Dialogue to
continue NEW DELHI, Nov 5 : India and Pakistan today failed to achieve any breakthrough on the dispute over Tulbul Navigation Project in Jammu and Kashmir but agreed to continue the dialogue to find an amicable solution. A joint statement issued after over four hours of talks between official-level delegations of the two sides said the discussions were held in a frank and constructive atmosphere while reaffirming their commitment to Indus Water Treaty of 1960. It said both sides exchanged views and took note of the discussions on the subject held between October 1987 and August 1992. The two sides would meet again at a mutually convenient time with a view to finding a solution to the issue. The statement said future discussions would continue on the Navigation Project consistent with the provisions of the Indus Water Treaty signed between the two neighbours under the aegis of the World Bank. Officials said discussions were held in a bid to bridge the differences over the project as the two sides commenced a nine-day second phase of official-level talks on outstanding issues that included Siachen and Sir Creek Maritime dispute. While the Indian delegation for the talks is being led by Z Hassan, Secretary, Water Resources, the Pakistani team is being headed by Syed Shahid Hussain, Water and Power Secretary. Work on the project, which started in 1984, has been kept in abeyance since 1987 with Pakistan raising objections on water-sharing by invoking the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 signed between the two neighbours under the aegis of the World Bank. Both sides outlined their respective positions before starting negotiation on bridging differences over the proposed construction of the Barrage on the Jhelum River, downstream from Wullar Barrage, officials said. New Delhi has made it abundantly clear to Pakistan that the project is squarely in keeping with the Indus Waters Treaty and hence Pakistan should have no objections to it. The construction of the project is essential to sustain navigation throughout the year between Wullar Lake and the Sopore section, especially in Winter. Hasan said India attached considerable significance to the project as it would benefit the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He said any incremental flow from the Wullar Lake would only be incidental and all downstream projects would stand to gain. India also made a forceful point that the project would provide a controlled structure so as to increase the draft from two feet to four feet during lean season. (AGENCIES) |
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Presence
of more such equipments not ruled out Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 5: The Director General of Police, Mr Gurbachan Jagat today don’t rule out the possibility of more sophisticated and modernised weapons (like two pilotless aircrafts seized from Adarnia area of Kalakote yesterday) having been smuggled into the state by Pakistan-trained militants. Addressing a press conference at Police Control Room (PCR) this afternoon, Mr Jagat said the recovery of these two air devices has given a new dimension to the ongoing proxy war unleashed by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir for the last 10 years. "We are fully geared to meet with the situation. Our forces are on full alert in the entire State to meet with any eventuality from militants’ side", he said, adding "we are planning to effectively counter these moves". Replying to a question, the State Police Chief said "we already had information about the smuggling of such modernised weapons by the Pakistan-trained militants into the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, which were being targeted by the ISI to intensify militants’ activities". Mr Jagat said a new gameplan of Pakistani agencies to target VVIPs and vital installations in Jammu and Kashmir was unearthed with the recovery of these aerodynamic flying machines filled with powerful explosive devices. He said confidential reports had indicated that militants planned to smuggle in some air-borne aerodynamic modules which could be homed onto high security and inaccessible areas by them with remote control device. Police developed this information and conducted a series of search operations in several areas of Rajouri district and after picking up of dozens of suspects, one finally broke down and confessed of a dump, he said. A police party reached the forest area yesterday and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including two pilotless remote-controlled aerodynamic flying machines with built-in cavities to be filled with explosives, he said. The fuel tank attached to the object can store about 600 Ml of aviation fuel which can run