Srinagar, July 28
Continuing its drive against violators, during the first five months of this year, the traffic police has penalised over 6,000 vehicle owners for wrongly parking their vehicles in Srinagar and Jammu cities. In this regard, the traffic police authorities have also recovered a fine of over 2.06 million rupees from the violators.

From January to May 2013, the traffic authorities penalised 6,207 vehicle owners in Srinagar and Jammu cities for unauthorised or wrong parking and realised a fine to the tune of over Rs 2.06 million from them, reveal official documents.

This includes 3,173 wrongly parked vehicles in Srinagar city, which were towed away by the traffic cops and were later released after recovering a fine of Rs 12,07,572 as fine from the violators. As per the figures given in the documents, the number of vehicles which were towed away in Jammu cities for wrong parking includes 3,045 vehicles and a fine of Rs 8,58,030 was recovered from the owners of these vehicles.

In the documents by Transport Commissioner, it has further been revealed that apart from manual regulation of not permitting unauthorised parking, six recovery vans have been pressed into service in Srinagar city, while two recovery vans are currently operating in Jammu city with an aim to tow away the wrongly parked vehicles, especially from the busy markets and the roads.

Besides, to ease up the traffic congestion in Srinagar city, the Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) is going to construct multi-storeyed mechanised car parking in Lal Chowk area near KMD Adda near MA Road on PPP (Public Private partnership) mode, the documents further reveal.

Fact file

* There has been a steep rise in vehicular traffic in the state, particularly in the past one decade.

* Currently, the total number of vehicles on roads in J&K is 12 lakh, a majority of whom find their way into the cities of Srinagar and Jammu, thus choking the two capital cities during peak hours.

* The traffic jams in the two cities have been causing great inconvenience to the public, including those driving the vehicles on roads or the common pedestrians.

* From January to May 2013, the traffic authorities penalised 6,207 vehicle owners in Srinagar and Jammu cities for wrong parking and realised fine to the tune of over Rs 2.06 million from them.

Srinagar, July 28
An eleven-year-old boy died and eight others were injured in road accidents across Kashmir, the police said today. A car hit and injured a pedestrian identified as 11-year-old Reyaz Ahmad of Shangergund village at Chatroosa crossing near Dangiwacha in Sopore town. The injured boy was admitted in hospital where he succumbed to injuries, a police spokesman said, adding that a case has been registered.

In central Kashmir’s Budgam district, a car met with an accident near Army camp at Beerwah, resulting in injuries to two people travelling in the car, the spokesman said. Both the injured were admitted in a hospital for treatment.

A bus hit and injured a 70-year-old man identified as Saif-u-Din Khan of Dewar village at General Bus Stand in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. The injured was admitted in a hospital, said the spokesman.

A car skid off the road near TCP in Kupwara district, resulting in injuries to two persons who were travelling in the car. Both the injured were admitted in hospital for treatment.

In central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, a car hit and injured a four-year-old girl Zeenat Bashir near Shilwat, the spokesman said. The injured child has been hospitalised.

A load carrier hit and injured a pedestrian near JVC Hospital on the city's outskirts. The injured was admitted in hospital for treatment, the spokesman said. In another accident, an unidentified vehicle hit and injured a police constable Mohammad Hussain near JVC. The injured was shifted to SKIMS Hospital for treatment, said the spokesman.

Kupwara, July 28
For the third consecutive day, functioning of various primary health centres (PHCs) remained affected due to strike by nursing and paramedical staff against alleged misbehaviour of a contractual doctor with nursing staff at Zachaldara health centre.

Patient care has been badly hit due to strike by the medical staff. “We will not suspend the strike unless any action is taken against the erring doctor. He often uses abusive language against nurses on duty on different pretexts,” said a striking employee.

On Friday, nursing and paramedical staff of various PHCs suspended their work demanding an action against Dr Gulzar Ahmad Teli, who they alleged often misbehaved with nursing staff on duty. “We will not resume our work unless any action is taken against the erring doctor. He often uses abusive language against the nursing staff on different pretexts,” said the striking employee.

