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Rao, Buta sentenced for 3 yrs RI NEW DELHI, Oct 12: P V Narasimha Rao today had the ignominy of becoming the first person having held the office of Prime Minister to be sentenced to a jail term in a criminal case when he along with his ex-Cabinet colleague Buta Singh was given three years Rigorous Imprisonment each in the JMM MPs bribery case. But the 79-year old Rao and the former Home Minister Buta Singh will not go to jail at least for now, as the designated CBI court suspended the sentence till November eight to enable them to appeal against the order. Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke pronounced the sentence in a jam-packed court room inside the high security Vigyan Bhawan complex and also imposed a fine of Rs two lakh each on Rao and Singh. Non-payment of fine would invite a further imprisonment of six months, the Judge said. Immediately after pronouncement of the sentence, Rao and Singh moved bail applications before the Judge. He granted them bail on a personal bond of Rs two lakh and a surety each and kept the sentence suspended till November eight to allow them to appeal against the order in the Delhi High Court. Counsel for both Rao and Singh said that they would appeal against the conviction order in the High Court well within the time given to them. In a significant decision, the court directed CBI to register a fresh case against three JMM MPs Suraj Mandal, Simon Marandi and Shibu Soren to find out the source of money deposited by them in Punjab National Bank’s Nauroji Nagar branch after the no-confidence motion was defeated against Rao Government on July 28, 1993. The court also directed CBI to confiscate the bribe money that was paid to the JMM MP Shailendra Mahato, who turned approver later. While Mr Mandal and Mr Marandi are no longer MPs, Mr Soren is at present in the Rajya Sabha. The Judge, however, did not order registration of any case against another former JMM MP, Mr Shailendra Mahto, who had turned approver during the course of the trial. Mr Mahto’s confessional statement that the four MPs had received payments was treated by the court as crucial evidence. Mr Bharihoke ordered registration of cases against the three former JMM MPs under Section 31(1) (E) of the Prevention of Corruption Act for having Rs 1.62 crore in their bank accounts and claiming that the amount was party funds. The Judge observed that investigations revealed that the explanation furnished by JMM MPs that the amount was party fund, was false and the documents submitted in support were found to be forged. As the prosecution had sought trial of JMM MPs for the offence punishable under Section 193 of IPC, a prima facie case of commission of offence punishable under section 13 (2) read with 13 (1) (E) of PC Act, 1988 by the respective MPs is disclosed from the investigation conducted by CBI , the Judge said. Reading the relevant section of the PC Act, he ordered the CBI to investigate the case in accordance with the law. Reading the observations of the Constitution bench of the Apex Court while upholding the immunity of bribe taking MPs from prosecution in this case by virtue of Article 105 (2) of the Constitution, he said the three JMM MPs cannot be tried for the offence because such a trial would necessarily require an enquiry into the motive of bribe taking MPs for voting against the no confidence motion in the Lok Sabha. However, he held that the three MPs do not have any immunity under Article 105 (2) of the Constitution in relation to the possession of disproportionate assests amounting to Rs 1.62 crore. The Judge said approver Shailendra Mahto had admitted yesterday that the money deposited in the bank accounts was illegal gratification received for voting against the no confidence motion. The amount was deposited in Sugam account no. 196 in the joint name of Mahto and Abha Mahto as well as his one fourth share in joint account in the name of all the four JMM MPs in SB account no.18914. Therefore, considering the statement made by Mahto and aforesaid circumstances, the court directed that credit balance in Sugam account No. 196 and other accounts be confiscated to the State. (UNI) |
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Jawan dies, Subedar
injured Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 12: Six hardcore militants of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Al Badar outfits and an army jawan were killed while a Subedar was injured in an encounter at Thinmarg Gali, about 20 kms from Mahore in the upper reaches of Pir Panjal ranges. A large quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from the scene of encounter. Defence sources said Mahore Brigade of Dah Division launched an operation in the Pir Panjal ranges after getting a lead that a big group of militants was moving towards north in the Pir Panjal range after an encounter with Budhal Brigade in which one militant was killed. Troops trekked through rugged terrain and inhospitable conditions and blocked important passes to check the movement of militant. The Commanding Officer of Grenadier’s battalion, located at Chasana, in a well-planned and co-ordinated operations launched eight columns to hunt the ultras. At about 2200 hours last night, an army column led