the air device for about two hours in one go, he added. Giving details about the working of pilotless aircrafts, which were displayed before the newsmen, Mr Jagat said the sophisticated aircraft weigh only 15 Kg and have a dimension of four by two feet. Mr Jagat said the recovery of the air devices indicate that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence has begun to give a serious dimension to the "proxy war" in Jammu and Kashmir. The state administrative machinery had reports of plans by anti-national elements to smuggle in modernised and sophisticated weaponry in the two districts of Rajouri and Poonch bordering Pakistan and the recovery of these aircraft confirmed the reports, he said. The pilotless ‘mini-aircraft,’ made of thermacol and covered with a thin layer of plastic, are equipped with a powerful engine and can fly at an height of 500-600 feet at speeds of 200 KMPH. The aviation fuel tank which is fitted with the engine has a capacity of 600 Ml, can run the plane for around two hours at a go and carry 1.5 Kg of explosives. The DGP said the pilotless aircraft have the capability of hitting targets using the remote-control devices which were found alongwith the high-tech aircraft. The police was being fed very useful information as the intelligence network and operations in Poonch and Rajouri districts have been further intensified. The civil population was openly cooperating and giving information to the police patrols in the remote areas of the district, Mr Jagat said. He said the chief motive of the ISI in pushing sophisticated weaponry into the state was to hit the security installations but with the finding of the remote-controlled devices, the police had foiled the gameplan. It has also come as a blow to the morale of the militant cadre as they could never anticipate such an operation in a remote area like Kalakote, the DGP said. Meanwhile, a combing operation has been launched in the area to get to the core of the matter. The State Police Chief said police had launched operation in the remote forest areas like Kothian, Darnee, Chitha Derri, Narsingh Pura, Nroh and Sadha Kanthan to effect recoveries of the modernised equipments after information about them was gathered during interrogation of a suspect for seven consecutive days. Identity of the suspect has been withheld by the police in view of security reasons. Police party under the supervision of IGP Jammu Mr Kuldeep Khuda and directions of DIG Rajouri-Poonch Mr K Rajendran and SSP Rajouri Mr Hemant Lohia reached the spot after four hours trekking on feet and effected the seizure. Efforts reduce
tension on Siachen NEW DELHI, Nov 5: Amidst continuing firing and conflict at the world’s highest battlefield, Defence Secretaries from India and Pakistan will meet here tomorrow and make renewed efforts, after a gap of six years, to find a mechanism to reduce tension on the Siachen glacier. Pakistan’s Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retd) Ifthikar Ali Khan, will lead the 12-member delegation from Islamabad at the one-day talks being held as part of the ‘composite and integrated’ dialogue on the simmering issues between the two countries. The 12-member Indian side, led by Defence Secretary Ajit Kumar, will also include Director General Military Operations Lt Gen Inder Verma and senior officials of the External Affairs and Defence Ministries. The other members of the Pakistani delegation include Maj Gen Jamshed Malik, Additional Secretary, Defence, Mr Tariq Altaf, Additional Secretary, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Maj Gen Tauqir Zia, Director General Military Operations, Maj Gen Syed Ali Hamid, Director General (Plans), Joint Services Headquarters and Pakistan’s High Commissioner here Mr Ashraf Jehangir Qazi. Between 1986 and 1992, India and Pakistan have held six rounds of talks. Tomorrow’s dialogues is not being seen as the seventh round but as a fresh initiative to stop warring on the 75 km long glacier. The battle at Siachen has been linked very closely to the ongoing Kashmir conflict. In 1949, after the first war over this territory had ended, the Karachi agreement had provided for the establishment of a UN supervised cease fire line drawn between the positions of the two armies. This line extended from the International Border between India and Pakistan near Chhamb in Jammu and Kashmir in a rough arc, running nearly 800 kms North. No attempt was made at the time of the agreement to extend the cease fire line beyond NJ 9842 as far as the Chinese border which left an undelineated distance of about 65 kms. Controversy later erupted over the wording of the Karachi agreement. India inferred from this wording—‘thence north to the glaciers’— the tacit extension of the cease fire line