Dr Teli, however, dismissed the charges and said the staff was envy of him for his patient-friendly principles. “It is a well-knit conspiracy to defame me. I am committed to serve the ailing people of the area,” Dr Teli said.

Locals, however, demanded that the doctor may not be shifted from Zachaldara health centre. Zachaldara sarpanch Mohd Mohsin Shah said, “He is a hardworking doctor and works round the clock to treat the patients. If there is some internal dispute between the employees, it should be settled, but the locals here are not in favour of his transfer,”

“The health centre is closed for the past three days and we are suffering. The authorities should settle the dispute keeping in view larger interests of people of the area,” he added.

Srinagar, July 28
Twelve-year-old Class III student Najeeb bin Noor may have committed suicide due to ridicule by his peers. The police, after four days of investigations, has come across a lead that Najeeb, who was found dead in the washroom of his school, Salih Sublime Public School, was fed up due to constant teasing by his friends, which may have eventually led him to take the drastic step of the suicide.

"Najeeb was older than his other classmates in Class III. His classfellows would usually tease him saying he was too old to study in Class III. This would irritate him a lot and he would isolate himself from the rest of the class," SHO, Raj Bagh police station, Bashir Ahmad Shah, who is investigating the case, told Kashmir Tribune.

The police team has found this lead while quizzing one of Najeeb's closest friends who was well aware of the ordeal the 12-year-old was going through.

The police officer said on the morning of June 25 when Najeeb died, he was again irritated by the comments his classmates had passed on him and thus he may have finally taken the drastic step of committing suicide.

In the wake of no family support since Najeeb was living in an orphanage, he could not bear the ridicule and that, as per the police version, may have led to his death.

Although his mother and brother have been claiming that Najeeb could not have committed suicide, police today refuted these charges.

"He was emotionally overwhelmed and there was little support he had from his family. He was not living with his family but in an orphanage. His suicide was a natural step in the backdrop of frequent teasing he was subject to," said the SHO.

He added that the postmortem report was yet to be received by the police. 

Kupwara, July 28
The scare of wild animals continues to haunt inhabitants in some villages of Handwara tehsil even as wildlife authorities have set up cages in affected villages to trap the animals. Locals said that wild animals, mostly leopards and bears, were on the prowl and livestock was increasingly falling prey to their attacks.

A leopard attacked and injured Raja Begum, wife of Sonuallah Bhat from Gund Villgam, yesterday. She is battling for life at Sub-District Hospital Villgam.

Residents of Gund Chogal, Langate, Villgam, Lilum, Kakroosa and Pahaldagi said the leopards and bears were on prowl and had devoured dozens of livestock. Last night, the animals killed four sheep of Abdul Khaliq Bhat and Ali Mohd Bhat, both residents of Langate.

“The wild animals have been on the prowl in villages over the last three weeks. They have devoured many cattle and are increasingly posing a threat to human lives,” said a delegation led by Abdul Jabar Khan of Kakroosa.

Wildlife authorities have set up cages in some affected villages to trap the animals. “The animals are evading the traps and posing serious dangers to human lives. The authorities should take some measures to send the animals back to their habitations in forests. We are living amid a constant threat of attacks from wild animals,” said Zahoor Ahmad from Lilum.

Lolab residents also complained about increasing movement of wild animals in their areas. Residents of Moori, Kalaroose Devar and Dardpora in Lolab said the animals were on prowl, especially in the evening hours. “Children are more prone to attacks by wild animals. We are wary of stepping out of our homes after 5 pm. A bear had already devoured some cattle and stray dogs,” said Latif Ahmad Gojri of Dardpora in Lolab.

Locals said due to the scare of attacks from wild animals, they were forced not to move to the mosques for evening prayers. “We are living amid a constant threat of attacks from wild animals. The wildlife department is doing nothing to deal with the problem,” said Abrar Ahmad from Devar Lolab.

Kupwara, July 28
Residents of Darpora, Tekipora, Lalpora and Sogam in Lolab valley of Kupwara district have been facing a severe shortage of drinking water for the past one week. Locals said they had been receiving water supply for only two hours during the day, which was insufficient to meet the requirement.

