Srinagar, May 22
Notwithstanding repeated denials by the Army, security agencies in the state have reported that nearly 35 to 40 terrorists have entered the Kashmir valley but were holed up in the higher reaches only due to extra layer of security by the police and paramilitary forces.

“The reports comprising human intelligence and intelligence gathered from other sources suggest that small groups of six to seven militants, mainly belonging to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, have managed to cross the Line of Control (LoC) through the Machil sector in Kupwara and Gurez sector and were now hiding in the upper forest areas of Lolab and the Rajwar areas,” a senior intelligence officer told The Tribune.

While Army's top brass in Srinagar-based 15 Corps attempted to downplay and present a picture that there was no infiltration this week at a high-level meeting, they were countered by Central intelligence agencies with specific inputs suggesting that terrorists had managed to sneak in under their nose, officials privy to the meeting said.

The Army top brass proposed to take a high-level team to the borders which was, however, shot down saying that there was no fun in examining the LoC when terrorists had managed to sneak in and the Army should rather concentrate more on plugging infiltration routes in coordination with the state and Central intelligence agencies, the officials said.

They said the infiltrations indicated the role being played by Pakistan in pushing terrorists into India.

The General Officer in Commanding of 15 Corps, which looks after the entire Kashmir Valley, Lt Gen SA Hasnain, had recently said around 600 to 700 militants were still waiting across the LoC to sneak into the Indian side.

He had also expressed apprehensions that with the melting of snow on the upper reaches, the attempts to infiltrate in the Valley would increase.

“The reports that militants have managed to sneak into the Indian side were also collaborated from the recoveries of new weaponry along the LoC that include AK rifles, UBGL, ammunition, GPS and other such equipments,” the sources said.

Gen Hasnain had said the militant training infrastructure in the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir was still active and the launching pads near the LoC were also active where militants in small batches were waiting to sneak in.

However the Army denied the report and said no infiltration had taken place. “As far as the Army is concerned, we maintain that no infiltration has taken place in any of the area along the LoC. Sustained operations have been going on in the Valley throughout the winter,” the Srinagar-based PRO of the Army, Lt Col JS Brar, said. He said the “new weapons” recovered were manufactured in 2007 and 2008.

Jammu, May 22
After undergoing amputation of right arm and three fingers of the left hand, it is not only emotionally upsetting, but also traumatic for Mohan, who is the only earning member in his family that comprises his wife, three children and parents.

Mohan Singh (26) of ward No 2 in Nowshera tehsil of Rajouri district is an electrician by profession. He was reportedly called at the residential quarters of Doordarshan’s HPT, Nowshera, on April 14 by assistant engineer RC Dhaiya.

The victim’s family claimed that Mohan accidentally came in touch with an 11 KV feeder line to HPT and got electrocuted while trying to fix a problem.

However, the officials contradicted the allegations. They said the electrician did not visit the place on time and was working in their absence.

“The contractual employees, who were present on the occasion, had forbidden him to enter the prohibited area, but he did not listen,” claimed a supervising engineer of the Doordarshan.

Nevertheless, the family alleged that instead of admitting him to a hospital, the employees there left the place, leaving him outside the gate. Thereafter, a few passersby reportedly rushed him to a nearby sub-district hospital, Nowshera.

Subsequently, he was referred to Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, where his arm and fingers had to be amputated on May 10.

“They had left the power supply on, when I was asked to fix the problem,” said Mohan. “No one from the Doordarshan office has visited me so far. The survival of my entire family will be difficult if I am not given some sort of relief,” he added.

“The police has taken cognisance and a medico-legal case has been registered under Section 336 and 337 of the RPC. The police is collecting evidences,” said the investigating officer.

He added, “A challan will be produced against accused employees only after the statement of the victim is recorded once he is discharged from the hospital”.

However, KS Bawa, station engineer, Doordarshan, Nowshera, denied any legal responsibility towards the victim. “It is always mentioned in the contract when private labourers are hired, they work on their own risk,” he said.

“Secondly, we do not have any provision for funds to financially assist victims of such incidents,” he added.