Northwards through glacial terrain all the way to the Chinese border, which meant that most of Siachen was unambiguously and lawfully in Indian hands. Pakistan rejected this interpretation saying that the 1949 delimitation agreement contained no reference to the cease fire line beyond NJ 9842. The 1965 and 1971 wars did not resolve the issue. For the first time in 1984, the Siachen glacier boundary issue was added to the list of major issues of contention between the two countries. The search for a solution to the Siachen dispute has been linked to the more complicated and politically sensitive issue of Kashmir. During the talks between 1986 and 1992, Pakistan has been insisting that the Line of Control (LoC) runs Northeastwards in a straight line from NJ9842 to the Karkoram pass on the border with China. This extension of the LoC, they say, along with Pakistan’s right to administer all territory lying westwards, was there in the 1963 Sino-Pakistani border agreement. India has been insisting that Pakistan was violating the Simla agreement which barred not only the threat to use force but any attempt to alter the LoC. During the last round of negotiations between the defence services of the two countries, the draft agreement on creating a de-militarised zone was largely accepted with defined arrangements for patrolling and monitoring. The talks, this time, however, come at a time when there are reports of Pakistani attacks on Indian posts at Siachen almost every day. Since October 18, Pakistani forces have made seven bids to alter the ground positions in the Siachen glacier area. (UNI) BSF to continue operations in
J&K From BL Kak JAMMU, Nov 5: The Government of India has no plans, in the given situation, to replace Border Security Force (BSF) in Jammu and Kashmir with the Army to deal with Pakistan-sponsored militancy and terrorism. The Director-General of the BSF, Mr EN Ram Mohan, has, in fact, been asked by the Union Home Minister, Mr LK Advani, to explore the possibility of making available additional BSF troops, as demanded by the J&K Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, to flush out militants and foreign mercenaries in the State, particularly in the districts of Poonch, Rajouri and Udhampur in the Jammu province. A top official of the Government of India, now on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir, told EXCELSIOR on Thursday that following the circulation of a report by a wire agency a few days ago, quoting the Director-General of the J&K Police, Mr Gurbachan Jagat, as saying that a fresh strategy evolved to tackle Pakistan-sponsored insurgency envisaged replacing BSF personnel with "specially trained" Army personnel for flushing out militants, Mr LK Advani contacted the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, and the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen VP Malik, primarily to obtain details of the reported scheme of things. Both Mr Fernandes and Gen Malik informed the Home Minister that considering the fact that the BSF personnel had, in recent months, done a "wonderful" job in Kashmir and in Poonch and Rajouri districts while carrying out operations against militants and foreign mercenaries, the Army Headquarters favoured the continuance of the on-going coordinated effort by the Army and the BSF against anti-nationals and terrorists across Jammu and Kashmir. This was followed by Mr Advani’s interaction with the Director-General of the BSF on the question of commissioning additional BSF troops for flushing out militants and imported battle-hardened mercenaries in J&K. In view of the highly disturbing situation in certain parts of the northeast region, where the BSF troops are battling to knock out insurgents and extremists, the BSF Chief, it was officially pointed out, would not be in a position to make available more than one battalion of BSF personnel for J&K at present. The prevailing strength of the BSF in J&K is considered to be enough to sustain the on-going operations in association with the Army personnel against militants and foreign mercenaries, if the virtual suspension of the flow of sophisticated weapons from across the border for anti-India subversives and terrorists for the past three months is any guide. That the stock of such arms in the hands of extremists has substantially depleted has been borne out by the sudden increase in the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by militants and mercenaries not only in parts of the Kashmir valley but also in several pockets of Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts in recent weeks. Yet another significant development: Pakistan’s ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) has been forced, because of the substantial decrease in the