Udhampur, February 2
Two employees of the Military Engineer Services (MES) were found dead, with their throats slit, in the complaint cell of the MES Power House adjacent to a gurdwara near Chopra Shop on the national highway today. The incident came to light when MES employees of the morning shift reached the office around 8 am today and found the bodies of telephone operator Bodh Raj (56), a resident of Round Domail village, and lineman Moti Ram (51), a resident of Jib village, lying in a pool of blood. The assailants had used sharp-edged weapons to slit their throats.

The news about the double murder spread like a wildfire in and around Udhampur and a large number of people, including MES employees and the relatives of the deceased, gathered near the complaint cell across the National Highway-IA. They then blocked the highway for about seven hours. The protesting relatives alleged that the police informed them about the crime two hours after receiving information about it.

The angry protesters did not allow the police to shift the bodies from the complaint cell. They also raised slogans against the police and relented around 4.30 pm only after some senior Army officials of the Northern Command intervened. The bodies were then taken to the District Hospital, Udhampur, for a post-mortem.

As the top brass of the district administration, including the DIG, Udhampur-Reasi Police Range, were in Jammu for a meeting of the District Development Board, Additional SP Bhupinder Singh was the only officer present in the district to handle the tense situation. The police had to divert the Jammu and Srinagar bound traffic from the Udhampur bypass as a large number of vehicles were held up due to the blockade.

The Additional SP said the motive behind the crime was yet not clear. The police lost precious time of initial investigation due to the massive public protest. “We hope to crack the case soon,” he said.

Meanwhile, it is the second murder case that has taken place in the jurisdiction of Rehamble police station in three days. A resident of Malhar village, alleged to be mentally unsound, killed his minor daughter with a sickle on January 30.

Srinagar, February 2
The Indian Air Force (IAF) today rescued 224 passengers, who were stranded at various places in Kargil and Gurez areas due to the closure of the highway following heavy snowfall and landslides.

Amir Ali, coordinator of the Disaster Management Cell, Kashmir, said, “More than 62 stranded passengers were airlifted from areas between Bandipora and Gurez in the IAF’s Mi-17 helicopter today. Fourteen passengers were airlifted from the Bandipora helipad to Neeru and three to Baduab. Sixteen passengers were airlifted from Neeru to Bandipora, while 29 passengers were rescued from Baduab and taken to Bandipora.”

Amir said the passengers were facilitated at Bandipora by Additional Deputy Commissioner Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Gasi and at Gurez by Sub Divisional Magistrate Mohammad Ashraf.

“The Gurez subdivision had been cut-off due to the recent snowfall and the temperatures at Gurez had dipped to minus 15°C. The passengers airlifted were aged patients, women and children,” he added.

MLA, Gurez, Nazir Ahmed Gurezi and Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon thanked Group Capt Sreevastav and the Air Officer Commanding, Udhampur, for making the helicopter available for the rescue operations.

Meanwhile, 162 passengers were airlifted in the IAF’s AN-32 Kargil Courier. “As many as 36 passengers were airlifted from Kargil to Jammu and 53 from Jammu to Kargil. Twenty-nine passengers were airlifted from Kargil to Srinagar and 44 from Srinagar to Kargil. During the closure of the Sonamarg-Gumri road, the IAF operates a weekly air courier service between Kargil and Jammu every Tuesday and between Kargil and Srinagar thrice a week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, subject to fair weather conditions,” Amir said.

Srinagar, February 2
Saifuddin Soz, president of the state Pradesh Congress Committee, has condemned the killing of two sisters in Sopore town of Baramulla district two days ago. In a statement issued here today, Soz said, “It is heart-rending to see two innocent teenage girls of a poor family getting massacred by terrorists. It is, indeed, a crime against humanity”.

He said the state government should use all means to get hold of the criminals and punish them severely. “I urge the people of Kashmir to rise against terrorism and see that all goons are brought to book,” he said Soz urged the state government to take urgent measures to rehabilitate the family of the victims.