by Subedar Nathu Singh Ranawat of Grenadier’s battalion encountered the militants at Thinmarg Gali. A fierce gun-fighting ensued between army and militants. Subedar Ranawat manouvered his troops to cover all escape routes. In the prolonged fire-fight, troops eliminated six hardcore foreign mercenaries. A few others, however, managed to escape taking cover of darkness and terrain of the area. An army jawan Sepoy Devender Bhati, who fought bravely in the encounter and was instrumental in killing a couple of militants, made supreme sacrifice after sustaining bullet injuries. Subedar Ranawat was also injured in the encounter and continued to fight with bullet injuries. Later, he was evacuated from the firing site and shifted to Command Hospital, where his condition was stated to be stable. During the searches carried out at the encounter site, troops have so far recovered three AK rifles, 24 AK magazines, 125 rounds, 40 grenades, two RPG attachments, one radio set, Rs 570 in Indian currency, Rs 117 in Pakistani currency besides some incriminating documents and letter heads of Azhar Masood’s Jaish-e-Mohammed and Al Badar outfits. All six slain militants were foreign mercenaries, probably Pakistanis and Afghanis. Their identities have not yet been established. Troops were still present in the area and the operation to eliminate the absconding militants was expected to be resumed shortly, the sources said. "This was a major success by Dah division, which was achieved due to excellent reputation, which the army formation has been able to build up with civil populace of the area", a Defence spokesman said, adding an excellent Intelligence network and more actionable and hard Intelligence is forthcoming due to sincere efforts of the army. |
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Bodies of kidnapped cops
recovered Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 12: Two Kashmiri militants were shot dead by troops of 12 Rashtriya Rifles at village Kamlariwah Chanjoo in Banihal tehsil of Doda district this morning while troops arrested a militant from village Phagali in Budhal tehsil of Rajouri district. Militants also killed three jawans of Indian Reserve Police (IRP) Ist battalion, who had been kidnapped from the house of National Conference block president Babu Khan at Mastan Dara in Surankot three days back. Official sources said troops of 12 RR launched a search operation at Kamlariwah Chanjoo in Banihal tehsil this morning after developing an information about the presence of a group of militants in the area. An encounter followed when militants fired upon the troops from a hideout and latter retaliated. In the exchange of firing which lasted over two hours, the Rashtriya Rifles personnel gunned down two Kashmiri militants without suffering any casualty on their side. Slain militants have been identified as Mohd Iqbal Bhat son of Sona Ullah Bhat and Mohd Ashraf Rather son of Ghulam Rasool, both residents of village Dooru in Anantnag district. Troops recovered two Ak rifle (one Ak-47 and one Ak-56) three hand grenades, one wireless set and seven magazines of Ak-56 from the possession of slain militants. Army and police launched a joint search operation at Phagali village of Budhal tehsil in Rajouri district and arrested a militant Abdul Rashid, a resident of village Toli in Mahore tehsil of Udhampur. The ultra was arrested from the house of one John Mohd son of Shamas Din of Phagali. John Mohd was a known harbourer of the militant. Police recovered one Ak-47 rifle with two magazines, two grenades, one pouch and 43 round of Ak, which John Mohd had hidden under maize crop in his fields. John Mohd was also taken into custody by local police for harbouring militants. Arrested militants Abdul Rashid, an activist of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit and John Mohd were being interrogated by police and security officials to ascertain clues about militant activities. Meanwhile, all three police constables of IRP Ist battalion, who were kidnapped by some unidentified militants from the house of National Conference leader Babu Khan, where they were on guard duty, on the intervening night of October 9 and 10, have been killed. Dead bodies of three constables including Abdul Majid, head constable, Abdul Rashid, selection grade constable and Ghulam Mohammed, constable were recovered last night from Chareer forest area of Surankote. Sources said the cops had been tortured and then slaughtered by the militants in captivity. Their bodies were recovered by police and sent to their houses after post-mortem. A search operation has been launched to eliminate the militants involved in the kidnapping. |
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Kashmir to suffer till
