Jammu, August 11
The BJP has taken exception to the disclosure regarding an expenditure of Rs 12 crore on the helicopter sorties undertaken by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his close associates in the past 
two years.

In a statement issued here today, state BJP president Shamsher Singh Manhas said the party had decided to refer the issue to the BJP’s scam investigation committee. He directed member of the national executive of the party Jitendra Singh to do the necessary follow up in his capacity as the state coordinator of the committee.

Manhas said it was objectionable that huge amounts were being spent on the luxury trips of the Chief Minister and his associates when the state, which ranked second in corruption, was facing a financial crisis. He demanded that the rules, regulations and criteria governing the use of the state helicopter should be placed before the Opposition and the civil society for an open debate on the issue.

Manhas wondered whether it was within the rules for the Chief Minister to undertake scores of helicopter sorties between his Srinagar bungalow and the nearby airport, the bungalow and Gulmarg and the nearby SKICC without any emergency.

He also questioned the accountability of the frequent use of the state aircraft by the Chief Minister to visit his family in New Delhi. Manhas said a strict criteria should be framed for the use of the state helicopter and aircraft. He added that it was an unnecessary burden on the state exchequer at a time when the Chief Minister and his ministers had repeatedly failed to fulfil the promises made to the state government employees regarding the payment of the arrears of the Sixth Pay Commission on the plea that the state was facing a financial crisis.

Srinagar, August 11
Expressing concern about the possible fallout of the recommendation of the Union Home Ministry on the mercy petition of Mohammad Afzal Guru, the PDP has appealed to the President to use the mercy option in favour of the convict in view of the political and humanitarian situation prevailing in the state.

The party’s senior leadership met here today under the chairmanship of patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and decided to appeal to the President to take into consideration the highly sensitive situation in the state.

In a statement, general secretary Mohammad Dilawar Mir said the party expected the President to take into consideration the universal disapproval of the death penalty and also the highly fragile situation in the state.

He said the party felt that carrying out the death sentence could impede the efforts at finding a way out of the political and humanitarian crisis that the state had been facing.

The punishment, if carried out, would only add to, and not take away,the trust deficit between the state and the rest of the country, which the Union Cabinet itself had described as one of the two major reasons for the alienation of the people of the state, Mir added.

Meanwhile, reacting to the Union Home Ministry’s recommendation to the President on the death sentence, the hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman, Syed Ali Geelani, has warned the government of serious consequences.

In a statement, Geelani said in case of Guru’s execution, there would be an “uncontrollable situation” in Kashmir that would be difficult for the government to control.

He also reminded the government of the situation in the Valley in the summer during the past three years.

“The death sentence is more of a political decision than a verdict of the court”, Geelani said. All the Kashmiris under detention in and outside the state were political prisoners and could not be sentenced to death.

Jammu, August 11
Even as the state government has started efforts to evolve a consensus on the recommendations of the Justice Sagheer Ahmed Committee on Centre-State Relations, the Congress has toughened its stand against granting more autonomy to the state. Congress representatives in the Cabinet subcommittee, which has been constituted to discuss the recommendations, are opposed to the move.

Although two Congress ministers, who had represented the party in a discussion with the National Conference (NC), refused to divulge the details of the meeting, sources said they had made it clear that no resolution would be imposed on the people of the state.

Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) spokesman Ravinder Sharma told The Tribune that the party was against imposing any formula on the people of the state.

“Like earlier recommendations, Justice Sagheer Ahmed had also given a few suggestions for strengthening the state’s relations with the Centre and we are ready to discuss these,” Sharma said.

However, he made it clear that the party was of the view that a consensus must be evolved before presenting any formula for the resolution of the Kashmir issue by involving the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

He said the line of the party was clear as far as the state’s relations with the Centre were concerned and asserted its representatives in the subcommittee would adhere to the stand. Instead of supporting the greater autonomy demand, the party advocated that only a proposal acceptable to the people of all the three regions of the state should be forwarded to the Centre.

