The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Cop held guilty of killing two Ishfaq Tantry Tribune News Service Srinagar, June 8 A local court has convicted a police constable Raghubir Singh for killing two persons, including an SHO, in a firing incident in the city in 2005 under Section 302 of the RPC. Principal District and Sessions Judge, Srinagar, Mohammad Shafi Khan, observed that the “killing” was deliberate and an “intentional” act by the accused to cause harm to his superior officers. On July 21, 2005, two persons, including Ghulam Nabi Parray, the then SHO of Maisuma police station were killed and Ghulam Jeelani Baba, the then Deputy Superintendent of Police was injured after constable Raghubir Singh from the Armed wing of the police opened fire on them at Budshah Chowk in the morning that day. The second person killed in the incident was identified as Bashir Ahmad, a J&K State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) driver. “The court today convicted constable Raghubir Singh for murder of two persons under Section 302 of the RPC,” special public prosecutor AA Teli, who had argued the case before the court, said. He said the court also observed that the killings were a “deliberate and intentional” act on part of the accused. Teli said the quantum of the sentence will be decided on June 10. An altercation between the accused police personnel and his officers led to the murders outside the highly guarded Akhara building at Budshah Chowk at 8 am when the procession for taking the holy mace of Lord Shiva was scheduled to leave for Pahalgam as part of annual Amarnath Yatra.
	BSF firms up position along border with Pak Ravi Krishnan Khajuria Tribune News Service Jammu, June 8 The Border Security Force is consolidating its position along the Line of Control (LoC) as ‘preparations’ of the Pak Rangers have picked up ‘momentum’ on the other side of the 192-km long international border. The 776-km long LoC is being guarded by the Army and the 192-km long international border is manned by the BSF. “Our preparations are on in full swing as the preparations by Pak rangers have picked up in the summer season,” BSF Jammu Frontier, DIG, JS Oberoi said. “We have augmented our strength and we are well-entrenched on the border,” he added. He said for the past five years the BSF had succeeded to ensure zero infiltration along the border that largely runs through the plains from Kathua to Pargwal in Akhnoor. “We are alert to their activities and we anticipate an odd major infiltration attempt in the coming days,” Oberoi said. “There have been four infiltration bids this year out of which three Pakistani intruders were arrested while in the fourth incident the person had fled back,” said the officer. The DIG said this year attempts of smuggling drugs had increased on the border. Sources claim that having run out of funds and other support, terrorists in the state indulge in smuggling drugs. Meanwhile, Army’s search operation along the LoC in the Sabjian area of Mandi in Poonch yielded no results. The Army called off the operation today. Pak troops had opened heavy fire in Mandi sector yesterday killing an Indian trooper Bachan Singh of the 3 Garhwal Rifles. “The Army today called off the search operation in the jungle area. Nothing was found,” officiating Defence PRO, SN Acharya, said. After Pak firing in the thick forest area, the Army had launched a search operation to see ascertain if militants had infiltrated during the firing, he added. Pak troops had fired PIKA ammunition, RPGs and UBGLs on Indian posts inviting a calibrated response from the Army. “Though no bullet was fired today but an eerie calm prevails in the sector where we lost a jawan,” said an Army source.
	30 yrs after jaundice epidemic, govt yet to cleanse Nalla Ningi Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, June 8 After over three decades of the jaundice epidemic caused by the contaminated water of Nalla Ningli in north Kashmir, which left at least 1,700 people dead, medical experts say the government has not adequate measures to cleanse the canal. Nalla Ningli, which is the main source of drinking water for residents of dozens of villages in the Wagoora area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, is presently dotted with open toilets, making its water unfit for consumption. It is the same stream where Kashmiri gastroenterologist Prof MS Khuroo had discovered the hepatitis-E virus in 1978 during the epidemic in the area. Khuroo, on his visit to the area in 2011, was quoted by officials as saying “nothing much has changed in Nalla Ningli since the 1978 epidemic”. A Rural Development Department (RDD) official said Khuroo was disappointed over the presence of open toilets on the banks of Ningli. After the observations of Khuroo, the RDD had constructed flush toilets at specific areas to ensure that the water remained clean. However, open toilets still exist on the banks of Ningli, the official said. Apart from these toilets, the sewage of dozens of villages is fed into Ningli, he said. Owing to the epidemic-like situation created by the water of Ningli, the RDD had proposed proper drainage system in the villages. However, the proposal was never executed, the official added. Presently, over 200 people are suffering from water-borne diseases in the area and the number is increasing with every passing day. According to local health officials, on an average, 20 patients suffering from typhoid are being treated at different health centres each day. They said the main reason for the recurring typhoid for the fourth consecutive year was the infected drinking water supplied directly from Ningli to thousands of households. The Chief Engineer, Public Health Engineering Department, Muzaffar Ahmad Lankar, said the department was providing chemically treated water to the area. “The water from Ningli is chemically treated and then provided to the villages in the area. There could be other reasons of water-borne diseases as some people consume water directly from the local stream,” Lankar said.
