near a police station in another attack. The militants also shot dead a constable of the CID this month. They had escaped after a night-long gunfight in the town early this month, causing heavy damage to the house in which they were hiding. |
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Pak ultra shot dead
Udhampur, February 20 As per a police spokesperson, on specific information about the presence of the terrorist, a police party from Gool led by DSP (operations) Mushim Ahmed and SHO Gool police station Shamim Ahmed assisted by a party of 58 RR launched an operation immediately. The forest area of Hanzal village was cordoned off where the movement of terrorist was observed. On being asked to surrender, he started firing on the police party. But he was killed in the encounter that lasted for half an hour. Two SPOs Mohammad Ashraf and Mohammad Mukhtiyar also received bullet injuries, who were later shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, for treatment. The police seized an AK 47 rifle, four magazines, 90 rounds, one hand grenade, one radio set, two mobile phones with Aircel cards, one binocular and Rs 23,786 from his possession. The documents seized revealed his identity as Mohammad Iqbal Alam, alias Abu Baker, (30), a resident of Federal-B Area, Dastgeer, Karachi in Pakistan. Abu Baker had been active in Gool and Reasi areas for the last eight years and was the divisional commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen. He was involved in a number of terrorist activities both in Reasi and Ramban districts. A large quantity of arms and ammunition concealed in the Jabber Mahakund area was seized last year. |
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Militancy victim rues govt apathy
Jammu, February 20 With a bleeding heart, he migrated to Jammu 14 years ago. But without proper rehabilitation by the government people like him are forced to live in miserable conditions. Claiming the number of such internally displaced people at 13,000, Beig says more than 90 per cent of them are yet to be rehabilitated by the government. Seeking relief and rehabilitation, Beig has been protesting in front of the Divisional Commissioners’ office for nearly three years. When militancy surfaced in hilly Doda district, he opposed the separatists’ propaganda of warfare in Marmat, his native village. Being the head of the village, he was easily victimised. Like others, he too had a brush with militancy. Narrating his harrowing experience, Beig said: “In 1992, the Al-Jihad appeared as the first a militant group in the region. I used to address gatherings in thousands to ensure communal harmony. Gun-wielding militants started approaching me, exhorting for support.” He recalled, “I didn’t cooperate with them so they thrashed my son Mohammad Shafiq.” “I decided to migrate and others also joined me. Fearing that the Army would zero in on them following mass migration, militants assured us that they will not harass us and I returned midway,” he said. “Before late, I felt trapped when militants tried to kill my son Abdul Kabir. They abducted my other son Aiyaz and sent him to Pakistan for arms training. I lost my mental balance and remained so for years,” he added. He said, “My youngest son Mohammad Yaseen was at a madrasa in Jammu. They visited the madrasa to kidnap him, but failed.” “Finally, in 1994, I left Doda and camped at Jammu. When Aiyaz returned, I made him surrender before the BSF,” he said. “Even today Shafiq has swollen veins, but we don’t have enough money for his treatment,” he rued. He added, “People like me have every document to prove our point, but have not got any relief.” For the past three years, it’s a routine to stage a dharna. “Our children are without education, the sick don’t have money for medicines. We are living in inhuman conditions in huts at Beli Charana, Bantalab, Sidhra, Sunjwan, Bhatindi, railway station and other places,” he said. “Why justice is denied to us? What’s wrong have we done? We bear the scars of torture by the militants on bodies and psyche. What else the government wants to compensate us?” he asked. |
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PC’s remark gladdens hearts of Punjab militants’ families
Miran Sahib (Jammu),
February 20 She and the families of several other top Sikh militants from Jammu, who are at present in Pakistan or other countries, see a ray of hope for their return and reacted positively to the possibility of the Indian government offering them a safe return like that offered to the Kashmiri militants living in the PoK. Sitting in her house in Simbal camp village, where a battalion of the Indian Reserve Police is still based as a reminder of the dark days of militancy with the village featuring high on the number of militants, she said her family and her son had suffered a lot. “But now it is the time for him to return. Several former militants have surrendered and are living peacefully. Why can’t my son,” she said talking about Neeta, the head of the Khalistan Zindabad Force. She said she did not want to die without seeing her son like his father. “I suffered from mental disorder. Neeta’s father died waiting to see him. I weep daily, hoping to hug him again. Now, we are filled with hope,” she said, wiping tears. Kaushalya Kaur, mother of Ranjeet Singh, alias Pinka, alias Manjeet Singh, also welcomed Chidambaram’s statement. She said, “The policy is good for all of us and Punjab will surely get the maximum benefit out of it.” However, she cautioned that the youths, who fled abroad, would take a decision only after seeing the finer points of the policy. “Let the government frame the policy and then we can speak more about the issue.” She added, “My son was not a hardhearted person. He was studying in Chandigarh when we came to know about his involvement in the hijacking of an aeroplane. He was the youngest member of the group involved in the incident.” Both Swaran Kaur and Kaushalaya said they were not in touch with their sons and refused to talk more on the issue. Pinka, a resident of Nanak Nagar in Jammu, is accused of hijacking a passenger plane from Srinagar and taking it to Lahore on July 5, 1984. Jammu alone has seven families of Sikh militants, four of whom were involved in the infamous hijacking case. The relatives cautioned that both Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir government would have to come together over the surrender policy. “Most of the militant cases were in Punjab, but we are the residents of Jammu and Kashmir. Both state governments will have to assure us on the surrender policy.” “We have read about the surrender policy and the controversy of first excluding Sikh youths and then including them also in newspapers. But there is no government communication for us in this regard. We can take effective steps once we are in a position to trust the governments,” said Swaran Kaur. |