The people of Jammu and Ladakh had already announced their opposition to any move to grant greater autonomy to the state.

After the Roundtable conference convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, five working groups were constituted to hold discussions on various issues. One working group, headed by Justice Sagheer Ahmed, was constituted to address the dimensions of the Centre-state relations.

Srinagar, August 11
Union Home Secretary R K Singh has said strict action will be taken against those found involved in the Sopore custodial death and Surankote fake encounter in the state.

"Whoever is found involved in these incidents, strict action will be taken against them. Our philosophy in this regard is very clear," Singh, who is on a two-day visit to the state, told reporters here.He said action had been taken against some security personnel in connection with the Surankote fake encounter.

"In the Sopore incident also, action has been taken against some people and we will act against others who might be involved," he added.

A mentally-challenged youth from Rajouri was shot dead in a fake encounter in the Surankote area of Poonch on August 6.

In the other case, a 28-year-old youth died in police custody on July 31 in Sopore town of Baramulla district after he was picked up by security personnel in connection with the killing of a civilian a few days ago.

The Union Home Secretary was scheduled to visit Poonch this morning, but the visit had to be cancelled as the chopper could not take off due to bad weather.He held separate meetings with top officials of the CRPF and the police to review the law and order situation, official sources said.

Before concluding his visit to the state, Singh held an hour-long meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah this afternoon.

An official spokesman said the two discussed the prevailing situation in the state.

"During the meeting, matters relating to the security scenario and connected matters were discussed," the spokesman said.

Addressing a meeting of police officers, the Union Home Secretary asked them

to keep vigil on the activities of elements indulging in hawala trade. He said the money received through various agencies by such elements was utilised for disruptive activities in the state, which should be checked effectively. He assured liberal funding for the modernisation of the police.

He expressed his satisfaction over the law and order situation in the state. — PTI

Srinagar, August 11
The chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq,today condemned the harassment and arrests of youth in the Kashmir valley by the police and the security forces, particularly in the month of Ramzan.

Addressing a seminar at the party headquarters here today on the occasion of the third death anniversary of senior separatist leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz, who died in police firing three years ago, the Mirwaiz condemned the “repressive policies” of the government as a large number of people were being harassed.

He also expressed concern about the restrictions being imposed on the movement of the separatist leaders on one pretext or the other.

Restrictions have been imposed on the movement of the Mirwaiz,who has been kept under house arrest and prevented from delivering the Friday sermon at the Jamia Masjid. Several other separatist leaders, including the chairman of the hardline faction,Syed Ali Geelani, continued to be under house arrest in view of the situation.

Other Hurriyat leaders present on the occasion included Abdul Ghani Bhat and Bilal Gani Lone.

Jammu, August 11
Winding up his visit to the forward areas on the Line of Control (LoC), the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen VK Singh, today reviewed the security scenario in the Akhnoor sector before flying back to New Delhi this evening.

The Army chief arrived at Nagrota on a two-day visit of the forward areas in south of the Pir Panjal Range yesterday. Having visited the forward posts of the Poonch and Rajouri sectors yesterday, the Army chief today visited the forward areas in the Akhnoor Sector.

He was accompanied by Lt-Gen KT Parnaik, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, and Lt-Gen JP Nehra, GOC, White Knight Corps. He was received in Akhnoor by Maj-Gen Rakesh Sharma, GOC, Crossed Swords Division. He was briefed about the ongoing counter-infiltration operations on the LoC.

General Singh later visited the forward posts in the Sunderbani and Pallanwala sectors.

While interacting with the troops in the forward areas, the Army chief exhorted them to remain vigilant and alert. He said, “The troops need to maintain a high state of alert to overcome the strenuous routine on the LoC. We cannot afford to lower our guard”.

He also took stock of various welfare measures initiated for soldiers and ex-servicemen.