number of sophisticated arms in the possession of Pakistani "patriots" in Jammu and Kashmir, to instruct them to avoid direct confrontation with the Indian security forces. And after the killing of a large number of militants, mercenaries and infiltrators in Kupwara and Gurez sectors of Kashmir valley as well as in Poonch and Rajouri districts and the arrest of dozens of subversives and terrorists in the past three months, Pakistan-sponsored extremists have been found making maximum use of the available IEDs and grenades. Acute shortage of arms is not the only factor responsible for the perturbation among scores of imported mercenaries who have already established their supremacy over and command of militancy almost everywhere in Jammu and Kashmir. Shortage of funds has also led many among them to repeat their requests to the other side for adequate monetary assistance. Indian security forces and intelligence agencies have, in the past three months, succeeded in blocking the flow of monetary assistance to J&K-based militants and mercenaries from across the border. A major blow was received by these elements, particularly in Poonch and Rajouri sectors, when Indian security personnel recently achieved significant successes while seizing fake Indian currency worth lakhs of rupees. The Home and Defence Ministries seem to be satisfied with the outcome of the pro-active measures against militancy and terrorism in J&K in the past some weeks. That Pakistan has experienced reverses on yet another front in the State has been explained by the successes of the Army and the BSF in their operations to curb militancy, even as certain pockets in the Valley and in Poonch and Rajouri sectors continue to pose a problem. From January to the end of October this year, the BSF personnel killed nearly 60 militants in Kashmir and 45 in Jammu region, besides capturing about 170 militants. At least 470 suspects -- 400 in the Valley and 70 in Jammu region -- were also apprehended during the period. The number of the BSF personnel killed during the period has been put at 50 -- 28 in the Valley and 22 in Jammu region. In spite of raging criticism in some foreign capitals, particularly Islamabad, against New Delhi’s offensive against Pakistan-sponsored proxy war in Kashmir, the Government of India -- Mr LK Advani in particular -- has favoured the continuance of pro-active measures against the role of Pakistani agencies and their supporters in India. In fact, by the time the Pakistani defence team led by Secretary, Lt Gen (Retd) Iftikhar Ali Khan, arrived in Delhi on Wednesday for talks with Indian officials, the Union Home Ministry had charged Pakistani agencies with destabilising internal security in the country. According to official statistics, over 29,000 civilians and 5100 personnel from the security forces had lost their lives in ISI-sponsored terrorism. The terrorists, a Home Ministry release said, had carried out more than 4730 bomb attacks and rendered 2.78 lakh people homeless. The estimated damage to property in terrorist attacks was put at around Rs 2,000 crores. Village headman
killed in custody Excelsior Correspondent SRINAGAR, Nov 5: While as militants today subjected an Army convoy to an IED attack at Hartrath near Pattan and left 5 jawans injured, the troops in retaliation tortured the civilians around and allegedly torched at least 10 shops. At least 12 people have been reported injured, one of them seriously. In yet another incident, the dead body of a village headman, who had been reportedly lifted by Army on Monday last, was recovered today in Rafee-abad area of Baramulla district. According to the details gathered from official as well as civilian sources, militants today caused an IED explosion with the help of a remote control device on Hartrath culvert, 19 km from here, on Srinagar-Baramulla highway at 0945 hours when an Army convoy was on way to Trehgam from the capital city. The slightly ill-timed but extremely powerful explosion caused partial damage to a bus of the security forces which was about to negotiate the bridge. The IED seemed to have been planted under the heavy steel structure culvert earlier fabricated by Army Engineers. It was the 5th consecutive attack at the same culvert in the last seven years. Five Army personnel sustained injuries, two of them rather seriously. However, a Defence Spokesman said that only two jawans got injured. He said that one of them was critically injured. Immediately after the blast, troops alighted from their vehicles and unleashed their ire on the hapless civilians. Eyewitnesses said that a number of civilians were beaten up while as 12 persons were left injured. A 60-year-old civilian was said to be critical in hospital. He had sustained severe head injury. Residents