Srinagar, September 24
While the curfew was relaxed in various parts of the Kashmir valley in phases this afternoon, no relaxation was given in Srinagar city to foil any demonstrations proposed by the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference after Friday prayers.

The police said while the curfew was relaxed in phases in north and south Kashmir, the relaxation was given in Ganderbal and Kangan for three hours each this afternoon. However, no relaxation was given in the capital city to avert any demonstrations after Friday prayers.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, who continues to be under house arrest following the violence on Eid , condemned the restrictions on people offering Friday prayers at the Jamia Masjid and at some other shrines.

The curfew was relaxed in Trehgam, Kralpora and the district town of Kupwara in phases after the Friday prayers. In the south, the relaxation was given in phases in district town of Anantnag, Bijbehara and Kulgam district town, the police said.

The hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani, which had already declared its protest calendar spread over 10 days from September 16 to 26, today again modified the programme in view of the restrictions. It had earlier called for a shutdown on Saturday and Sunday. However,in view of the restrictions, it has now declared that there would be normal functioning on the next two days. “We want to give relief to people. However, the government is creating more problems by imposing restrictions,” Geelani, said in a statement here this evening.

Announcing that the fresh protest calendar would come out on Sunday at the end of the ongoing 10-day programme, Geelani said he was also worried about the examination schedules. He added the academic year of the students would not be allowed to go waste and added that the Hurriyat would be formulating the calendar keeping in view the date sheet of examinations. 

Srinagar, September 24
Local newspapers today hit the stands after resuming publication, which was suspended due to the curfew in the wake of violence in the Valley after Eid prayers.

The newspapers had to suspend publication after September 13 as the authorities imposed the curfew to contain the violence which broke out after Eid.

Owners and editors of the newspapers alleged that securitymen were not only rejecting the curfew passes issued to their staff, but were also manhandling journalists.

“Though there was not a direct ban on the publication of the newspapers, the undeclared gag did not allow the smooth functioning of the newspapers.So, the publications were suspended,” said an editor of a local newspaper.

Though many newspapers continued with their online editions, they did not come out with the print editions.

Various newspaper associations in Kashmir have now threatened to take “direct action” if they were further subjected to undeclared curbs by the government.

The Press Guild of Kashmir, a body of the newspapers in Kashmir, at a meeting held here last evening condemned the seizure of newspapers at entry points of other districts.

“There is no official ban on newspapers but the curfew has ensured there is no production of newspapers. Moreover, the newspaper employees are being harassed to the extent that cops do not honour curfew passes and at times discard them” the guild said.

“We have once again decided to resume publication, but if the government once again resorts to undeclared curbs, we would not desist from taking direct action,” the guild added.

The Kashmir valley hasn’t been receiving national newspapers for the past two months.

“Though the arrival of the national newspapers in the Valley was affected in June this year, no national newspaper has come here since August,” said a newspaper dealer in Srinagar.

Some residents say they do read Internet editions of national dailies, but it does not give them the feel of reading a newspaper.

“Holding and reading a newspaper has its own charm. But for the past two months, I haven’t been able to get a single national newspaper,” said Tariq Ahmed, a local resident.

Srinagar, September 24
While separatists raise a hue and cry over human rights violations of stone throwers, no one talks about injuries sustained by securitymen , including policemen and CRPF jawans, while dispersing stone-throwing mobs.

The figure of those injured in police action seems exaggerated as it is the securitymen, who have been at the receiving end.

The separatists have claimed that the number of injured is more than 2,000. However, in reality, only 504 “miscreants” have been injured in comparison to 4,000 personnel of the police and the CRPF.

“During the past 105 days of protests and stone-throwing incidents, only 504 persons were injured in various parts of the Valley,” a police spokesman said.

One hundred and fiftysix persons were injured in Srinagar, 32 sustained injuries in Budgam, eight in Ganderbal, 90 in Baramulla,21 in Kupwara, 92 in Sopore,10 in Bandipora,31 in Anantnag,21 in Pulwama, 13 in Shopian, four in Kulgam and 26 in Awantipora.

The spokesman said at the same time incidents of stone throwing and arson at many places across the Valley had left 2,660 police personnel injured.