Indo-Pak friendship: Farooq Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, OCT 12: Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah today said Jammu and Kashmir will continue to bleed until friendship between India and Pakistan. "This House calls upon Pakistan to stop bleeding us and let peace prevail in the region" the CM said while winding up the discussions on a private member’s resolution in legislative assembly this afternoon. He said, Pakistan is not coming forward for normalizing relations though Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee made a strong bid in this direction. Dr Abdullah said training camps for militants are running across the border and Islamabad is parroting ‘Kashmir becoming Pakistan’. Hindus are being killed with a design to flare up communal tension, he said, noting that people of the country in general and leaders in particular, however, sagaciously appreciate the machinations of the enemy. "We are fighting a major war", the CM said, adding that those whose existence is based on 2-nation theory want to dismantle the traditional amity of people of the State. "We have to see that India remains a secular state," he said. Dr Abdullah expressed concern over the menace of terrorism and said that this has taken heavy toll in the State. He said Muslims, especially his party workers are also getting killed everyday and referred to the brutal assassination of Minister of State for Power some time ago. He said Pakistan employed guns in 1947 to browbeat the people of Jammu and Kashmir but ‘on gun point they cannot change our decisions; we live in a free nation’. The Chief Minister described as a major step the efforts made by India to fight terrorism in co-operation with America and Russia. Urging members not to raise finger on army and security forces, the Chief Minister said that mistake of single personnel or isolated incidents should not be used against entire force. The guilty are being punished for their wrong doings. He said the civilian population should also not be seen with suspicion because the people of the State are not Pakistanis. He also referred to the recent visit of the new Army Chief to the State and said his statement that infiltration would be effectively checked is significant. Acknowledging the role of special police officers (SPOs) and village defence committees (VDCs) in fighting militancy, Dr Abdullah said they have been provided with sophisticated weapons and communication system to effectively deal with the situation. He said 5000 SLRs have been provided to them and the remuneration increased. The members of these committees, both Hindus and Muslims, are soft targets and their contribution cannot be undermined. He called for taking such people in these committees who enjoy confidence of both the communities. The CM said the Centre has approved formation of three battalions of police, one of that has already been set up while recruitment for remaining two would start soon. Sharing the observations of the members about security scenario in the border belts, the Chief Minister said a high level meeting would be arranged soon, in which they can air their views in presence of the Home Minister and the Defence Minister. He said he is in regular contact with these ministers and whatever assistance is sought comes readily. Mr Ashok Sharma (Cong) moved the resolution seeking declaration of certain districts of Jammu division as disturbed areas. Mr M S Tariq, Mr Nissar Ahmed Khan and Mr Najeeb Suharwarthy spoke on the motion. Later, Mr Sharma withdrew his resolution on the request of the Chief Minister. |
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‘Backdoor’
appointments in Forest Deptt Excelsior Legal Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 12: Justice Arun Kumar Goel of the State High Court has issued notice to the Government in a writ petition challenging the "backdoor" appointments of wards of Ministers and bureaucrats in the Forest Department. The notices were served on Principal Secretary Forest Department, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Chief Conservator of Forests Jammu and 30 other private respondents. The notices were accepted by Advocate S K Anand on behalf of the Government. It was ordered by the Court that the entire original record of selection be produced in the Court on the next date of hearing. This order was passed in a writ petition filed by Jagdish Raj Gupta, Vikram Sharma, Susheel Bandral, Ashutosh Bandyal, Satish Sharma and Sanjeev Kumar, wherein the petitioners alleged that 30 candidates (private respondents) have been either appointed or were being appointed in pursuance to the recommendation of some Screening Committee constituted by the Government. It was pointed out that as per the Forest Department orders dated August 22, 2000 and communication dated August 19, 2000, the private respondents are shown to have been selected and appointed as Forestors. The petitioners stated that this action of selection and imparting training to the wards of the Ministers and bureaucrats by throwing to winds all canons of recruitment rules, was totally illegal, unjustified, against the provisions of the law and based on the principles of favourtism and nepotism. The petitioners demanded quashing of these "illegal" appointments. The petitioners stated that those selected as Forestors, were the wards of the Ministers and bureaucrats who resorted to all practices in providing appointments to them in the Forest Department. In the petition, some names of the private respondents have also been mentioned. Arifa Jan is a daughter of State Cabinet Minister Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad Shah. Anil Kumar Sharma is a son of former Minister Govind Ram Sharma. Kuldeep Raj is a son of Ram Chand Bhagat, MLA, R S Pura. The other private respondents, who