Jammu: Various social and political organisations have condemned the gruesome killing of two sisters in Shopian by the terrorists. The BJP condemned the incident saying the killing was an eyeopener for those who had been demanding the withdrawal of the security forces from the Kashmir valley. It also criticised the Hurriyat Conference, PDP, NC and the Congress for supporting separatists and maintaining a “criminal silence” on such incidents.

BJP leader Ramesh Arora said the Kashmir leaders came out against the security forces in all incidents where there was even mild apprehension that the troops might have been involved, but they had been a mute spectator to the gruesome killing. This exposed the real face of the Kashmir-centric politics.

The chief of the Panthers Party, Bhim Singh, condemned the killing saying life, liberty and property of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was totally unsafe because of lack of proper governance in the state. He called on the people of Kashmir to rise to the occasion and condemn this act of terror. Shoaib Nabi Lone, president of the Pradesh Youth Congress, condemned the incident

Srinagar, February 2
Militants attacked the house of former president of the Pradesh Congress Committee Ghulam Rasool Kar in Sopore town of Baramulla district today, two days after they gunned down two sisters there.

The militants fired a rifle grenade at the house of Ghulam Kar in Sopore town. However, the grenade missed the target and exploded midair causing no major damage to life or property. Some windowspanes of Kar’s house broke due to the impact of the blast. Kar was present in his house along with his family at the time of the blast but none was hurt.

A bunker of the 179 battalion of the CRPF is also located near the Congress leader’s house. As per sources, security in and around the house of the Congress leader has been increased and a manhunt launched to nab the militants who lobbed the grenade.

Jammu, February 2
Governor NN Vohra today stressed the need for undertaking a collaborative research by doctors dealing with human beings and those in the veterinary sciences for evolving an integrated approach to deal with the prevention and management of companion animal diseases vis-à-vis human health.

The Governor was addressing an inaugural session of a three-day Eighth Annual Congress of the Indian Society for Advancement of Canine Practice (ISACP) and the National Symposium on Prevention and Management of Companion Animal Diseases vis-à-vis Human Health organised by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) in collaboration with the ISACP here.

The Governor, who is the Chancellor of the university, said, “We need to identify the areas of common research benefiting humans as well as animals”. He said since the beginning, canines and bovines had contributed a lot to the human welfare. He added that with advancement in science there was a need for an area-wise specialisation in the veterinary sciences on the pattern as had happened in the field of medical sciences for the human beings.

Referring to various issues being deliberated during the congress, the Governor said such issues had a great bearing on the future of the country as well as the future of canines.

He said the topic of the symposium was both relevant and timely as bovines and other animals contributed directly as well as indirectly to producing food for the human beings. Therefore, it was necessary to take a broad view of all aspects of the man-animal relations, including those relating to the health of animals and the risks to man from their existence.

He congratulated the university for hosting the national-level event and bringing together both renowned and budding veterinary scientists at a platform to share research findings and experiences. He released the souvenir of the conference, two books and ISACP’s life members’ identity cards.

The Governor presented the ISACP lifetime achievement award, Society’s Gold Medal and other awards to a number of distinguished participants for the work done by them in various fields of the veterinary sciences. 

Udhampur, February 2
Expressing concern over frequent power cuts in Kishtwar, Youth Congress leader Sheikh Nasir Hussain Advocate sought regular power supply to the area.

Addressing a meeting of the Youth Congress and NSUI activists on the issue here today, Nasir said the power generated in Kishtwar was being supplied outside the state, while the area itself was reeling under frequent power cuts.

Residents of the area, particularly students, who were preparing for various examinations, were the worst sufferers due to the frequent power cuts.

He urged the Power Development Department (PDD) authorities to take urgent measures to ensure proper power supply and appealed to people not to misuse it.

During the meeting, the president of the district unit of the NSUI, Yasir Rashid Lone, also accused the PDD of inadequate
power supply. Those present on the occasion included Saddam Hussain, Tanveer Ahmad, Waqar Ahmad, Ajay Kumar and Munish Kumar. 