	Infighting exposes Kashmir separatists' bitter relations Azhar Qadri Tribune News Service Srinagar, June 8 The latest bout of infighting which erupted earlier this week between two separatist groups has exposed unfriendly relations between the region’s separatists, suggesting that they are no longer a homogeneous entity. The war of words broke out between the pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and the moderate Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Sunday when JKLF chief Yasin Malik shot an angry statement accusing moderates of being “hypocrites" who were protecting India’s interests instead of struggling against it and "using the money meant for separatist movement to construct mansions and buy expensive cars". The squabbling, which was initiated by Malik when he was invited to an event on Sunday by a moderate Hurriyat constituent and not allowed to speak, continued for the rest of the week as the warring groups kept on shooting allegations and counter-allegations against each other. The JKLF accused the moderate Hurriyat’s executive member Aga Syed Hassan, whose party Anjuman-e-Shar-e-Shia (ASS) had organised the event at the University of Kashmir, of playing a “major role” in splitting the united separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference in 2003 and swindling money of the separatist movement for constructing shopping complexes. The ASS shot back and accused Malik of running away from the battleground- a reference to JKLF’s 1994 “unilateral ceasefire” with security forces, in which he handed over weapons worth crores of rupees. Hassan, who faced most of Malik’s ire, told The Tribune that he was ready to face a commission which could investigate his assets, which the JKLF had alleged were built by the money meant for the separatist movement. “A commission should be set up which can investigate who used the movement’s money to construct mansions and cars,” Hassan said. Hassan said if he was found guilty of swindling money, he should be given "exemplary punishment". The moderate Hurriyat's executive member said he was ready to end the verbal fight with Malik. The strife-hit separatist camp, which is witnessing new lows, was the region's formidable political force when it started as the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in 1993. The amalgam suffered a vertical split in 2003 into moderates led by Maulana Abbas Ansari and hardliners led by Syed Ali Geelani. Since then, the two Hurriyat factions and its leaders have bickered against each other from time to time and resisted attempts of unification. The separatist groups have also developed varied goals. While the hardliners have stuck to their demand for plebiscite as the only solution to the Kashmir issue, the moderates once settled with a four-point formula proposed by former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf. The JKLF is based on the ideology of forming an independent state. This week's infighting which pitched the JKLF, a pro-independence group rebranding itself as a Gandhian party and trying to delink itself from the militant avatar of previous decades, against the moderate Hurriyat faction was preceded by another instance of infighting within the soft separatist amalgam. Separatist leader Shabir Shah had a face-off with supporters of another moderate Hurriyat leader Bilal Lone outside the amalgam's headquarters here in 2012. A senior moderate Hurriyat leader said Shah might soon be expelled from the Hurriyat faction. If Shah is expelled, it may be a fresh low for Kashmir's separatist politics. Shah, however, restrained from speaking about the talk of his expulsion saying, "It will be premature to comment." Shah has accused the moderate Hurriyat Conference of deviating from its 1993 constitution and having formed an "undemocratic setup".
