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Markets remain shut on Geelani’s bandh call
Curfew relaxed in Kishtwar
Rs 5-cr ex gratia for victims of violence
Special security on
Ambala-Jammu trains
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Collision of two wind patterns led to heavy rain
Declare natural calamity, says BJP
BJP to continue rallies, protests against govt
Supreme Court issues notice to
college on medical seat
Campaigning for Kargil Council elections ends tomorrow
Two crushed to death by train in Kulgam
Union Home Secretary reviews security in J-K
Lashkar keen to send top militants to Valley
Zahid Farooq killing case
IG, CRPF, calls on Chief Minister
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Markets remain shut on Geelani’s bandh call
Srinagar, August 17 The shutdown, which had a mixed response in the region, led to the closure of all major markets in the city, including Lal Chowk, the commercial nerve centre of the region. Shops and other business establishments in and around Lal Chowk remained closed in response to the shutdown call. Public and private transport services on most inter-district and intra-district routes remained unaffected even though the number of vehicles being plied was less than that on working days. While many schools and colleges remained closed in the region, examinations at universities were conducted smoothly. Barring two incidents, there was no report of clashes or protests. Clashes broke out between youths and the police in Shopian district of south Kashmir in the afternoon, which continued through most of the day. There was a brief spell of protests in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, where the police barricaded several bridges connecting the old city to the town. The shutdown had been called by the hardline faction of the separatist Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani to demand the disarmament and disbanding of VDCs. The separatist faction and a civil society group had accused the VDCs, which were armed and paid by the state government, of being involved in recent communal clashes in Kishtwar. The Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society said more than 26,000 civilians had been armed and trained in the use of firearms to fight militants in Jammu division and Leh district. It had filed an application under the Right to Information Act to know the composition of VDCs. The shutdown was scheduled for Friday, but later postponed to Saturday. Geelani had termed members of VDCs as armed terrorists and accused them of being directly under the influence of a right wing
organisation.
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Curfew relaxed in Kishtwar
Doda, August 17 The relaxation was given in two phases, from 1 pm to 2:30 pm to one part, from the bus stand to the police station, and from 4 pm to 5:30 pm to the rest of the town. There was no untoward incident in the area during the relaxation, but the minority community, whose shops were looted and gutted during clashes on August 9, did not open their shops. During the first phase of the relaxation, people in huge numbers came out of their houses and bought essential
items for their houses. The second phase of the relaxation, which included the areas where the trouble started on the day of Eid, passed off peacefully. "The relaxation in curfew was given in a phased manner and it passed off peacefully. There was no untoward incident," said Ashkoor Wani, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Doda-Kishtwar range. A group of ministers led by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, was in the town to meet leaders of both communities. It included Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Sharma, Minister for Rural Development Ali Muhammad Sagar and Minister for CAPD Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan. Sources said leaders of one community were not willing to talk to any state minister or official and wanted Central officials and ministers to reach out to them. The government and the administration were in town and were expecting a good response from the people, Wani said. |
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Rs 5-cr ex gratia for victims of violence
Srinagar, August 17 The amount has been kept at the disposal of the Department of Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation for providing relief to the “victims of riots and other law and order disturbances”, in respect of destruction and damage to immovable property, an official spokesman here said. The spokesman said an order to this effect was issued by the General Administration Department yesterday. This amount, it is believed, has been released in the wake of the recent incidents of violence and communal tension that resulted in the loss of human lives and heavy damage to movable and immovable property in various parts of the state since last month. The latest incident of this kind had been reported from Kishtwar district of the Jammu region, which still continues to remain under restrictions, after trouble started in the district on Eid-ul-Fitr on August 9. Trouble was also witnessed due to sectarian clashes in Budgam district of central Kashmir last month. Though there was no loss of life, reports said, heavy damage was caused to immovable property in over a dozen villages of the district. |
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Special security on
Ambala-Jammu trains
Chandigarh, August 17 The trains in which the RPSF men have been deployed along with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) men are the Malwa Express, Swaraj Express, Dee Uhp AC superfast and Jat Durg superfast. Sources in the Northern Railway said a company comprising 80 RPSF men had been sent to the Ambala station for deployment on the trains. Sources in the Railways said seven RPSF personnel along with two RPF men would escort each train and around 20 RPF personnel were deployed at the Ambala station to inspect all trains plying from the station. Railway Senior Divisional Security Commissioner Mohinder Singh said the RPSF was a reserve
force which is usually deployed during disturbances for the security of the passengers. Records revealed that more than 20 trains were plying between Ambala and Jammu. Officials said the trains were shortlisted for additional security as they were prone to attack by anti-social elements. |
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Collision of two wind patterns led to heavy rain