as per the petition, have a close nexus with the Ministers and bureaucrats, have been appointed at the cost of the deserving candidates who despite highly qualified, are still unemployed. It was alleged that to make the private respondents eligible, they were provided necessary DDR training at the cost of public money. The petitioners submitted that this High Court has taken serious note of such practice adopted by various State functionaries in appointing persons at the behest of Ministers and bureaucrats. They also referred to certain judgments including the quashing of Class-IV appointments in Sales and Excise Department and said that, that judgment directly applies to the instant case, since the appointment of the private respondents can also be termed as " backdoor entrance". They prayed for quashing of the selection of these 30 private respondents. Advocates Sunil Sethi, Achal Sethi and Ravi Dogra appeared for the petitioners. |
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Militancy, migration boon
for many in J&K From Ahmed Ali Fayaz SRINAGAR, Oct 12: Minister of Revenue, Abdul Qayoom, today made a startling disclosure in the State Assembly that as many as 26,000 fake registrations of migrant families had been detected and cancelled by the Government. By the time the state Government opened its eyes, a hefty amount of Rs 32 Crore had been frittered away in air. In reply to BSP leader Sheikh Abdur Rehman’s question, the Revenue Minister Abdul Qayoom disclosed, during Question Hour, that "certain" fake ration cards as well as registration of migrant families had been noticed in the past and 26,000 of such registrations had been identified and either cancelled or suspended. He said that 95,139 quintals of rice, 21,171 quintals of flour and 3,390 quintals of sugar had been swindled on these fake ration cards and the amount involved was Rs 31,60,61,800-00. Mr Qayoom told the questioner that no committee had ever been constituted for fixing responsibility on the officers or officials involved in the migration scam. Countering the Minister, the BSP MLA claimed that two years ago the National Conference Government had stated that a committee had been investigating the matter but the same Government was now asserting that no such committee had ever been constituted. He demanded that the Government should set up a committee, identify the culprits and recover the money swindled from the State exchequer. By way of raising a supplementary question, Mohammad Sayeed Akhoon of NC claimed that thousands of businessmen from Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts -- who had voluntarily and wilfully settled in Jammu city -- had managed to obtain fake registration and ration cards with the connivance and involvement of several officials. Still, nobody had been punished in the matter even as the legislators had been crying hoarse for the last four years. He demanded immediate cancellation of all such fake migration cards and stringent action against the officials responsible for issuing such cards. In another supplementary, Ashok Sharma of Congress demanded constitution of a House committee which would investigate the scandal and submit its report to the Legislature within ten days. However, the Government refused to dole out any assurance. Nevertheless, Mr Qayoom emphasised that all such misappropriations had taken place during Governor’s rule and the NC Government had brought about considerable improvement in the system of making the migrants’ registration as well as distribution of relief, rations and ex gratia among them at Jammu and other places. He said that some fake registration cases had been detected recently as few people were still trying to register themselves as migrants by unfair and deceitful means. Quite a number of such cases had lately been assigned to Crime Branch for thorough investigation and legal action against the guilty. |
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Ultra, civilian killed Excelsior Correspondent RAJOURI, Oct 12: Seven youths, hailing from Alla Topa village of Behram Gala in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district who had been kidnapped by the militants about a fortnight back, have managed to escape from the captivity and surrendered before Romeo Force in Surankote today. Meanwhile, Punjab Regiment gunned down a militant at CST Post in Sunderbani while militants killed a civilian after kidnapping him in Palma area of this district in two separate incidents. According to Defence sources, seven youth of Behram Gala, Surankote appeared before Kalali post of Rashtriya Rifles, part of Romeo Force, alongwith their family members and offered themselves for surrender. The youths disclosed that they were kidnapped by a group of four Harkat-ul-Jehad Islami (HUJI) militants from Alla Topa village about 15 days back at gun point when they were returning to their houses after day’s work. They were made to walk in forest areas for several days and were finally rested in a forest area of Doda where the militants planned to give them arms training. However, on a fateful morning, all seven youths escaped from the forest area when the militants were sleeping in a hideout. They reached on a main road from where they boarded a Jammu bound bus and reached their