Jammu, June 3
Terrorists trying to infiltrate into India to disrupt the Amarnath yatra may not just have to handle the security forces, but also well-trained village defence committee (VDC) members, who are being trained to use sophisticated weapons like the INSAS and SLRs.

The district police, Samba, which covers the suspected route of infiltrators, have received intelligence inputs of a possible attempt to disrupt the yatra by over 300 terrorists stationed at various launching pads on the other side of the border by infiltrating into India.

To ensure a hassle-free pilgrimage and secure the border grid, 1,148 VDC members and 596 special police officers (SPOs) in the border district of Samba will remain on their toes during the 46-day yatra.

For the purpose, the VDC members are not only being trained in handling conventional .303 rifles, but also sophisticated INSAS and SLRs at Uttarvehini, near Purmandal. Yesterday, 80 VDC members were trained and today 130 members were trained by experts headed by a DSP, said Israr Khan, SSP, Samba. He added that in total 230 VDC members would be trained.

“It is high time for them to get abreast with the situation,” he said. Loading the chamber, aiming the target and opening fire with precision were some of the facets of the training, said the SSP.

Experts were clearing ambiguities from their minds so as to get effective results on the ground during any eventuality, he added.

“While the BSF has reportedly put the number of terrorists to 300 on the other side of the border, the Army has put it to 700. We definitely know that there are ultras on the other side waiting for an opportune time to sneak into the state and create disturbances, especially during the Amarnath pilgrimage,” the SSP said. Pakistan might also push them into the Jammu region from anywhere, be it Kathua, Samba, Ramgarh, Vijaypur, Arnia, RS Pura and Jammu, he added.

“During the pilgrimage, a majority of the regular police force will be drawn to towns and the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway from where the pilgrims have to pass, which in turn may prompt Pakistan to push ultras from the border. Hence, we wanted to make up for the deficiency,” the SSP said.

He said in the past militants had tried to infiltrate between 8 pm and 12 am so as to cover the inhabited areas on both sides of the highway and safely move to the upper reaches of Udhampur district before dawn. During the pilgrimage, two DSPs along with their teams would be deputed for night patrols in the border area, he added.

Jammu, June 3
Even as veteran BJP leader and former Union minister Chaman Lal Gupta has approached the High Court against his “forcible expulsion” from the party, he is all set to go the Uma Bharati way, as his supporters, including six suspended MLAs, have almost finalised the proposal for the formation of a Jammu-based regional political party.

Much before his expulsion from the party, Gupta’s supporters had prepared a blue print for the formation of a regional party to hijack the pro-Jammu agenda of the BJP. After his suspension from the party in the aftermath of cross-voting in the Legislative Council elections, Gupta’s supporters were certain that he would face the music because the rival faction was specifically targeting him over the controversy.

Sources close to Gupta said though he had approached the court against his expulsion from the party, his supporters would announce the name of the new party and its office-bearers soon. “Some supporters of Gupta have suggested that the erstwhile Praja Parishad should be revived, as people of the Jammu region, especially those are associated with the Sangh Parivar, are emotionally attached to this name,” they said. To rope in Muslims of the Jammu region, some leaders had suggested the BJP (Secular) name for the new party, the sources added.

Gupta started his political career as an activist of the Praja Parishad when Pandit Prem Nath Dogra had launched an agitation against the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in early 50s. Gupta’s supporters wanted to revive the Praja Parishad to strike a chord with the people.

“It is impossible to remain in the BJP for long, as the party leadership has humiliated our leader at the behest of some rival leaders in the party. Soon, you will see a big split in the BJP,” a staunch Gupta supporter said. He said the new party would aggressively pursue the pro-Jammu agenda to spread its base in the urban belts of the Jammu region, which were considered as a stronghold of the BJP.

“How long can we remain in the party through the intervention of the court? A split in the state unit of the BJP and the formation of a regional party is imminent in the present circumstances,” he said, ruling out any possibility of an agreement between the party leadership and the suspended MLAs.

Meanwhile, five local leaders of the BJP have come out in support of Gupta and have urged the party high command to reconsider its decision to expel him from the party.

Satpal Grover, five-time councillor of the Jammu Municipal Corporation, Murari Lal, convener of the OBC cell of the BJP, Om Prakash, Dr Mohan Lal and Yashpal Gupta, in a joint statement, said Gupta had become a victim of the conspiracy hatched by some leaders of the party.