“On humanitarian grounds, one can understand the sense of loss being suffered by the victim. So we have helped him on our own and will keep on doing so in future as well,” he said, but declined to reveal the nature of help extended to the victim. 

Srinagar, May 22
‘Janata Darbar’ is fast becoming a hit among the people of the Kashmir Valley, especially youth, giving a shot in the arm to Omar Abdullah government in the state, which has been of the firm belief that last year’s protests were not aimed against it.

As the 41-year-old Omar prepares for his second Janata Darbar this week, his office is already flooded with requests for meeting the Chief Minister as this public forum has rekindled the hope among the public at large that their pleas will be addressed cutting through the red-tape.

University students, unemployed youth who want to start their own ventures and executives from a leading private bank are eager to meet Omar at the ‘Open House’, which he has started to get feedback from various areas of the state.

During the five months of unrest last summer, thousands of people, mostly youths, poured on the streets across the Valley, that resulted in violence in which more than 100 people were killed.

Mainstream opposition parties like PDP and BJP claimed that the violence was a result of the failure of the Omar-led government. Omar said the youth of Kashmir this year has taken a “positive approach” for getting the issues resolved.

“The massive participation of the youth, both as candidates and voters, in the ongoing panchayat elections shows that they want to contribute in a positive way to the development process,” he said.

Omar recalled that when he took over as the Chief Minister, the youth of the state, especially those in the Valley, had expected him to solve their problems. “We are working in this direction but no Chief Minister has a magic wand that will make all the problems disappear overnight.

“I have been repeatedly saying that I should be judged at the end of my term as most of the development works we have taken up will start bearing fruit in four to five years,” he said.

The Chief Minister said his focus is on improving public delivery service by receiving first-hand appraisal of the issues people are confronted with on various counts.

“Open House provides ample room to people to ventilate their grievances and I get an opportunity to know where the delivery requires improvement so that actions are taken accordingly,” he added.

The Chief Minister said by the establishment of Panchayati Raj system in the state, smaller issues which are being brought to his notice for redress could be dealt effectively at the panchayat level.

Omar, however, said he and his office shall be accessible to individuals and civil societies as a whole to apprise him of the matters and problems they deem fit to be brought to his notice. — PTI 

Jammu, May 22
A cable-stayed bridge, worth Rs 145 crore, will come up for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir that will connect the state with neighbouring Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

The bridge is being constructed on the Ravi at Basohli belt and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will tomorrow lay the foundation stone of the project, PRO, Defence (Jammu) SN Acharya said here today. It will connect Doda-Kishtwar region and Baderwah tourist resort to the state and also link Kashmir with Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, he said.

The proposed bridge will be built on the lines of the Vidyasagar Setu (Kolkata), Naini Bridge (Allahabad) and the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link (Mumbai). The 592-metre bridge is to be built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) at a cost of Rs 145 crore.

It would also open up an alternative route to the National Highway 1A and to the Kashmir valley via Basohli, Bani, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Chhatroo and Anantnag and boost development of these areas, Acharya said.

The contract for the construction of the bridge, scheduled to be constructed by September 2014, had been awarded to IRCON-SPS Construction Pvt Ltd, he said.

Apart from Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister A K Antony, Union Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju will be among those who will attend the function. — PTI 

Jammu, May 22
Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla warned encroachers against grabbing government’s land. Addressing a series of public meetings at the Gandhi Nagar Assembly segment, he warned the illegal occupants to either surrender the land or be ready to face action under the Revenue Act.

He said the government was planning to use land, which was available at various places for construction of public property like schools, tube wells, roads, bridges, offices, hospitals and multipurpose community halls. 

Jammu, May 22
The security forces have recovered the body of Abu Huzefa, overall commander of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu, from an area near Bafliaz in Poonch district.

A press note issued by the Army here yesterday stated that due to a relentless operation by the Romeo Force, the LeT militants operating in Jhaganwali and Channanser areas were forced to be on the run.