houses this morning. The youths were identified as Khadim Hussain, 25, son of Noor Hussain, Barkat Hussain, 19, son of Mohd Shaffi, Manzoor Hussain, 19, son of Mohd Hussain, Gulzar Hussain, 18, son of Ali Hussain, all resident of village Tofali, Abdul Gani, 19, son of Mohd Din of Kalali, Wazir Hussain, 25 son of Lal Hussain of Mori and Abdul Hanief, 17 son of Said Mohammed, of Banot, Mendhar. After questioning and investigations, Romeo Force restored the youths to their families. Romeo Force officials appreciated the courage displayed by the youths in escaping from militants’ captivity. "This indicates that local youths were no more interested in Pakistan-sponsored militancy now", the Defence sources said. Meanwhile, troops of Punjab Regiment today spotted a group of three militants moving around their CST Post near the Line of Control (LoC) in Sunderbani sector this morning. Troops challenged the ultras, who opened firing. Armymen retaliated. In the exchange of firing, troops gunned down one militant while his two associates managed to escape. No casualty was reported on army side in the gun-battle. One Ak-47 rifle was recovered from the possession of slain militant, whose identity hasn’t been established so far but he was believed to be a foreign mercenary. In another incident, militants gunned down a civilian Mohd Hussain son of Faqir Chand, a resident of village Kalalkas. His bullet-riddled body was recovered from Palma this evening. A police party recovered the dead body and handed it over to family members after post-mortem. A case has been registered in the killing. |
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Cong members walkout of Assembly Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Oct 12: The five-member Congress group today walked out of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in protest against the alleged failure of the State Government to provide relief to the displaced persons of the border areas of Jammu. The Congress members led by CLP leader Tara Chand left the House as they were not "satisfied" with the statement made by the Minister of State for Home Mushtaq Ahmad Lone giving details of the relief being provided to the displaced persons. "We are not saisfied with the reply", Tara Chand told reporters outside the House. He alleged that the situation in the border areas of Jammu was deteriorating with each passing day because of "inaction" on the part of the Government. A large number of people were migrating to safer areas in the entire border belt and the number of such persons was increasing, he said. Earlier, Lone told the House that 12 persons were killed and 37 injured due to intense cross border firing and shelling since May 1999 forcing 18,582 families to migrate from the affected border villages in Jammu. He said two relief packages were sanctioned in July 1999 in view of the incessant firing and shelling from across the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC). One of the relief packages was for Leh and Kargil districts of frontier region of Ladakh and the other for Jammu division and the Kashmir valley, the minister said. Nine kgs of ration per head, ten litres of kerosene oil per family were being provided free of cost to the displaced, he said. Apart from this, cash assistance of Rs 200 per head, ex-gratia relief of Rs one lakh to the next of kin of a person killed in border firing, ex-gratia relief of 50 per cent of the loss of immovable property subject to a ceiling of Rs one lakh in each case and free medical aid to the displaced persons for Jammu division has been granted, Lone said. He said the admissibility was limited to those families who have either not been able to cultivate their land at all or who have lost their crops. The relief was also available to affected landless labourers residing in the mentioned border belt,Minister said. No temporary displacement has taken place in the districts of Poonch and Rajouri so far, Lone said. He said an amount of Rs 22.20 crore has been spent so far on relief to the displaced persons from the border areas included Rs 11.92 crore as cash assistance. |
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Vigilance nabs Revenue official taking graft Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 12: Vigilance Organisation today arrested a Revenue Department official red handed taking graft from a villager for processing his file of Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC). He has been identified as Behari Lal son of Breta Ram, a resident of village Kat Mehra in Jourian area of Akhnoor tehsil. Official sources said a written complaint was lodged with Vigilance Organisation by a villager Parlhad Singh Chib son of Hans Raj, a resident of village Bakore in Akhnoor that Behari Lal had demanded a bribe of Rs 2700 from him for processing the file of his nephew Tarsem Singh’s state subject. Behari Lal, who was posted as Junior Assistant in the office of Naib Tehsildar Jourian had refused to pursue the case without taking bribe. Hapless Parlhad Singh paid Rs 2500 to Behari Lal and promised to pay the remaining Rs 200 after the state subject was issued. However, the sources said, that despite getting Rs 2500, Behari Lal kept on delaying the case and insisted on full payment before processing the case. A harassed Parlhad Singh approached SP Vigilance Jammu Vijay Singh Samyal and lodged a written complaint against the Revenue official. The Vigilance sleuths raided the office of Naib Tehsildar Jourian this morning and arrested Behari Lal soon after he charged Rs 200 from Parlhad Singh in his office. The amount of corruption was recovered from his possession in the presence of respectable eye-witnesses. A case has been registered against Behari Lal for further investigations. He has been lodged in the police station of Vigilance Organisation. The Vigilance team, which trapped Behari Lal, was led by Inspector R K Handoo and was supervised by SP Vigilance Vijay Singh Samyal and DySP Vigilance Abdul Gani. |