They said Gupta was an architect of the BJP in the state and his expulsion from the party would only strengthen the separatist and anti-national forces. They added that Gupta had dedicated his whole life for strengthening the BJP in the state and had launched many movements against militancy and secessionist elements.

Srinagar, June 3
Three militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), including a foreigner, were killed in a night-long encounter with the police and the Army on the outskirts of Sopore town of Baramulla district, which concluded this morning.

The police here said acting on specific information about the presence of armed militants in Chankhan Seer village, near Law College, Sopore, the police and the 52 RR cordoned off the village last night.

The militants fired upon the advance party and in the ensuing encounter three LeT militants were killed. They have been identified as Abdullah Babar (foreigner), Ghulam Nabi Dar, alias DC, a resident of Naseem Bagh in Sopore, and Faisal Ahmad Bhat, alias Gazali, a resident of Bhagat Batpora in Sopore. Three AK 47 Rifles, six AK magazines, 55-AK rounds, three RPG rounds, one matrix sheet, and two mobile phones were seized from the site of encounter.

The militants fired at the joint party and in the ensuing gunfight, which ended at 7 am today, all of them were killed, a defence spokesman said. “The highlight of this operation, which took place in a heavily-populated area, was that despite darkness it was ensured that no collateral damage took place,” Srinagar-based defence spokesperson Lt-Col JS Brar said.

According to the police, Abdullah Babar was involved in the killing of two sisters, Arifa and Akhtera, early this year, besides firing upon a police party near Sopore police station.

Jammu, June 3
The District Development Commissioner (DDC), Samba, Mubarak Singh, has placed five officials of the Health Department, posted in the primary health centre (PHC), Sumb, under suspension for unauthorised absence from duty.

A complaint was received that these officials were found absent when a case of the accidental drowning of a child was brought to the PHC. The residents of the area brought the matter to the notice of the DDC, who directed the Assistant Commissioner, Revenue, to rush to the place along with the Samba tehsildar. The DDC sought explanation from the Chief Medical Officer and the Block Medical Officer regarding the lack of control and supervision on their part.

Those suspended are Vikram Gupta, Health Educator, Chanchal Singh, Basic Health Worker, Neelam Gupta, Community Health Officer, Kundan Singh and Tarsem Masih. Directions were also issued to charge sheet Dr Indu Bala, in charge Medical Officer of the PHC, Sumb.

Besides, the DDC ordered the suspension of a junior engineer and the SBA for negligence on their part.

Jammu, June 3
Governor NN Vohra called upon scientists and researchers today to make new technologies simple and affordable to secure optimum benefits from the tremendous advancements made in the realm of the communication technology in the recent years.

He said such an approach was all the more important for the developing countries, where the effective application of appropriate communication and other related technologies could make a crucial difference in the quality of governance and efficient and timely delivery of services to the people.

He was addressing a gathering after inaugurating the three-day international conference on “Communication Systems and Network Technologies (CSNT-2011)”, at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) in Katra today. The conference has been organised by the School of Electronics and Communications Engineering of the SMVDU in collaboration with MIR Labs. This is the first-ever conference on such an important subject held in the state, which has been sponsored by Microsoft, IEEE, and the DRDO, Ministry of Defence.

The Governor said the past decade and a half had witnessed a revolution in the growth of communication network technologies. He said the availability of mobile phones had provided real-time connectivity to the far-flung areas in the country, thereby facilitating speedy socio-economic development. He called for engendering new openings for collaborations across disciplines for enhanced research in communication systems and networks to meet effectively the present and emerging needs on this front.

He also highlighted the impact of the communication technology on the administrative machinery and laid stress on the digitalisation of all important records for bringing greater transparency and functional efficiency. Mentioning the 3G technology, he added that this had further facilitated a speedy transfer of data and knowledge.

Referring to the theme of the conference, he exuded confidence that this scientific event of great significance, which had brought together researchers, practitioners and educators in the field of computational intelligence and network technology on a single platform, would facilitate the exchange of knowledge, experiences, fresh approaches and new ideas.

He also hoped that the deliberations during various working sessions of the conference would facilitate varied openings for collaborations across disciplines for enhanced research in communication systems and networks and benefit the young researchers and students.