"During Ramadan, we are made to suffer for want of drinking water. The PHE division concerned provides us water for only two hours in the day, which fails to cater to our daily needs. We made several requests to the division concerned to ensure round-the-clock supply of water but to no avail," said Shabir Ahmad from Sogam.

Women folk said they were forced to walk miles to fetch the water from a nullah. "It takes us hours to fetch water from the nullah. The division should operate water tanker service to mitigate our sufferings till smooth water supply is ensured to the village," said Asha Begum, a Lalpora resident. Some families in Lalpora village said the taps had dried up as the supply had been snapped for the past week. "We have to cover a long distance to fetch water from a stream. The supply has been snapped for the past one week. 

The adjoining Darpora village receives water supply, but the employees of the division posted here are doing nothing to restore the supply," said Shahmali Begum. They demanded that water tankers should be pressed into service and the water supply should be restored at the earliest. "The water division should engage water tankers till the supply is restored to normal. We have been dying for a drop of water in Ramzan, but the division hardly bothers to address our problem," said Mohd Shafi, a local resident.

Srinagar, July 28
A girl has committed suicide by hanging herself at her home in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, police today said.

The 16-year-old girl, whose name has not been disclosed, was a resident of Watnad village near Kokernag, a police spokesman said. The girl committed suicide by hanging herself at her home.

She was shifted to a hospital where she breathed her last, the spokesman said.

Srinagar, July 28
Expressing concern over reports of sectarian clashes in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today called for a thorough probe to identify the elements behind these clashes so that their ‘nefarious designs’ were exposed.

In a statement, BJP national executive member and J&K chief spokesperson Jitendra Singh said the common Kashmiri, irrespective of the community or sect, wished to live in harmony, but certain Kashmir-centric politicians and groups, trigger such volatile situation and as the election time approaches nearer, this phenomenon assumes more acute proportions.

“This could also be work of certain Kashmir-centric political party which apprehends decline in its political fortunes in the ensuing elections,” he added.

Stating that it was the responsibility of all political parties to come together for restoring peace in Budgam at the earliest. Singh suggested for a joint meeting of religious heads of the two conflicting sects in Budgam and concerted efforts by them to educate the innocent people of the region not to fall prey to the ‘double assault of opportunistic political elements within coupled with foreign sponsored militants from across the border’.

He appealed to the administration to make arrangements for adequate compensation to those whose houses and other property had suffered damages during the clashes.

Srinagar, July 28
Condemning the gangrape of a minor in Kishtwar allegedly by the members of a Village Defence Committee (VDC), the Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has demanded stern punishment to persons involved in this incident.

He has also called for disbanding the VDCs, which are operating in the Jammu areas.

On July 25, a 15-year-old girl was gang-raped in Bhatkote village of Kishtwar. The incident led to a protest in Kishtwar town. So far, the police has arrested two accused, alleged to be involved in the gangrape.“

The Hurriyat Chairman has demanded stern punishment to the culprits involved in this inhuman act, the spokesman said, adding that earlier also complaints of excesses and atrocities had come against the VDC members.

“The VDC parallels infamous SOG as far as human rights violations and atrocities against the common people are concerned. So, it has become necessary that the authorities concerned take measures to disband the VDC at the earliest,” Mirwaz has demanded.

Srinagar, July 28
A teenaged boy drowned in the Jhelum, while the body of a 20-year-old youth was recovered from the Dal lake, police today said. Liyakat Ahmad Mir (16), a resident of Khahmowa village of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, drowned in the Jhelum near Zaina Kadal in the city here.

The boy was working in a bakery shop at Fateh Kadal, a police spokesman said. His body has been fished out and handed over to his family.

In another incident, the body of Shabir Yousuf Rather (20), a resident of Tengpora village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, was recovered from the Dal lake at Dhobi Ghat near Nigeen in the city here.

The body had been kept in mortuary at Pantha Chowk after completion of a post-mortem examination, the spokesman said. Police has initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC to ascertain the cause of his death.