“In Srinagar, around 640 policemen were injured in the past 105 days. In Budgam, 205 policemen were injured, in Ganderbal 85, Baramulla 503, Kupwara 111, Handwara 42, Sopore 102, Bandipora 97, Anantnag 119, Pulwama 406, Shopian 63, Kulgam 90, Awantipora 97 and Manigam 100,” the spokesman said.

He said the injured cops included four SSP-rank officers, besides many SPs and DSPs.

The PRO of the CRPF in Kashmir, Prabhakar Tripathy, said, “More than 1,706 CRPF personnel were injured in the incidents of stone throwing and around 200 were injured grievously.Many of the injured have lost their eyesight, limbs and other body parts.”

He said the CRPF had been wrongly blamed for going berserk on protesters.

“As our special DG has already mentioned, we first resort to a lathicharge and lob tear gas shells and then fire rubber bullets. If the mob continues to be aggressive, we fire plastic pellets. If the situation goes out of control,only then we fire in the air. Resorting to effective firing is always the last resort”, Tripathy said.

As per figures available, around 78 buildings, including 44 government offices, 29 police stations and police posts were set ablaze and 23 houses of the policemen torched in the past 105 days.

The mob also set on fire 31 government vehicles, including 22 police vehicles and nine private vehicles.

Jammu, September 24
The violence and arson in Mendhar town of Poonch district on September 15, which left three persons dead and several others injured in clashes between protesters and the police, caused a damage of nearly Rs 5 crore to public property.

“For the time being a proposal seeking Rs 1 crore for the restoration of the damaged offices has been sent to the state government,” Poonch Deputy Commissioner KL Khajuria told The Tribune.

“At least eight to nine offices, including those of the Revenue Department, SDM office, Tehsildar’s office, Range Officer’s office, Block Development Office, besides the Sub Divisional Police Office and the Dak Bungalow, were damaged in the violence on September 15,” said Khajuria.

“To make them functional, excluding the SDPO’s office and the Dak Bungalow, I have sought Rs 1 crore from the state government but for the full repair and renovation approximately Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore is required,” he said.

In a meeting at Mendhar today, the Deputy Commissioner asked the officers to set up some of the damaged offices in accommodation available with other departments so as to ensure their functioning.

The revenue office, however, would be made workable within a week, he said. He added that all damaged offices of the civil administration would start functioning by tomorrow.

The district administration has also requested the head of various other departments outside its purview to seek funds from their parent departments.

Meanwhile, curfew in Mendhar town continued for the 10th straight day today with a relaxation of five hours from 3 pm to 8 pm. “The curfew is on in Mendhar but we have relaxed it from 3 pm and 8 pm. So far no untoward incident has been reported,” said Khajuria.

Regarding Poonch town, which too had witnessed violence on September 13, the Deputy Commissioner said as a precautionary measure the night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am was still in force.

Jammu, September 24
A tour of elders to various places in Rajasthan was flagged off by Commander of 163 Infantry Brigade, AK Bhat from Nariyan in Rajouri district today.

The “Carvaan-e-Aman” as the tour is called comprises 26 elders from remote areas of Rajouri.

The tour aims to increase awareness among the elders about the rich cultural heritage in other parts of the country.

The elders would be visiting places of historical and cultural significance in Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur and Mount Abu over a period of 12 days from September 24 to October 5.

AK Bhat expressed the hope that the tour would go a long way in further promoting the cause of peace in the region, besides giving the elders an opportunity to visit places of which they had only heard of till now.

The elders were very enthusiastic and thankful to the Army for giving them this opportunity of a lifetime, as most of them had never gone out of their remote villages. 

Jammu, September 24
Even as the police arrested two persons, including a dealer of a renowned private cellular company, and seized 2,180 SIM cards from them, nearly 100 SIM cards were found to be functional.

“We arrested Rajesh Kumar, a dealer of the company at Pucca Danga, and Sanjay Sapolia, a native of Bhaderwah, who has been putting up in Janipur here. Sanjay has been working as a courier for the past one year,” said SHO, Janipur, Jai Pal Sharma.