complained that the angry troops set ablaze 12 shops and downed their shutters. The fire tenders were not allowed to proceed untill the entire merchandise got reduced to ashes. Bukharis and trunks at a tin-fabricating shop were also damaged. The extensively destroyed shops included groceries, bakeries and a fertilisers outlet. As the culvert suffered extensive damage and 108-Engineers Regiment of Army launched the repairs and replacements, the vehicular traffic on Srinagar-Baramulla and Srinagar-Kupwara roads was diverted via Hanjiveera-Magam-Narbal. Official sources said that Army's Road Opening Patrol (ROP) had failed to detect the IED at the unguarded culvert which created trouble. When asked for comments, PRO Defence Major P Purushottam said that he had no knowledge of the troops' manhandling the civilians and torching their shops. However, the details were being gathered from different sources and channels, he added. He said that minor damage was caused to the vehicle and only two soldiers had got injured. Reports from Baramulla said that police today recovered the dead body of the Numberdar of Khattar Daji in Panzla area of Rafee-abad. Identified as Abdul Gani Bhat son of Habibullah Bhat had been picked up by the troops of Rashtriya Rifles 28 Bn, camping at Chatoosa, who had conducted a search operation of the village on Nov 2 last. Residents alleged that the elderly village headman was tortured to death for his ‘crime’ of not having informed the Army about the presence of some militants in the village. Nobody was available for comments from Army. Reports said that people of the area were angry as well as shocked over the custodial killing of the civilians. Reports from Anantnag said that Ms Parveena of Brindal, Dooru, who had been rescued in an injured condition by security forces from the clutches of militants, breathed her last today. Reports from Kupwara said that one unidentified militant was killed by security forces in an encounter at Rishi-Nar forest area. Reports said that a 17-year-old girl namely Hameeda daughter of Abdul Gani Lone of Haihama was devoured by a leopard in forest area of Haihama. Militant killed in
Doda Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 5: Four Army jawans were injured when militants launched a rocket attack on an Army camp at village Potha in Surankote area of Poonch district while troops gunned down a hardcore militant at village Ogadh in Udhyanpur area of Doda district today. A Defence spokesman said the jawans of Rashtriya Rifles launched a massive search operation in the general area of Potha near Surankote at 1300 hours today following a tip off received about militants’ presence. Militants attacked the approaching Army personnel with rockets attacks and heavy firing from automatic weapons. One of the rocket fired by the militants hit an Army barrack wounding all four jawans present there. Army personnel retaliated and a fierce exchange of firing continued between the two sides for more than three hours. Additional troops also reached the spot from an adjoining Army camp and started chasing the militants, who were fleeing from the spot during the cross-firing. Militants involved in the attack were foreign mercenaries, the spokesman said, adding they were being hunted by the troops in forest areas but no success had been achieved so far. Four injured Army jawans have been shifted to a Military Hospital where their condition was stated to be stable. The Army barrack also suffered damages in the rocket attack. Meanwhile, a dreaded militant was killed in an encounter with Army personnel at village Ogadh, about two kms south of village Udhyanpur in Doda district today. An Army jawan was injured in the encounter. The Defence spokesman said identity of the slain militant hasn’t been established so far but he was suspected to be a local. Troops have handed over his dead body to local police for identification. Other associates of the slain militant, who were also involved in the encounter, managed to escape taking advantage of the forest cover. Troops continued searches in the area to track down the absconding militants. One pistol with two magazines and 10 rounds and a diary was recovered from the possession of slain militant. The diary was being decoded by the Armymen to ascertain its contents. The injured Army jawan was evacuated from the scene of encounter and shifted to an Army camp from where he was referred to hospital. His condition was improving. Meanwhile, the spokesman said, Army jawans also recovered another consignment of arms and ammunition from Chirala forest area of Gandoh tehsil last night. The seizure include four rifle grenades, four hand grenades, four magazines of AK-47 rifles, 40 meters safety fuse wire and 118 rounds of ammunition besides ration and clothing articles. However, no arrest was made from the forest area as militants had managed to escape from the spot. Protest against