	Cong leader alleges bungling of funds for border areas Tribune News Service Jammu, June 8 Former minister and senior Congress leader Manjit Singh today alleged misappropriation of funds released under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) for border areas of Samba district, much to the embarrassment of the coalition government. Singh, while addressing a public meeting at Rangoor village near the international border today, alleged that funds sanctioned for the BADP were diverted for other purposes and the borders areas remained underdeveloped. Singh said the Central government had launched the programme for the development of the border areas but the state government had failed to implement the programme properly. “Crores of rupees which are pumped by the UPA government under this scheme in the state are being misappropriated. These funds are misused or diverted for other purposes and the areas for whom the programme was started remain underdeveloped,” he alleged. “We will not tolerate misuse of funds and the indifferent approach (of the authorities) towards poor people. The government should look into the issue and culprits responsible for the misuse or diversion of funds should be punished after proper verification,” the former minister said.
	BJP demands opening of Kargil-Skardu road Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service Jammu, June 8 After taking up the issue of continues genocide of Shias in the Pakistan occupied Gilgit-Baltistan area, the BJP today demanded opening of the Kargil-Skardu road to connect Shia dominated areas of both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) to counter onslaught of the Pakistani authorities. The PDP had also demanded the opening of the Kargil-Skardu road earlier. Echoing PDP’s demand, the BJP seems to want to establish its base in Shia dominated areas so as to make inroads in entire mountainous region of Ladakh where the party already has roped in some influential Buddhist leaders. Addressing a public meeting at Kargil today, state president of BJYM, Ravinder Raina tried to rake up the issue of the alleged atrocities being meted out by the Pakistani authorities on the deprived and subjugated residents of Gilgit-Baltistan. As natives of Kargil have cultural, religious and ethnic similarities with the residents of Gilgit-Baltistan, they are concerned about conditions of their fellow ethnic brethren living in Shia-dominated areas under Pakistan’s occupation. Further BJP leadership is aware that Kashmir centric parties would hesitate to highlight atrocities of Pakistani forces on residents of Gilgit-Baltistan so the party has decided to vociferously take up this issue to gain faith of Kargil residents. “We have been mute spectators of the blatant violations of human rights in Gilgit-Baltistan,” Raina rued. He urged Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to raise the issue of genocide in Gilgit-Baltistan by the Pakistani forces, bureaucrats as part of Pakistan sponsored terrorism. Urging opening of the Kargil-Skardu road, he said, “Once the road is opened, it would revive not only the cultural contacts of Kargil with Gilgit-Baltistan but also help people of Gilgit-Baltistan who are opposed to Pakistan’s illegal presence in the area.” Gilgit Baltistan was a part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. He accused alleged Kashmir-centric human rights organisations for adopting double standards. “Killing of Shias has been going unabated in Pakistan occupied Gilgit-Baltistan but the human rights organisations of the state as well as Kashmir-centric parties have maintained a criminal silence over it,” Raina alleged. Last year, the state leadership of the BJP had arranged a meeting of some Shai leaders of Kargil top central BJP leaders at Delhi in which the strategy was devised how to vociferously take up the issue of genocide in Gilgit-Baltistan.
	Arms seized in Kishtwar Our Correspondent Batote, June 8 A team of the Rashtriya Rifles and the police today seized a cache of arms and ammunition from a cave at Berna Keshwan in Kishtwar. Army sources said the arms include a 100-barrel UBGL, a Pakistan make 60-mm mortar, a round of RPG and a pistol. Found from a marshy spot, the arms were rusted. Given the type of the cache especially the mortar, it is said to belong to the LeT. Each Pakistani infantry battalion possesses six such mortars, sources said.
