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Murder case of human rights activist Jaleel Andrabi
All arrangements in place for Amarnath yatra
20 civil, police officers to be deployed at camps
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Chief Engineer among four in Vigilance net
INTERVIEW: Tara Chand, Deputy Chief Minister
Demand for empowerment
Goni has violated JKCA bylaws: Office-bearers
Speaker, MLC call on Governor
Separatists’ march to UN office foiled
Transport office at Kishtwar computerised
Buy saffron, dry fruits online from post office
Two held for providing SIM cards to LeT
Sindhu festival begins with much fanfare in Leh
Experts suggest ways to harness hydro-power
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Murder case of human rights activist Jaleel Andrabi
Srinagar, June 12 The Andrabi family has vowed to fight the case till they get justice. “Major Avtar Singh was not the only one who killed my brother. There are other accused in the case and we will fight the case till we get justice,” Jaleel’s elder brother Arshad Andrabi told The Tribune. Arshad said the state government, police, New Delhi and the US government had effectively allowed Major Avtar Singh to escape the rule of law. The case dates back to March 8, 1996, when 36-year-old Jaleel Andrabi, a noted human rights lawyer, was heading home with his wife Rifat. He was allegedly stopped on the Srinagar Airport road by counterinsurgency personnel and taken away in a waiting Army vehicle. Rifat approached the local police station but they did not register any case, it has been alleged. The police, however, told her that it would check with the local Rashtriya Rifles unit, deployed in the area. Rifat also told the police that prior to his arrest, Andrabi had talked to his family about a counterinsurgency man, Sikander Ganai, who was working for the Army, and following him. On March 27, Andrabi’s decomposed, trussed-up body was recovered from the Jhelum river in the Rajbagh area of Srinagar city. The autopsy report suggested that Andrabi had probably been killed 14 days before his body was recovered. On the directions of the high court, a murder and kidnapping case was registered and a Special Investigating Team (SIT) was set up to investigate the case. On April 5, 1996, five bodies were found near Pampore on the outskirts of Srinagar and one of them was that of Sikander Ganai’s. The four others were his associates. The SIT questioned Ganai’s wife Hameeda who told the investigators that her husband had gone to meet Major Avtar Singh along with another counterinsurgency recruit Mohammad Ashraf Khan of Baramulla. The police arrested Khan, who allegedly admitted that Andrabi was taken into custody, tortured and was later shot in the head by an Army officer. “Khan also recorded his statement in the court. He said that Andrabi was shot in the head and later his body was driven in a car and thrown in the Jhelum,” the police said. The SIT in its report to the court said it had identified “an Army major posted in the Rawalpora Camp of the 103 Territorial Army” as prima facie responsible for the death of Andrabi. Khan’s wife Dilshada, who stayed with her husband at the Army camp, told the SIT that Major Avtar Singh was allegedly responsible for the killing of many other civilians of Mehjoor Nagar, Jawhar Nager and Batamaloo in Srinagar district. The police had registered five more murder and kidnapping cases against Major Avtar Singh. These included the murder of a Sikh youth whom he “suspected of having an affair with his wife’s sister”. Singh, a resident of Yamunanagar in Haryana, was married in a Kashmiri Sikh family. Though the Army initially denied that it had arrested Andrabi, but it later told the court that Major Avtar Singh was not employed by them any longer. “He had not committed the offence in his official capacity,” the Army told the court. However, Major Singh was shifted out of the Valley to Karnal and posted in a regiment of the Territorial Army. The high court in April 1997 issued orders to arrest Major Singh and impound his passport. A J&K police team went to Haryana to arrest him, but returned empty-handed. The Union Government, Arshad alleged, had helped Major Singh to flee from the country. Major Singh subsequently left the country and moved to Canada and later settled in the United States. On the court directions, the Interpol issued a red corner notice to Major Singh on February 6, 2010. The court had also directed the J&K Government and Ministry of External Affairs to vigorously pursue the extradition of Major Singh. On April 4, 2011, a file for Major Singh’s extradition was submitted to the Ministry of External Affairs. |
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All arrangements in place for Amarnath yatra
Srinagar, June 12 “All arrangements are in place and every department is working to be ready by the time yatra begins,” Navin K Choudhary, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), said. He told the Tribune here that the SASB was monitoring the situation on a regular basis and measures were being taken to ensure that everything was put in place before the commencement of the yatra. Over 3 lakh pilgrims have so far registered for the yatra since the online registration began on May 7. The yatra will conclude on August 2 on Raksha Bandhan. The number of yatris on the two yatra tracks is being regulated at the time of registration, seeing the condition of the tracks. It has been decided not to allow more than 12,000 pilgrims on both the tracks every day, the CEO said. The first batches of yatris from Jammu would arrive at the base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal by the evening of June 24 for their onward trek to the cave shrine. A majority of the pilgrims undertake the traditional Pahalgam route, where the base camp is set up every year at Nunwan, about 1 km short of the tourist resort on the left bank of the Lidder nullah. The route has a 16-km-long motorable stretch to Chandanwari and pilgrims have to trek a 32-km-long stretch. After traversing through a steep winding link over Pissu Top, the pilgrims first halt at Sheshnag. The most rugged stretch on the track is from Sheshnag to Panjtarni. Usually the pilgrimage starts from this point after a night halt. The shortest yatra route is via Baltal, located at a distance of 12 km from the Baltal base camp, which is 13-km away from the tourist resort of Sonamarg on the Srinagar-Leh highway. |