Jammu, August 17 The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said the collision of the two wind patterns created a low pressure area, which led to continuous rain from August 13 to 16 with cloudy conditions over the state for over a week, affecting life in the state. The worst affected were the districts in southern parts of the state, which had received above normal rain during the period, wreaking havoc on infrastructure, houses and government property, with officials saying more than 3,000 structures had been damaged. “We had predicted this, but there was no way to prevent rain. The meeting of two wind patterns is a natural phenomenon, with many atmospheric factors creating perfect conditions for a heavy downpour. It is always a dangerous situation,” said Sonum Lotus, IMD Director. According to the data for the last four days, Jammu received 273 mm of rain (normal in the past 88.4 mm), Doda 226 mm, Kathua 231 mm, Poonch 50 mm, Rajouri 154 mm, Ramban 195 mm, Reasi 459 mm, Samba 319 mm and Udhampur 325 mm. “This is an unexpected situation and we have recorded above-normal rain in all parts of the state. It will take a few more days to be sunny,” said Dr MK Khushu, weather scientist, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology. At least 20 persons had lost their lives in the incessant rain. Officials said 22 automatic weather stations installed in various parts of the state and data provided by satellites had prevented a larger disaster by helping the administration get information to deal with the situation. “We are better prepared than we were in 2005, when the snow tsunami hit the state, as an advance warning was provided to the district administration. The sophisticated machines, designed to disseminate information about snowfall, inclement weather, avalanche threats and heavy or scanty rainfall, had facilitated the administration have an early warning system,” Lotus said.
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Declare natural calamity, says BJP
Jammu, August 17 Expressing concern, he said the rain had damaged houses and buildings of schools and health institutions and drinking water was not available. He added that there was no electricity supply as poles in many areas had been uprooted and road connectivity had been badly affected. He said the state government should depute revenue department teams to visit affected areas to assess losses to movable and immovable property and standing crops and prepare and forward claims for compensation. He said the government should provide tents to the people and direct the departments concerned to undertake repair work so that people were not made to suffer further. |
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BJP to continue rallies, protests against govt
Jammu, August 17 The state unit of the BJP has invited its national president, Rajnath Singh, to Jammu on August 31. Singh will devise the future course of action to “expose” the Omar Abdullah-led government to corner the Congress at the national level. During his one-day visit to Jammu, Rajnath Singh would address closed-door meetings with party leaders to devise a strategy for launching an aggressive campaign against the state government. During his stay, the BJP national president would hold a meeting with leaders of the Sangh Parivar to get feedback on the fallout of the Kishtwar riots and its impact on the mindset of the minorities living in mountainous regions of the Jammu province. The sources said there was a feeling among party leaders that it was the result of the coordination between the state unit and the national leadership that the issue of the Kishtwar riots was effectively and vociferously taken up at the national level and the party had ultimately forced the state government to accept its demands. Meanwhile, state president of BJP Jugal Kishore Sharma along with party general secretary Ashok Koul today rushed to New Delhi to attend a high-level meeting convened by Gujarat Chief Minister Narinder Modi to discuss the prevailing political situation in the country. |
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Supreme Court issues notice to
college on medical seat Jammu, August 17 The University of Jammu through the medium of the aforesaid SLP before the Supreme Court raised the questions of law of public importance that whether a student, who illegally obtained admission to an open merit category MBBS seat in violation of the applicable law, would be entitled to have the same regularised in contravention of law. Besides that, the SLP also raised a question regarding the true scope and effect of the decision of the Supreme Court in the Mridula Dhar case and the criterion to be followed by various colleges regarding granting admission against “stray vacancies” and which category of vacancies could be treated as “stray vacancies”. The SLP also raised a question whether the decision of the Supreme Court in the Mridula Dhar case permitted a medical college to bypass the established procedure of admission in the guise of filling up the “stray vacancies” and in granting admission to non-deserving candidates, overlooking the legitimate claims of other meritorious candidates. The main question raised in the SLP is whether a medical college was permitted to bypass the established norms and criterion for admission to MBBS by showing formal compliance with the observations of the Supreme Court in the Mridula Dhar case and in the guise of filling of “stray vacancies” arising before September 30. The university's stand was that the candidate nowhere figured or was selected by BOPEE for admission to MBBS course in the merit list of the open merit quota and her shifting from the NRI quota to open merit by the college, that too, tinkering with the merit position without seeking prior permission from BOPEE was illegal and the university cannot legalise such illegal admission. It has been pleaded by the university in the SLP that the college, in the event of a candidate failing to join, the “seat will be allotted to next candidate in the order of merit and choice through counselling for such upgrade” but the college bypassed all norms and transferred the candidate from the NRI to open merit quota. The university of Jammu has pleaded that only BOPEE was competent to approve such change, if at all, and the action of the college in shifting the candidate from the NRI quota to the open merit category was illegal and against the norms. The SLP was listed before the Supreme Court comprising Justice AK Patnaik and Justice Jagdeesh Singh Kehar. Advocates Wasim Sadiq Nargal and Raj Shekhar Rao appeared on behalf of the university before the Supreme Court and advocate AM Dar appeared on behalf of the candidate.