acid attack Excelsior Correspondent UDHAMPUR, Nov 5: Students of Women College and Degree College today boycotted their classes and held a demonstration in the town in protest against police failure to apprehend the accused involved in throwing acid on a female student inside the Women College premises the other day. The agitated students shouted slogans against police and threatened to intensify their agitation if the accused, who had reportedly been identified, weren’t arrested by the police immediately. Reports said the students of degree college first walked out of their classes in the morning and gathered inside the college premises where they held a demonstration blaming police for taking the serious issue in a casual manner. The students then marched towards Women’s College and forced closure of classes. Students of both the colleges demonstrated against the incident demanding action against the accused and police officers for allegedly shielding the culprits. After over two hours demonstration, the students dispersed peacefully but threatened to intensify the agitation if police didn’t act immediately on their demands. As reported, a group of three miscreants had thrown acid on a Part-II class student Bhawani Sharma daughter of Bansi Lal Sharma of Chenani. The acid was thrown from boundary wall of the college targeting face of the girl when she was standing in the college premises alongwith her colleagues. Miscreants had managed to escape after throwing the acid. The girl was shifted to the district hospital from where she was discharged after first-aid. Reports said police have identified the culprits but all of them including the prime accused had gone into hiding immediately after the incident. A case has already been registered at Udhampur police station for further investigations. Migrants march to Kathua, demonstrate Excelsior Correspondent KATHUA, Nov 5: A large number of migrants from border areas of Hiranagar today marched to Deputy Commissioner’s office here and held a massive demonstration shouting slogans in support of their demands. Even after migration from forward areas, there was no let up in Pakistan firing on the International Border. Reports said the migrants including women and children and led by Numberdars and other representatives of the public marched from Hiranagar to Kathua this morning and staged a dharna-cum-demonstration outside the office of Deputy Commissioner. The migrants were shouting slogans against Pakistan Government for forcing migration of the civilians . They also assailed the State Government for not responding to their problems and taking the serious issue in a casual manner. Demonstration by the migrants continued till this evening after which they returned to their transit camp at the Tehsil office of Hiranagar. The migrants have threatened to march to Civil Secretariat on the day of its opening on November 9 to protest the Government failure in conceding their demands. The migrants were demanding that Government should provide five marlas of land to each family in the safer zones for their accommodation and compensation to the farmers who couldn’t cultivate their land in view of Pakistan firing. The dharna was led by Mr Nanak Chand and Mr Shivdev Singh. A BJP delegation comprising Mr Kashmira Singh, Mr Ranjit Singh and Mr Lal Chand visited Hiranagar today and listened to the migrants’ problems. They assured to take up their demands with the Government. Leaders of other parties including Mr Girdhari Lal, Mr Jagdish Lal, Mr Naresh Sharma, Mr Jugal Bali, Mr I D Khajuria, Mr Zalim Singh and Mr Rajinder Singh Manju also met the migrants. Addressing, the migrants, BJP leader and MLA from Hiranagar Mr Prem Lal blamed Congress (I) for present plight of people living on the border areas. He said it was under the Government of Congress (I) that militancy erupted in the state and Pakistan started unprovoked firing. He urged the migrant families not to get misled by some political leaders who were trying to get mileage even out of the migration of the people. Mr Prem Lal said the BJP would ensure that migrants’ demands are conceded by the Government at the earliest. Excelsior Correspondent HUMHAMA (BUDGAM), Nov 5: Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police have unearthed a massive arms dump of Hizbul Mujahideen and recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition. DIG Srinagar-Budgam Mr PL Gupta told journalists at a press conference here today that on the basis of a specific information, District Police Budgam apprehended a freshly-infiltrated militant of Hizbul Mujahideen and