According to intelligence inputs, Huzefa along with his accomplice Umer were drowned in a fast-flowing stream of the Chattapani nullah. Subsequently, search operations were launched by the Rashtriya Rifles along all major streams in the area and along Suran R for recovering the bodies. The press note said at 11.30 am yesterday, a body was recovered from Suran R near Bafhiaz by a joint team of the Rashtriya Rifles and the police.

The body was noticed by a worker of Hindustan Construction Company at its crusher and sand excavator site who then passed on the information to the police.

“Despite being in a decomposed condition, we strongly believe that the body was of Abu Huzefa,” said an Army spokesperson. Since the ultra had drowned some 20 days back, the body was decomposed beyond recognition, but going by its description and other clues it appeared that the body was of Abu Huzefa, Rajesh Kumar, DIG Rajouri-Poonch Range, said.

Now, his accomplice Umer was being searched in the same area because he was accompanying Huzefa, said the DIG. “Clues gathered by us from the locals and the arrested ultras established the identity of the body recovered from the Suran R area,” he added.

Recently, the security forces had intercepted a message that Huzefa while trying to escape a joint team of the Army and the police in the Surankote area of Poonch district and had fallen into a stream and died. He was being escorted by his close confidant Umer.

Huzefa, a Pakistan national, was responsible for the operations of the banned terror outfit in Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu. With his death, the LeT had certainly suffered a major setback, said sources in the Army. 

Jammu, May 22
The chief of the All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) and coordinator of the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) yesterday demanded a high-level probe into the killing of innocent Sikhs in the Talwara area of Reasi district in 1984.

Addressing a press conference here, SFJ coordinator Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad, who visited Gurdwara Singh Sabha Talwara in Reasi district to collect the details of the Talwara killings, which took place in November 1984, asked Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to order a high-level probe into it. The family members of the victims also accompanied him.

Peer Mohammad urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to initiate a high-level inquiry into the killing of 16 innocent Sikh youths at Talwara. “We will also approach the human rights organisations to highlight the plight of victims, who are still waiting for justice,” he said.

He added that, “All the victims of the carnage, mostly employees of the Salal Hydroelectric Power Project were mercilessly killed by an unidentified mob in Reasi district on November 1, 1984”.

Peer also demanded separate inquiries for the killing of 13 innocent Sikhs in Jammu in 1989 and the killing of 36 Sikhs at Chattisinghpora in the Valley.

Meanwhile, the members of the SFJ also expressed serious concern over the merciless beating of innocent Sikh youth by the Jammu police at Gandhi Nagar police station recently. He disclosed the names of those who were killed at Talwara. They included Gurmail singh, Bir Singh, Manjeet Singh, Rattan Singh, Mukhtyar Singh, Janak Singh, Amar Singh, Heera Singh, Resham Singh, Gyan singh, Rashpal Singh, Ranjit Singh, Salwinder Singh, Satnam Singh, Tarsem Singh and Bhupinder Singh.

Khour, May 22
Politics is a weird game. May be that’s why the election symbols allotted to the candidates in the fray for the posts of sarpanch and panch are also weird. But, one thing is sure that the election symbols like road-roller, cylinder, jug, ring and fan are proving beneficial for candidates.

Though, a large number of contestants have been appealing to the election authorities to change their symbols, yet these kind of symbols are not only making them popular among the public, but these are easy for the voters, too, to keep it in mind.

In Khour block at Nrayana panchayat constituency, where one Raju Pahalwan got the election symbol of cylinder was seen upset with this symbol. “Wherever I go for campaigning, people not only ask me to arrange cylinder for them but they have also started calling me a cylinder,” Pahalwan said.

Similarly, in Taroti-Danwal panchayat constituency, where Master Hakikat Ram got the election symbol of ring said, “My election symbol is a ring, which is becoming costly day by day, as the price of gold is touching a new high. So, wherever I go people demand cheaper rings.”

Many others like him, who got the symbols like torch, fan and jug have echoed similar views, as these commodities are hardly available in this hot summer, especially when the temperature is touching almost 43 degree Celsius.

Rabinder Singh Binder from Nihapur Simbal-Lower panchayat, who is a contractor by profession, got road-roller as his election symbol, which proved beneficial for him to secure a thumping win.