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20 civil, police officers to be deployed at camps
Srinagar, June 12 He said the officers were being deployed as per the recommendations of a high-level committee set up after Governor NN Vohra’s meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Choudhary said the officers had already reported to the Shrine Board. They would reach their assigned camps at Nunwan, Chandanwari, Sheshnag, Panjtarni, Sangam, holy cave and Baltal by June 14 and stay there till the completion of the pilgrimage. The CEO said the Governor, who is also the chairman of the SASB, was monitoring the progress made towards putting in place all yatra arrangements on a daily basis. The Governor would visit Baltal and Domel tomorrow to take stock of arrangements. |
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Chief Engineer among four in Vigilance net
Jammu, June 12 Reports said the SVO was informed by reliable sources that Zahoor Ahmad Zargar, Chief Engineer, Mechanical Engineering Department, Jammu, had demanded a huge amount as bribe from Calvin Yoon, a South Korean national, and the Managing Director, CAS India Private Limited, and Anil Dhar, Deputy General Manager, CAS India Private Limited, a resident of Uttam Nagar, Delhi, for an undue favour to the firm. The private individuals had agreed to pay for the purchase of weighing pads by manipulating the tender process. The SVO has registered a case under Section 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 161, 165-A, 120-B of the RPC at the SVO police station, Jammu, against the four persons. “Zargar had accepted a bribe of Rs 1,80,000 through Ranjan Kumar Langar, AEE, Technical Officer to the Chief Engineer, Mechanical Engineering Department, Jammu, on the office premises from the two private individuals of the firm. The bribe amount was seized by the SVO team,” said a SVO spokesperson. The Vigilance Organisation has taken all the four persons into custody and has started searches at several places, including the residences of some of the accused. |
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INTERVIEW: Tara
Chand, Deputy Chief Minister
Tara Chand is holding the important portfolio of Housing and Urban Development. In an interview to Dinesh Manhotra, the Deputy Chief Minister reveals various projects in the offing as also the strategy of the Congress to play a bigger role in the state politics. Offering one excuse after another, the state government has been postponing the urban local bodies election. As Minister for Housing and Urban Development, don’t you think that an inordinate delay in conducting the election sends out a wrong message? I want to make it clear that we want to conduct urban local bodies election as early as possible. It is wrong to say that we are deliberately postponing the election. Due to some unavoidable circumstances, we could not conduct the election in time. Actually the election was due in 2010. Due to summer unrest of 2010, we could not conduct the election then. After that we decided to hold the panchayat election first, so the urban local bodies election was again delayed. Now the process of revising electoral rolls is going on. I am hopeful that urban local bodies election will be held after completion of the annual Amarnath yatra. I want to make it clear that state government is committed to delegating powers to the grass-roots level. The Congress seems to be a divided House in Jammu and Kashmir. What steps has the party leadership taken to bridge the gap between the two warring factions? This is all a media creation. The Congress is united in the state. As members of the Congress, we have been aggressively pursuing the agenda of the party in a united way. It is absolutely wrong to say that the Congress is a divided house in Jammu and Kashmir. After the Srinagar conclave of May 19, all Congress men have been working as a united force. Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, while addressing a rally in Jammu on April 1 this year, had called upon Congress men to work overtime to play a bigger role in the next Assembly elections. What strategy has the party devised in this regard? The Congress is the biggest political force in the country. The same is the situation in Jammu and Kashmir also because the Congress is the only party which has a strong following in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions. As a political party, we would try to strengthen our base in different regions in the state. To get a piece of land for constructing a house is the biggest challenge for the middle class these days in Jammu. What steps is your department taking to provide houses to the middle class? I do agree that land prices are skyrocketing. We are soon going to develop new colonies on the outskirts of Jammu city to provide plots to middle and lower middle class families. Land has been identified at Nagrota, Meen Charka, Bantalab and Roop Nagar to develop new housing colonies. Furthermore, we are also constructing flats in different areas to provide shelters to people. What about the ongoing sewerage project in Jammu city? People have been facing a lot of hardship due to the ongoing construction work. When will the project be completed? The work on the sewerage project in Jammu city is going on in full speed. Reputed companies like the NBCC and ERA have been engaged in completion of these projects. After completion of the project, the sewage problem in Jammu city would be solved. We have been facing problems in old city due to old structures in the city. The project is likely to complete by March 2013. We have already taken a number of steps to ensure that locals face the minimum hardship due to the ongoing work. |