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Murder accused industrialist arrested Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 12: Gandhi Nagar police today arrested industrialist Tarlok Chand Mahajan of UNO Lane Talab Tillo, who had shot dead another industrialist Rahul Sharma inside his Olympian Paints factory at Gangyal on September 27. The arrest was made from an under-construction house in Nanak Nagar Extension by a police team led by DySP Gandhi Nagar Abdul Rouf Lone. A car No. 3909 JK01D, which was used by Mahajan in fleeing from the spot and a weapon of offence (a revolver with four cartridges) were recovered from his possession. Police said Mahajan had escaped to Pathankote after the murder. However, he kept on shifting his hideouts from Pathankot to New Delhi and Haridwar during the period to evade arrest. Finally, he fell into police trap this afternoon when he had come to Nanak Nagar. |
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Pathak case hearing adjourned to Jan 10 NEW DELHI, Oct 12: A designated court hearing the Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case involving former Premier P V Narasimha Rao and controversial godman Chandraswami was today informed by CBI that former US Congressman Marvyn M Dymally has been served summons to depose before it as a defence witness. CBI counsel J S Wadia told Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke that the agency had served summons to Dymally and Swami Chakradhari in their respective addresses in California and New Jersey but failed to contact another defence witness he had changed his address. The court, which today sentenced Rao to three year’s imprisonment in the JMM MPs bribery case, adjourned the hearing till January 10. The court had earlier issued summonses to these foreign witnesses as Chandraswami and his aide Kailash Nath Aggarwal, also an accused in the case, wanted that these people should be examined as they would stand in defence to the accused. All the accused are facing trial for allegedly cheating London-based pickle tycoon Pathak, now dead, of one lakh dollars on the promise of getting him a paper pulp supply contract in India in 1986.(PTI) |
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French writer wins Nobel Prize for literature STOCKHOLM, Oct 12: French Chinese-language writer Gao Xingjian today won the Nobel Prize for literature for work that has opened "new paths for the Chinese novel and drama", the Swedish Academy announced. Gao Xingjian was awarded for his validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama," the jury said in its citation. He will take home the prize sum of nine million Kronor, or just under a million dollars. He will receive the prize, along with the other Nobel laureates, from the hands of Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf at the official ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the death in 1896 of the prize’s creator, Swedish scholar and inventor Alfred Nobel. Last year, the prize went to German author Guenter Grass for a body of work dealing with the post-war period in Germany and the effects of Nazism. Today’s literature prize was the fifth of the six Nobel Prizes to be awarded this year and was adjudged by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The final and most prestigious prize, that for peace, will be announced tomorrow. (AFP) |
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Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Oct 12: Troops of Poonch brigade of Ace of Spades Division achieved a major success by foiling an infiltration bid in general area of Kirni in Poonch killing three ultras and recovering a huge quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives. Troops deployed in an ambush noticed some armed ultras coming across the Line of Control. Troops allowed them to come closer. On coming close they were challenged but in reply they opened fire on troops. In the ensuing exchange of fire, three militants were killed on the spot. In subsequent search of the area, some blood trails leading to PoK were found indicating that a few more ultras’ got injured but managed to withdraw to PoK under the cover of darkness. Troops recovered one AK-47 assault rifle with five magazines, one 32 calibre revolver, 259 rounds of AK-47 rifle, five RPG rockets, five rocket boosters, 19 grenades of under barrel grenade launcher, two rifle grenades, 15 anti-tank rifle grenades, two rifle smoke grenades, eight hand grenades and seven IEDs. |
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