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Cross-LoC Trade
Srinagar, February 20 This assurance, according to a PDP spokesman here, came during a meeting between the two in New Delhi today. Mehbooba brought to the notice of the Union Home Minister the bottlenecks in the smooth conduct of the trade on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawlakote routes, the spokesman added. Mehbooba told Chidambaram that she had recently met traders, who complained of a faulty system and lack of facilities in carrying on their business with the other side. The Home Minister told Mehbooba that adequate banking facilities were in the offing and he expected branches of JK Bank to be opened in the PoK soon. Chidambaram also said he would take appropriate measures for creating infrastructure facilities at the trade centres of Salamabad (Uri) and Poonch, while Mehbooba pointed out that apparently some quarters were deliberately creating problems for the traders as they would summarily delete popular items from the approved list of items. Referring to the decision to allow the youths to return home from the PoK, the PDP president said the CBM would gain credibility only if the existing travel facilities for ordinary citizens were made easier. She said the divided families, whose plight had influenced the government to reopen the traditional routes, continued to suffer from separation and the bus service, which was started with lots of hope, was becoming less and less popular. She told the Home Minister that a large number of Kashmiris were being denied passports on flimsy grounds, depriving them opportunity to see modern world. |
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20 injured in clashes
Srinagar, February 20 At least 20 persons, including five policemen, were injured in the clashes between stone-throwing youths and the police in Srinagar, Baramulla, Sopore, and Bandipore amid a complete shutdown. The police lobbed tear gas shells at Maisuma in the central Lal Chowk area here to disperse the protesters. All shops and business establishments were closed and transport was off the roads. There was a thin attendance in government offices and banks. Geelani’s faction of the Hurriyat Conference had called the general strike in protest against the alleged killing of innocents, arrest of youths and atrocities being committed by the security forces. Stray incidents of stone throwing were reported from the downtown or old Srinagar city, resulting in clashes with the police. However, there were no reports of injuries to any person in the clashes. A thin transport plied in most parts of the city, though passenger transport was off the roads. HuJI worker nabbed
Jammu: Security forces nabbed an overground worker of the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) from the Bela area, near Dul in Kishtwar district, on Thursday. Official sources said a joint column of the Rashtriya Rifles and the police apprehended Mehrazdin from the Bela area on Thursday evening. The accused was working for HuJI. |
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UT Status for Ladakh
Leh, February 20 In the Ladakh Buddhist Association’s (LBA) meeting with political parties and other religious organisations of Leh it was unanimously agreed upon to form a joint action committee. The meeting was held on February 18. The move comes in the wake of the report of the Prime Minister constituted Working Group on Centre-State Relations headed by Justice Sagir Ahmed (retd) that ignored the UT status demand for Ladakh. Ladakh residents
have protested against the report. LBA general secretary PT Kunzang said, “To carry forward the UT status demand without politicising the issue, the LBA in the meeting has proposed the formation of a joint action committee comprising political parties and religious organisations of the district.” Kunzang added, “We welcome the initiative and have decided to support the action committee to make the UT status demand more effective through a common platform. We have also decided to meet again in a series of meetings to be held later to discuss the formation and composition of the committee and strategy for the UT status demand.” The meeting was attended by representatives of the Congress, BJP, BSP, PDP, LUTF and religious organisations, including the Ladakh Gonpa Association, Ladakh Anjuman Imamia (Shia Muslim), Ladakh Anjuman Moin-ul-Islam (Sunni Muslim) and the Ladakh Christian
Association. Meanwhile, the District Congress Committee (DCC), Leh, has also decided to approach the central party leadership over the demand. DCC general secretary Tsewang Rigzin said under the leadership of former union minister P Namgail, a delegation of Congress leaders from Leh and Zangkar met with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi to express opposition of Ladakh people to the Justice Sagir Ahmed report and take up the UT
status demand. Rigzin claimed that Sonia Gandhi assured them that no decision would be taken without involving the representatives of Ladakh people. She stressed that the Congress had taken care of Ladakh’s interest ever since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi till this date. Chidambaram assured them he would visit Ladakh to understand
their issues. Rigzin also said DCC president Rigzin Spalbar, who is representing Ladakh in the Bharatiya Federation for New States, was lobbying with other national leaders for support on the issue. |
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Arms licence to militant’s kin