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Demand for empowerment
Jammu, June 12 Protesters were led by BJP MLAs Jugal Kishore Sharma, Shyam Choudhary and Sukhnandan Choudhary. The agitating panchayat members hailed from Gangochak, Jagati, Chakroi, Babliana, Kanyala, Biaspur, Panj Grain, Nai Basti, Gundala, Agrachak, Rakh Gaddigarh, Palli, Saharan, Sai Kalan, Kaluchak, Surinsar, Jallochak, Seora, Chanduchak, Jaggar Kotli, Gangwa Parwah, Bamyal, Joda, Marh, Karloop, Nagrota, Badsu, Tirlokpur and Flora panchayats of Jammu. The protest was organised by the BJP Panchayati Raj Cell under its state convener Baldev Singh Billowaria. MLA Jugal Kishore Sharma, while addressing the gathering said the state government had totally ignored the panchayats and their elected representatives during the last one year. Although repeated assurances have been given to empower panchayats, but nothing has been done so far. He said while most of the states had implemented the 73rd amendment of the Indian constitution to give full rights to the panchayats, in Jammu and Kashmir people were deprived of this right. Sukhnandan Choudhary said sarpanches and panches were being targeted and threatened to resign and the government was doing nothing. He charged the NC-Congress coalition government of depriving elected members of rural bodies of their constitutional rights. Shyam Choudhary said the people in rural areas had came out in large numbers to cast their vote to elect their sarpanch and panch. The people believed that after the constitution of the panchayats their areas would get attention and receive funds for development. The MLAs were also joined by state vice-president of the BJP Chander Prakash Ganga, Sat Sharma and other leaders of the party. |
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Goni has violated JKCA bylaws: Office-bearers
Jammu, June 12 The office-bearers said the JKCA chairman had no capacity to challenge the authority of Farooq Abdullah to elect office-bearers for the smooth functioning of the association. They claimed that as per the bylaws of the JKCA, one had to be a member of the working committee to be an office-bearer. The office-bearers questioned Goni how he represented three affiliated clubs in one year and how he gave a wrong resolution to J&K Bank after the 2009 elections that eventually facilitated the fraudulent withdrawal of money from the bank. The office-bearers also alleged that the JKCA chairman without presenting the audited accounts before the working committee tried to get the these passed by the general house. They added that the accounts had to be first presented and passed by the working committee and only then the working committee could call a meeting of the general house to pass the audited accounts. The office-bearers maintained that the in-house advisory (probe) committee has been constituted by the JKCA president to investigate the alleged financial bunglings. They said Goni could not take the JKCA working committee for a ride, saying that the JKCA chairman had little knowledge about the association. “The JKCA chairman should know that the rules provide for annual election of office-bearers and any extension of tenure means amendment to the rules/regulations of the JKCA which can be done only in an extraordinary general council meeting and the amendment has to be passed by three-fourths of the members of the council,” they added. |
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Srinagar, June 12 During their meeting, the Governor and Lone discussed several important legislative issues, an official said. In a separate meeting, Bakaya and Vohra discussed issues related to the Amarnath yatra and the implementation of the PM’s rehabilitation package for Kashmiri migrants. — TNS |
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Separatists’ march to UN office foiled
Srinagar, June 12 Demanding a UN probe into the killings that had taken place in Kashmir during the agitations of 2008, 2009 and 2010, chairman of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabir Ahmad Shah, National Front chairman Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Muslim Khawateen Markaz chairperson Markaz Yasmeen Raja and their supporters sat on a dharna at the Pratap Park here. The protesters, who were raising slogans and carrying photographs of youth killed during the 2010 unrest, later tried to take out a procession towards the UN office at Sonawar. However, police personnel deployed on duty detained several protesters, including Shah, Khan and Raja, at the Residency Road area. A DFP spokesman said Shah and Khan were lodged at the Kothi Bagh police station. They were released later but put under house arrest at their respective homes, he added. The spokesman condemned the police action, saying that the separatist leaders had only taken out a “peaceful march” to express solidarity with the families of those youth killed in agitations while demanding an impartial UN probe. In 2008, street protests triggered over the Amarnath land row agitation following which people had hit the roads after the Shopian incident in 2009 where two women had died under suspicious circumstances. The summer unrest of 2010 had started with the killing of teenager Tufail Mattoo on June 12. The hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference had called for a shutdown yesterday on the second death anniversary of Tufail to mark the killings of 2010. |