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Cardiologist shot at by suspected militants last month dies
Srinagar, August 17 Jalal, the former director of the Valley’s premiere hospital, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), was airlifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, from Srinagar on July 21 for specialised treatment. Jalal had received two bullets, damaging his eyesight. He was also shot in the abdomen. “Dr Jalal breathed his last at 8.30 am today,” the Medical Superintendent of AIIMS, DK Sharma, told The Tribune over phone. “He had received one bullet in the head and was unconscious since being shifted here. We tried everything, but he breathed his last this morning,” he said. Sharma said Jalal showed little improvement after he was shifted to AIIMS. “In all such cases, the cause of the death is cardiac arrest. But the prime cause was that he had sustained a head injury as a result of gunshot,” Sharma said. On July 18, Jalal was injured and two of his police guards were killed in a suspected militant attack in Namblabal, Pampore. The police had said a group of two to three militants had appeared in Namblabal, Pampore, some 15 km from Srinagar, when Jalal was walking along with his two bodyguards from his ancestral house towards his car which was parked in a nearby locality. The attackers had fled the spot and had taken away the rifle of a slain policeman. No militant outfit had taken responsibility for the attack. The police, however, said it had identified the militants who were involved in the attack. “Our investigation has hinted that Jalal was not the target of the militants. The militants had tried to snatch the rifles from the policemen which the latter had resisted. The militants later fired at the policemen who died instantly while Jalal was critically injured. We have identified the militants who were involved in the attack,” a police officer said. A pall of gloom descended on Jalal’s native village where people thronged his ancestral residence. “After his retirement, Jalal sahib used to visit his native village twice a week to examine patients at his clinic. He would not charge any admission fee from his patients. His death is a huge loss for us,” said Mehraj-u-Din, a resident of Namblabal. |
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Campaigning for Kargil Council elections ends tomorrow
Srinagar, August 17 The campaigning started after the withdrawal of candidature on August 6. Eightyfour candidates are in the fray for 24 constituencies who will be elected by over 79,000 voters. Two Independent candidates were elected unopposed. Four other members are being nominated by the state government for the 30-member LAHDC, Kargil. The main parties and the coalition partners, National Conference and Congress, are contesting the elections separately. The National Conference (NC) led the council after a majority vote in the elections held in 2008. However, this time, the NC has fielded only 13 candidates while it extends its support to 11 Independents. The Congress has the largest number of 18 candidates with support to six Independents. Meanwhile, Kargil Deputy Commissioner Fida Hussain and Kargil SSP Sujit Kumar addressed a press conference at Kargil today. They said all arrangements were in place for the smooth conduct of the elections and added that additional troops had been deployed across the district. The Kargil Deputy Commissioner said the district had been divided into 13 zones and 26 sectors, each headed by zonal and sectoral magistrates, respectively. The Deputy Commissioner said 67 polling stations were hypersensitive, 87 sensitive and 107 normal. The polling staff with polling material has left for the remote Zanskar area on August 14, the Deputy Commissioner said. No helicopter services were being used for the six inaccessible polling stations of the district, he said, adding that the staff with material would leave for these stations three days prior to the polls. According to the SSP Kargil, the elections have been divided into three phases - nominations and campaign, safety and security of voters on the polling day and smooth polling. To conduct the polls smoothly, he said, the district had been divided into 15 zones and 39 sectors, divided into 11 blocks. Poll time
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Two crushed to death by train in Kulgam
Anantnag, August 17 Police reports, however, suggest that it’s unclear what the duo was doing near the railway track. “We are trying to ascertain what happened at the accident site,” said Qazigund Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Rahul Malik. The SDPO said both of them died instantly. One of the deceased has been identified as Ghulam Muhammad Deva, a resident of Deva Colony in the Shirpora area of Anantnag district. “The other deceased is yet to be identified as his face had been damaged beyond recognition,” an eyewitness said. A large number of people gathered at the accident site and the train remained at a halt till the reports last came in. — OC
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Union Home Secretary reviews security in J-K
Jammu, August 17 He reviewed the security in Katra, en route and the cave shrine before offering prayers at the shrine. Sources said Goswami interacted with members of the Shri Mata Vashino Devi Shrine Board and discussed issues related to the pilgrimage. In the afternoon, he
took stock of the security scenario of the entire state, particularly of