Jammu, June 3
Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, while allowing a writ petition filed by a retired government employee, Ram Lal, directed the Accountant General (A&E), J&K, Jammu, to re-fix the retirement benefits, including pensionary benefits, on the basis of the last pay drawn by the petitioner and pass appropriate pension and gratuity payment orders in favour of the petitioner within a period of one month.

The writ petitioner, substantively holding the post of master in Government High School, Daggar, retired on superannuation on June 30, 2005. However, he was deprived of the basic pension and retirement gratuity, including the commuted value of pension, because of the arbitrary and excessive jurisdiction of the Accountant General (A&E) in fixing the pension and the retirement gratuity, including the commuted value of pension, while working out Rs 8,900 only as the last pay drawn instead of working out pension and retirement gratuity, including the commuted value of pension, on Rs 9,100, which was the actual last pay drawn by the writ petitioner. He approached the High Court seeking a writ of certiorari, quashing the pension payment order and the gratuity payment order with a communication dated October 6, 2005, on the basis of which Rs 50,000 was withheld from the retirement gratuity of the writ petitioner, these being illegal, unconstitutional and contrary to the provisions of Article 242 of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Service Regulations, 1956.

The High Court, while allowing the writ petition, observed that, “The counsel for the petitioner referred to Article 242 of the J&K Civil Services Regulations, 1956, and submitted that in terms of the government instructions appended to the said Article, an authority is competent to check the records only up to the maximum period of 24 months preceding the date of retirement. In view of the above stated position, assuming there was miscalculation or wrong fixation of pay, which was for the period not preceding 24 months from the date of retirement of the petitioner, the Accountant General (A&E) faulted in considering the record and examining the same beyond the statutory period of 24 months from the date of retirement of the petitioner and the same is held to be illegal and unauthorised”.

Srinagar, June 3
Governor NN Vohra, who is the chairman of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, has further enhanced the allocation of helicopter seats to the hotel and hospitality industry in Jammu and Kashmir for the ensuing Amarnath yatra, for enabling larger economic benefits to the local hospitality industry in the state.

The Governor was interacting with a deputation of the representatives of the Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Owners Federation, Pahalgam Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association and the House Boat Owners Association, which called on him at Raj Bhawan here last evening. The associations hailed the shrine board in ensuring greater economic benefits to the local stakeholders of Kashmir and Jammu divisions over the past two years.

It was decided at the meeting that 20 helicopter seats each per day would be allocated to the Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Owners Federation, Houseboat Owners Association and the All Jammu Hotel and Restaurants Association, while the Pahalgam Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association was allotted 30 seats per day.

The Chief Executive Officer of the board, RK Goyal, said the allocation of 90 helicopter seats was in addition to the daily quota of 180 helicopter seat bookings earlier allocated to the four recognised travel and tour operators, two each from Kashmir and Jammu divisions.

Jammu, June 3
Even as the panchayat elections are going on, objections and complaints of alleged rigging have flooded the office of the election authority, forcing it to decided on conducting re-polling in a few blocks.

In a recent incident at the Nallah panchayat in the Sunderbani block of Rajouri district, where elections were held on May 12, the election authority has decided to conduct re-polling on June 6, as Tirath Ram, a candidate for the post of sarpanch in the Nallah panchayat, had filed a complaint alleging that the counting process was unfair, as a few people had entered the counting room and destroyed ballot papers.

Acting on the complaint, Simrandeep Singh, SDM, Nowshera conducted an inquiry and submitted the report to the election authority. He stated in the report that the votes polled and the votes counted did not match. Talking to The Tribune, the SDM said, “There was clear negligence on the part of the returning officer and the assistant returning officer, as nearly seven ballots were destroyed. But both officers did not highlight the incident of loss of ballots and declared the results. So, an inquiry has been marked against them too”.

“I have requested the election authority to conduct the re-polling in the constituency. It has accepted my request and now the elections will be held on June 6,” he added.

The SDM said the High Court had also sought the status of the elections and the details of the panchayat area had been provided to the court. “The court has also agreed on the re-polling,” he said.

The officials conducting the elections also accepted the fact that they were receiving a large number of objections. The election authorities were looking into various aspects of the complaints before taking the final decision, they said.

However, repeated attempts to contact the Chief Electoral Officer, BR Sharma, proved futile.