He was accompanied by his wife, Bharti Singh, president, Central Family Welfare Organisation (FWO). She was briefed on various welfare measures undertaken for the families of the JCOs and other ranks at Akhnoor. She later interacted with the families of jawans and Veer Naris.

Those present on the occasion included Anagha Parnaik, president, FWO Northern Command; Nirmala Nehra, president, White Knight, FWO, and Payal Sharma, president, Crossed Swords, FWO.

Jammu, August 11
The police has arrested three thieves and recovered two cars and goods worth Rs 3 lakh from their possession here.

It has solved several theft and vehicle lifting cases that have taken place in the C block of the government quarters at Gandhi Nagar and other parts of the city in the past couple of months.

The police said during June, a number of theft cases were reported at Gandhi Nagar police station. The thieves had lifted vehicles, stolen sanitary fittings, household goods and other items from the houses of the Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Additional Secretary, Additional Director, Forests, an Additional Advocate General and the Director, Finance.

A special investigating team headed by SHO, Gandhi Nagar, Sajjad Khan, under the supervision of SDPO, South, Mohan Lal Kaith and SP, South, Rajeshwar Singh, was constituted. “During investigation, two youths, namely Aqib Hussain and Mohammad Ayaz Hussain Sheikh, both residents of Kishtwar, were questioned. They admitted to lifting one Maruti 800 from the AID block, Gandhi Nagar,” the police said. It added that, “The lifted vehicle has been recovered from Batote.”

“They further disclosed that Imran, a resident of Gurian Mohalla in Kishtwar, was the kingpin of the gang, who had lifted the vehicles from the government quarters and committed thefts there.

The police later nabbed Imran and during interrogation, he admitted to lifting five cars. Two of the five cars had been recovered. It also recovered one TV set, one battery of Titanic inverter, one transformer of air conditioner and a few other items from their possession.

Doda, August 11
Sweet notes of shehnai in the wee hours will kickstart the Independence Day celebrations in Udhampur along with the illumination of all important government buildings in the evening.

The decision regarding the shehnai recital to mark the beginning of the Independence Day celebrations was taken at a meeting chaired by Additional Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Rajinder Singh, to finalise the arrangements for the event.

Chief Planning Officer, Udhampur, HH Dutt; Assistant Commissioner, Development, Joginder Singh Rai; Executive Engineers of the PHE, PDD and PWD; Assistant Project Officer, DRDA; Chief Education Officer; District Youth Service and Sports Officer; ARTO and senior officers of the police, the Army and the CRPF were present at the meeting.

It was decided that the main function would be held on the PG College for Boys ground, where the National Flag would be unfurled, followed by a march past by contingents of the district police, the SKPA, the Forest Protection Force, the NCC and students of various schools. The students of local schools would also present a patriotic cultural programme. All the officers and employees of all government departments were asked to remain present on the occasion.

Directions were also issued to the engineers of Roads and Bridges, PHE and the PDD to ensure effective arrangements of barricading, seating and drinking water, besides an uninterrupted power supply on the day of the function. The Executive Officer, Municipality, was asked to ensure proper cleanliness at the venue and the town in advance. The Health Department was ordered to deploy a mobile medical van along with the necessary staff and medicines. A committee of officers was also constituted to decide the criteria for finalising the list of outstanding students to be awarded on the day.

Srinagar, August 11
A militant was killed in an encounter with the security forces in Kupwara district today, while suspected militants triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) in Pulwama district last night.

The police here said a militant was killed in the encounter with a joint party of the police and the 18-GR unit of the Army in the forest area of Tangwari Warson in Kupwara district today. Acting on specific information about the presence of militants, the police and the Army launched a search operation in the area. The security forces came under fire from the hiding militants and in the ensuing gunfight an ultra was killed. Till the reports last came in, the encounter was in the progress, the police said.

Suspected militants triggered an IED on the premises of the Animal Husbandry Office at Tahab in Pulwama last night. A shed, windowpanes of the Animal Husbandry Office and some nearby shops were partially damaged in the blast.