the Jammu region, which is limping back to normalcy after the recent Kishtwar riots. “In the morning, he had gone to the Vaishno Devi shrine where he reviewed security and offered prayers. In the afternoon, he chaired a high-level meeting to take stock of the security scenario prevailing in the state, especially in Jammu, after the Kishtwar violence on August 9,” Jammu Divisional Commissioner Shantmanu told The Tribune. He returned to New Delhi in the evening, said the official. Senior officials of the civil administration and the police attended the meeting. Shantmanu said the Union Home Secretary also took stock of the situation in Kishtwar district and measures being
initiated to restore normalcy there. Yesterday, Goswami visited forward Indian posts along the international border in the RS Pura sector of Jammu district. |
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Lashkar keen to send top militants to Valley
Srinagar, August 17 The Army said it recently killed four militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba in the Keran sector of Kupwara district, 140 kilometres from here. The Army added that they were senior commanders of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and it was an attempt to infiltrate them into Kashmir. “On August 14, we foiled an infiltration attempt in the Keran sector when we killed four militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba in a counter-infiltration operation,” said General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen Gurmit Singh. “While bodies of two of them were recovered, the other two died on the other side of the fence. The two slain terrorists were carrying an AK-47 rifle and a pistol, which indicated that they were important terrorist leaders,” he further said. He said an identity card recovered from one of the slain militants showed him to be a resident of Muzzaffarabad who was born in 1958. “The 55-year-old terrorist leader was tall, healthy and imposing, which indicated his level of experience. It was an attempt of the Lashkar-e-Toiba 'tanzeem' (outfit) to get a senior leader into Kashmir as we had killed the top leadership of the outfit in various operations,”
he said. The Army said the wallet recovered from the slain militant had Pakistani marking, Indian currency worth Rs 10,000 and Rs 1,000 Pakistani notes. The Army claimed that it recovered six weapons from the Keran sector in Kupwara district of north Kashmir, including three AK-47 rifles, two pistols and a Pika machine-gun. Another Army officer said the Lashkar-e-Toiba was desperate to infiltrate top commanders into the Kashmir valley after it received major jolts in Kashmir since last year after the killing of its top commanders. |
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Zahid Farooq killing case
Srinagar, August 17 In this regard, the Director General of the BSF has sought a stay on the proceedings which were initiated by the Chief Judicial Magistrate court, besides seeking return of all connected documents and exhibits of the case to the BSF authorities. Zahid Farooq, a teenaged boy from Brein, Nishat, was killed in firing by BSF men on February 5, 2010, in the Nishat area of Srinagar. The police, after registering an FIR in the incident, had arrested BSF commander RK Birdi and his subordinate and charged them for murder under Section 302 of the Ranbir Penal Code. On April 25, 2013, the Supreme Court, while allowing appeals by the J&K Government and the family of the slain teenager against court martial trial of the two accused BSF men, had directed the Director General of the BSF to "revisit the entire issue" within eight weeks from the date the order was passed. Raising some technical grounds, the apex court, in its April 25 verdict, had observed that if he (DG, BSF) comes to the conclusion that the trial deserves to be conducted by the General Security Forces Court, nothing will prevent him from making an appropriate application afresh before the Chief Judicial Magistrate . "In respectful compliance with the Supreme Court order and judgment dated April 25, 2013, the matter has been examined," DG BSF Subhash Joshi has submitted in his application moved before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, through Central government standing counsel Mujeeb Fazili on August 3. Stating that the accused, both attached with Station Headquarters, BSF, Srinagar, for disciplinary action are serving under his command, the DG BSF has further submitted in the application that in the interest of discipline of the force, he has decided to institute proceedings against the two accused BSF men before a BSF-appointed General Security Forces Court. Stating that the offenders have committed the alleged offences while on active duty, the DG BSF, in his application, has pleaded that the CJM stay proceedings in his court initiated against the two accused BSF men and also return all the connected documents and exhibits of the case. "Though the application has been admitted by the CJM, the respondents, that is the complainant family and the prosecution, has sought time to file their objections, which was granted to them by the court today," counsel Fazili said, adding that the matter had been posted for further consideration on September 26. |
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IG, CRPF, calls on Chief Minister
Srinagar, August 17 An official said PK Singh who recently took over as the IG, discussed various matters relating to the law and order situation, internal security and deployment of the CRPF in Srinagar city. The meeting lasted half an hour.
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Main markets remained closed across the Kashmir valley today in response to a shutdown called by a hardline separatist group.
The unexpected collision of moist warm monsoon winds and the cool dry western disturbance over Jammu and Kashmir had caused the recent devastating rain across the region, leading to flooding, landslides and destruction of public and private property worth
crores.