Though out of 2,180 SIM cards only 100 were found to be functional, the dealer failed to produce proper records against which these SIM cards had been issued, he added.

The matter was under investigation. The duo had been issuing SIM cards without proper verification, said the SHO. However, it may be stated here that the stocking of non-activated SIM cards had been a practice with the dealers everywhere.

Mansar (Jammu), September 24
Exactly four months and nine days after he went missing, the body of a Kashmiri medico surfaced on the Mansar lake today, ending the mystery surrounding his disappearance on May 14.

A final year student of Acharaya Shri Chander Medical College of Sciences (ASCOMS) at Sidhra near Jammu, the deceased, Syed Zuhaib Rizvi, had gone missing from the lakeside.

On getting the news, Samba Deputy Commissioner Mubarak Singh and Samba SSP JL Sharma rushed here. A message was also flashed to the medico’s family in Srinagar. Since the body was swollen and decomposed, the police had a tough time in fishing it out.

A board of three doctors from Samba district hospital conducted an autopsy on the body at a makeshift operating table by the lakeside.

A police officer said the body initially had come up nearly 400 feet away from a particular place in the lake, where the medico, was believed to have drowned on May 14.

The body was also videographed by the police.

It appeared that the third attempt by naval divers from New Delhi using an anchor had stirred the lake bed, which might have led to the body surfacing today.

Locals said besides aquatic life, the lake had trenches and bushes.

The body was identified by Syed Murtaza Rizvi and Shaukat Alamgir,uncles of Zuhaib Rizvi.

“Though the postmortem has been conducted, the report will come after some time because the viscera had to be sent to the forensic science laboratory which will send it”, said the SSP.

Initial police investigations showed it was a case of drowning, but the exact findings would come up only after the postmortem report, said Sharma.

“As of now, we have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC”, he added.

Apart from Zuhaib’s wallet and other belongings, which were recovered from the lakeside on May 14, a mobile phone and a handkerchief were found from a pocket of his jeans this morning, said the SSP.

Syed Afzal, another uncle of the medico, said since there was no eyewitness to the incident, the police must conduct a thorough probe.

“I can’t say with authority whether he was killed or had drowned, but going by the circumstances, anything is possible,”he said.

Afzal also lashed out at the college management for its alleged nonchalant attitude.

“Zuhaib had been visiting the college psychiatrist for treatment of depression. But neither the psychiatrist nor the college warden deemed it appropriate to inform his family,” he said.

Jammu, September 24
DIG, Jammu division, Farroq Khan has summoned the file relating to the setting on fire of a woman and her daughter in Gigrayal village of the Khour block even as a section of villagers today alleged that the police was shielding the accused and “wrongly” suspecting the hand of the relatives of the deceased in the case. The DIG told The Tribune that the case was complex and he wanted to study the file to solve it.

On September 1 midnight, Krishna Devi (55), her daughter Rajni (20), and a neighbour’s daughter Kajal (13) were set ablaze by some persons when the three were sleeping in the open on the veranda of Krishna’s house.

Krishna and Rajni succumbed to their burn injuries in a Jammu hospital on September 18.The condition of Kajal who was admitted to hospital with 25 per cent burns is stable.

The miscreants first sprinkled petrol on them, but none of the victims could wake up in time to prevent the gory attack. Surprisingly, two sons of Krishna Devi, 24-year-old Gurdial and 17-year-old Tilak Raj, who were sleeping on two cots nearby, were not attacked and they did not try to save the three women who were engulfed in flames.

A section of villagers led by the Barwala Sabha, an organisation of Dalits, held a press conference in Khour today and alleged that the police picked up the two sons of Krishna three days ago for interrogation.

Faqir Chand Azad, Bodh Raj and Om Parkash, all office-bearers of the organisation, claimed that the police was shielding the culprits and forcing the two brothers to confess the crime.

They threatened to stage a dharna if the boys were not released. Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand has a lot of stake in the Khour block as it is the hometown of his in-laws.

The police was suspecting the two brothers’ hand in the incident, as they had no burn injuries on their hands though they claimed they tried to save their mother and sister. The two women died without giving any statement to the police. Before succumbing to the burns,they only said they did not know who set them ablaze, said police sources.