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Transport office at Kishtwar computerised
Udhampur, June 12 The DDC, Kishtwar, said the computerisation of the Transport Department in far-flung and remote areas of Kishtwar district would help streamline the transport sector in the district. The objective of computerisation is to improve service delivery and work of regional transport offices (RTOs) by automation of vehicle registration and driving licences with the introduction of smart card technology. The smart cards will help handle issues like interstate transport vehicle movement and help create a state register and link it with national registers of vehicles and driving licence information. ARTO, Kishtwar, Swaran Singh said the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has been facilitating the computerisation of RTOs across the country. “It was necessary to use same standards for these documents on a pan-India level to ensure interoperability, correctness and timely availability of information. The Ministry entrusted the National Informatics Centre with the task to deploy standardised software VAHAN for vehicle registration and SARATHI for driving licences and compilation of data,” the ARTO said. “The two softwares are conceptualised to capture the functionalities as mandated by the Central Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, and the State Motor Vehicle Rules with customisation in the core product to suit the requirements of all states,” he added. |
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Buy saffron, dry fruits online from post office
Srinagar, June 12 “We have tied up with the Horticulture Department for the delivery of various products in and outside the country. If anybody in any part of the world wants to have Kashmir saffron or dry fruits like almonds, they can place orders on our website and make payments through credit / debit cards. The products will be dispatched through the Srinagar GPO,” the Chief Post Master General, J&K circle, John Samuel, said after inaugurating the Gift Post Service here today. He said the initiative was taken to provide high-quality Kashmir products across the world and also benefit the locals associated with the horticulture sector. The DoP also launched another service called Expressions, which would enable locals to send flowers, chocolates, cakes and other gift items in the summer capital on specific dates. The service is confined to Srinagar. Customers can avail the service at the GPO here besides at Jawahar Nagar and Lal Chowk post offices. Samuel said the service was launched specially for birthdays and wedding anniversaries but could be used for other social events or festive occasions. He said the department had put on offer three varieties of cakes and bouquets for the customers wishing to avail the Expressions service. |
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Two held for providing SIM cards to LeT
Srinagar, June 12 The arrested persons have been identified as Mansoor Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Aalibagh, Hygam, and Moinul Haq Lone, a resident of Wagub, Sopore. “The duo had procured SIM cards on forged documents and provided them to Lashkar militants operating in and around Sopore,” a police spokesman said. “They used to sell the SIM cards at exorbitant rates, as high as Rs 700 per card. Six SIM cards have been detected that were procured illegally and subsequently provided to militants,” he said. A case has been registered at the Tarzoo police station and the investigations are on. “More arrests are expected,” the spokesman said.
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Sindhu festival begins with much fanfare in Leh
Leh, June 12 Tourists were seen dancing to the tunes of local music during the inaugural function of the festival. The festival is being celebrated by the Tourism Department, Leh, to attract more tourists to Ladakh. The celebrations began with the hoisting of the Tricolour by the chief guest followed by a joint prayer for world peace by religious leaders of various communities in Ladakh. A variety of cultural programmes, depicting all aspects of the Ladakhi culture, were presented at the inaugural function. Minister for Tourism and Culture Nawang Rigzin Jora, who formally inaugurated the festival, reiterated that the main objectives of the celebration were to pay tributes to the Indus, which was a part of the Indus valley civilisation. The Minister urged locals to ensure professionalism in tourism for their sustainable growth. He said tourism infrastructure was being developed equitably in all the three regions of the state. Chief Executive Councillor, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, Rigzin Spalbar urged tourists to take care of the environment, as it was fragile. Uttaranchal Tourism and Culture Minister Amrita Rawat also attended the inaugural function.
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Experts suggest ways to harness hydro-power
Srinagar, June 12 Minister of State for Power Shabir Ahmad Khan chaired the first technical session of the conference where he reiterated the government’s commitment to make the state self-reliant in power sector. He said the suggestions given by experts of different states would prove beneficial for exploiting the hydro-power potential in the northern Himalayan region of the country. Chairman of the Chenab Valley Power Development Corporation M Y Khan said in the present times hydro-power had great importance as it did not carry environmental threats as compared to thermal and nuclear energy. “Our future lies either on hydro-power or renewal energy,” he added.
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