	Police, Army differ on infiltration figures Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, June 8 While the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) is yet to come out with figures on infiltration of militants from Pakistan this year, there is a discrepancy between the figures put forth by the police and the Army about the number of militants who had infiltrated into Kashmir. Sources said while the J&K police had put forth the number of such militants to nearly two dozen to the MAC, the Army did not agree to these figures. “The Army does not accept that five foreign militants -- among whom two were killed in a Fidayeen encounter in Bemina, Srinagar, on March 13 -- had infiltrated through the Uri sector in February. An arrested Pakistani militant, who was part of the group, had said they were five militants who had infiltrated and that two of them had returned. However, the Army does not agree that any such infiltration had taken place during that period,” said a source. An Army official said their stand was clear that no infiltration had taken place in the Uri sector in February. After the Fidayeen attack, in which five CRPF men were killed, the police had claimed that it had cracked the case by arresting four persons, including a Pakistani militant, Talha Zaraar of Multan, who had planned the attack. Talha and his local guide, who was also arrested, had revealed that the militant group had infiltrated through the Uri sector. Last year, too, there was a discrepancy between the police and the Army figures over militants who had infiltrated into Kashmir from Pakistan. Police sources said 18-22 militants had infiltrated this year so far and that they belonged to the Lashker-e-Toiba and the Jasih-e-Mohammad outfits. The Army has so far foiled two infiltration bids in north Kashmir. Last week, three militants were killed in the Nowgam sector of Kupwara district on June 1 when they were trying to sneak into Kashmir. Pakistani troopers in the sector had thrice opened fire on Indian positions since May 24 and the Army had said that the firing was aimed at helping militants infiltrate into the Indian side. A Junior Commissioned Officer was killed and a soldier was injured during an encounter in the wee hours of May 18 in the Machil sector of Kupwara district. The Army and the Special Operation Group of the J&K police had also conducted searches along the Line of Control in Kupwara for over two weeks to trace a group of militants, who the police claimed had infiltrated into Kashmir on May 7. The operation was later called off as no militant could be traced.
	Soz forms panel to take up Batamaloo residents’ problems Tribune News Service Srinagar, June 8 State Congress president Saifuddin Soz today constituted a committee of party leaders to talk to the authorities about solving the problems of resident of the Batamaloo area in Srinagar. Addressing a rally at Bakshipora Tehngpora Soz rued that Bakshipora Tehngpora in Srinagar was a neglected part of the city and the Municipal Corporation, Srinagar, had failed to provide amenities to the residents of the area. “After hearing them, Prof Soz constituted a delegation of local leaders and requested party senior vice-president, Mohammad Muzaffar Parray, to lead the delegation to meet the Divisional Commissioner to urge him to fulfil their demands as early as possible,” a party spokesman said. Soz assured that demands like public parks, sports fields, electricity poles and streetlights and transformers would be fulfilled and these demands would also be taken up at various levels in the administration. “Prof Soz assured them that he would raise their demands on their behalf at the earliest,” the spokesman said.
	Home Secy reviews projects Tribune News Service Srinagar, June 8 Home Secretary designate Anil Goswami reviewed the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan (PMRP) and Special Task Force (STF) Projects at a high-level meeting with Chief Secretary Mohammad Iqbal Khandey and senior officers of the state government. The physical and financial position of the development projects under the PMRP were discussed with the Chief Secretary underlining the need for enhanced annual outlay, covering the cost escalation of the PMRP to meet the developmental needs of the state. “Goswami was informed that Rs 9,157.76 crore would be spent by March 2013, however, under the state sector Rs 5,071.17 crore was released under the PMRP till date, against which 96% funds amounting to Rs 4,849.89 crore has been done. During the last financial year, Rs 700 crore was approved under the PMRP and for 2013-14, the state has proposed an allocation of Rs 1,128.49 crore to complete the on-going projects,” an official spokesman said after the meeting. The Home Secretary was also informed that out of 2,504 unconnected habitations, 1,344 have already been completed and Rs 577 crore released by the Centre through the PMRP route for land acquisition stands unused. However, to cover the rest of the habitations, Rs 800 crore is needed for land acquisition and successful implementation of the programme. The demand has been taken up with the Centre. Goswami assured to convene a meeting of all Union Ministries concerned to sort out the issues raised in the meeting. Anil Goswami also held a meeting with the senior officers of the CRPF, BSF, ITBP and SSB here. He appreciated the work done by the Central Armed Police Forces in bringing near normalcy in the state, an official said.
	Guv condoles death of Chidambaram’s mother Tribune News Service Srinagar, June 8 Governor NN Vohra has condoled the demise of the mother of the Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram. In a condolence message, the Governor conveyed his sympathy to Chidambaram and other members of the bereaved family. He prayed for eternal peace for the departed soul.