Jammu, February 2
A group of 23 students from remote areas of Poonch district, on a tour to various places of historical and cultural importance in the north-eastern parts of the country, called on Governor NN Vohra at the Raj Bhavan here today.

The students are accompanied by two of their teachers and Army officers. During the two-week tour organised by the Army’s 15 JAT Regiment under the Operation Sadbhavana, the students would visit Gangtok, Siliguri, Darjeeling and Kolkata.

The tour was flagged off from Poonch yesterday and would conclude on February 14. Interacting with the children, the Governor said such tours provided an opportunity to visit various places of historical and cultural importance and broaden the mental horizons of children.

For most of the students, it is their first visit to any place outside Jammu and Kashmir. The children, studying in classes VII to XII praised the Army for organising the tour.

The Governor presented gifts to the students and wished them a bright future. He asked Major G. Krishnan and other accompanying Army personnel to provide diaries to the children so that they write their daily experience in them. He asked for organising an essay writing competition based on their experience of the visit and agreed to suitably reward the three students, whose essays were found to be the best.

The Principal Secretary to the Governor, RK Goyal, was present on the occasion.

Jammu, February 2
The Department of Computer Sciences of Government College for Women, Parade, organised a two-day workshop on ‘Hardware Assembling’ here today. According to a statement issued here, the workshop was organised in collaboration with the Indian Linux Users Group and Jetking Limited. The principal of the college, Dr Kiran Bakshi, was the chief guest on the occasion.

While addressing students, Govind Sharma, north head of Jetking, threw light on the scope of computer hardware assembling, networking and various career options available.

Experts from Jetking gave demonstrations of various computer parts, including motherboard processor and RAM, and displayed how to assemble a computer.

Amit Sharma and Vishal Salgotra from the Indian Linux Users Group, Jammu, apprised students about software freedom, GNU Linux system and talked about the concept of FOSS, GPL and Open source code.

Bakshi said the workshop would be helpful to the students, as they would get a firsthand information about various software options available in the market and basic knowledge about computer assembling. She appreciated the efforts of Prof Parveen Singh, Head of the Department of Computer Sciences, and staff members for taking the initiative of organising the workshop.

Nagrota (Jammu), February 2
Two youths were arrested today for allegedly raping a Class IX student and making an obscene video of her. The victim is a resident of the Migrant Camp in Nagrota near Jammu and belonged to the community of the accused.

The police said the victim’s father lodged a complaint today that two boys of their locality had been raping his daughter for about a month and had also made an obscene video of her from a cellphone camera.

Parvez Sajjad, SHO, Nagrota police station said, “Acting on the complaint, we investigated the matter and arrested the two youths of the same colony. They have been booked under Section 376 of the RPC. We are investigating whether the accused have made any obscene video of the victim, as the victim’s father has alleged in his complaint.”

Sajjad added that the police was not aware about any obscene video, but if the charge was found to be true, the boys would be booked for the crime too.

The SHO said the accused had threatened the girl of dire consequences if she disclosed the crime to anyone. “But today she told her father about the crime. The father lodged a complaint with us,” he added.

He said the accused were Sumit Bhat and Rakesh Raina, both students and residents of the Migrant Camp.

The SHO said the accused used to take the girl to a room and commit the crime whenever she went to the market alone. The police took the girl for a medical check-up. The accused would be produced in a court tomorrow.

Jammu, February 2
A businessman from Srinagar, Mohammad Shafi (50), was crushed to death by a speeding minibus near the bus stand here today. The police said Shafi, a fruit seller, had come here for business but was crushed to death by a minibus around 1:30 am today.

The Bus Stand police registered a case in this regard and arrested the minibus driver, Suman Kumar, a resident of Akhnoor.

The minibus was impounded.

Meanwhile, the body was handed over to the bereaved family after a post-mortem at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here.