Jammu, February 20 The Satwari police has booked Ravinder Singh of Simbal Camp village under various Sections of the RPC for allegedly getting the arms licence issued in the name of his dead father Darshan Singh in 2009. A police officer said officers of the Special Operation Group (SOG) got specific information about the arms licence. They then handed over the case to the Satwari police, the officer said. He said Ravinder’s father got the original licence issued in his name in 1984 and died in November 2009. However, Ravinder managed to get the licence renewed in the name of his dead father. A senior advocate of the J&K High Court told The Tribune that there were some legal formalities to be done before getting, transferring and renewing the arms licence. No one could get an arms licence without appearing before the authority concerned, which is mostly the district magistrate or any other officer of an equal rank. The advocate added that the police had to play an important role, while issuing an arms licence to anyone. If someone procures a licence in the name of any dead person, the involvement of any officer behind the incident could not be ruled out, he said. Meanwhile, repeated attempts to contact IGP, Jammu Zone, Ashok Gupta proved futile. |
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Monetary help scheme for orphans
Jammu, February 20 He said this while presiding over a function for slum children under the project Pahl organised by the Damodhar Satri Udyog Sanstha at New Mohinder Nagar. Secretary, Damodhar Satri Udyog Sanstha (DSUS), Sunita Chandra requested the Mayor to formulate a similar scheme and replicate the Delhi model for poor orphaned children in Jammu in order to improve their lot. At present, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is providing monetary support of Rs 1,000 per month as pension to each orphaned/abandoned children apart from imparting them elementary education in corporation run schools. She said, “A large number of street/underprivileged and orphaned children face many hardships in life due to scarcity of resources.” She said if these children were provided monetary assistance to take care of their basic expenses, they would grow as responsible citizens and would not commit petty crimes or do menial jobs to earn their livelihood.” Suggesting simple ways how a scheme could be worked out, Chandra said before awarding monetary help to these children a local councillor should be entrusted with the responsibility of identifying such children in his/her area of operation and after verifying the credentials a lump sump monetary help should be extended to such children. She said until now the pension scheme used to cover the physically challenged, visually impaired widows and the elderly and pension was given by the Social Welfare Department. Gupta said in the coming days he would personally take up the issue of starting a monthly pension scheme on the lines of the Municipal corporation of Delhi for orphans with the state government. The Mayor also appreciated the team of the project Pahl for imparting elementary education to street and underprivileged children on its own without taking help from any state government agencies. Distributing clothes among children, Gupta said more and more people in Jammu should come forward to help these children and open centres for their education. A total of 110 students are enrolled under the project and are taking a keen interest in their regular classwork and have also learned social etiquettes in a short span of time. These street-children are being imparted free education under the project. Seema Bhan, Arti Jatwar and Jasmeet Singh, volunteers of the project Pahl, were also present on the occasion. |
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Rs 4.76 cr for development works in Kulgam
Srinagar, February 20 He was chairing the District Development Board meeting at Kulgam on Thursday. He was informed that 75 per cent expenditure had been registered in the district by January-end, against the availability of Rs 49.45 crore within the approved plan of Rs 62.2 crore. The district has made optimum use of NABARD loan component with an expenditure of Rs 6.28 crore. In the state share, the percentage of expenditure has been 60.6 per cent in the normal category. Chairing the District Development Board meeting here today, the Chief Minister appreciated the district administration, Kulgam for its performance in making justifiable expenditure on the plan schemes, particularly in creating infrastructure in various sectors. He hoped that other districts would also better their performance for fostering all-round development. “The proactive role of the district administration in speeding up the work on various projects and right use of money is praise worthy,” Omar observed, hoping that the same spirit would continue for remaining part of the current financial year. Others present in the meeting included Minister for Forest Mian Altaf Ahmad, who is also the chairman of the board, Minister for Social Welfare and MLA Noorabad Sakina Itoo, Deputy Speaker Sartaj Madini and other senior officers. |
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Jawan kills colleague
Udhampur, February 20 The deceased has been identified as MP Yadav. The accused, Gunjat Singh, has been arrested and a case registered at Bhala police station. As per official information, Gunjat Singh and Yadav were members of a road opening party. The incident took place around 7.45 am. They told their colleagues that they were going to answer the call of nature. But after a while their colleagues heard
a gunshot. When they rushed to the spot, they found Yadav dead on the ground, while Gunjat was standing beside the body. |
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Foundation day
Jammu, February 20 Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister Raman Bhalla was the chief guest, while Chairman of the State Board of School Education Desh Bandhu Gupta presided over
the function. A cash incentive of Rs 25,000 each was presented to the first two position holders in Class XII and X examinations. Also, 36 cheques for Rs 1,000 each were given to meritorious students of other classes. |
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Fire in central jail barrack
Srinagar, February 20
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