his sustained interrogation led to the recovery of a large quantity of arms and ammunition. Seven AK-56 rifles, 14 magazines, 7 hand grenades, 2 pistols and a quantity of assorted ammunition was recovered from the Hizb arms dump in Potshai forest area in Lolab Valley of Kupwara district. Gupta said that SOG Budgam, led by SP Operations Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, conducted the raid at Potshai and unearthed the arms dump which was identified by the detained militant whose identity was not disclosed. He said that some more revelations as also seizures were expected in the matter which could be hampered with the disclosure of the detained militant’s identity. He, however, said that the detainee had cooperated with the SOG and revealed the identities of all the 28 Kashmiri militants who had lately infiltrated from PoK via Kupwara. CRPF, according to DIG Srinagar, also played a role in conducting the raid and recovering the arms. While as four boys of the group belonged to Budgam district, others were the residents of Ganderbal and some areas of Baramulla district. As for the general security scenario in the Central Kashmir, Gupta said that militancy had been contained to a large extent though Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Harkat-ul-Ansaar cadres were present in several localities. He said that most of the militants were in Ganderbal, Ajas as also a few upper Budgam localities. Gupta said that Shaheen, Hameed Gada and Bul Hajam were the top-wanted militant commanders in Central Kashmir. He said that efforts were currently in progress to revive the otherwise defunct Al-Umar Mujahideen in the Capital city while as Tehreek-e-Jihad-e-Islami was likely to be revived in near future. Gupta said that even as some groups of infiltrators were those of Kashmiri youth, the overall command was very much in the hands of foreigners. He said that during November and December, the militants hiding in the forest areas were likely to come down into the civilian population but no stone would be left unturned to decimate them on sight. Gupta said that police stations of Beerwah, Chadoura and Safapora had reported the activities of some foreign militants in their respective localities. While admitting the recent militant attacks on J&K Police as a "setback", Mr Gupta said that it had admittedly added a new dimension to the Valley insurgency. He said that hopefully police would respond to the threat professionally. SSP Budgam Gulzar Singh Salathia who planned the operation, SP Operation SAH Bukhari as also a number of police and CRPF officers were present on the occasion. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Rifles 14 Bn recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition from Bandipora localities which included one disposable rocket launcher, one rocket, 10 kg explosive, one remote control device and one radio set. RR 5 Bn recovered two hand grenades from Chadoura. CBI objects shifting of Laloo to Officers Mess PATNA, Nov 5: CBI today objected to the Bihar administration’s decision to lodge former Chief Ministers Laloo Prasad Yadav and Jagannath Mishra, at present in judicial custody in connection with a fodder scam case, at an Officers Mess at BMP guest house at Phulwarisharif. The investigating agency’s standing counsel Rakesh Kumar said the administration’s decision was improper and pleaded before Justice M Y Iqbal of the Patna High Court to call for a report from the trial court as well as State Government on the justifiability of allowing Yadav and Mishra to stay at a guest house. Justice Iqbal, who began hearing of pleas by the two accused for regular bail in connection with a conspiracy angle case of the scam (RC 64 (A)/96) after CBI raised its objection, asked the agency to file a separate petition for the purpose. The designated CBI court of S K Lal had on October 30 remanded Yadav and Mishra to judicial custody till November 13 in connection with the case. (PTI) Excelsior correspondent KATRA, Nov 5: Katra police have rescued a youth from the captivity of three kidnappers in a raid conducted at their hideout. Police said the youth identified as Preetam Singh son of Munshi Ram was kidnapped from Bus Stand, Katra yesterday afternoon by a notorious criminal and smuggler Ramesh Kumar alias Bittu of Reasi. Getting a report of kidnapping, a Katra police party led by SHO Mr Behari Lal Sharma raided the hideout of kidnappers and rescued the youth. Bittu was arrested on the spot while his two associated managed to escape. Police said raids were being conducted at Katra and Reasi for the arrest of two absconders, one of whom was also wanted in a rape case. A case has been registered against the accused at Katra police station. 4 civilians injured in Kargil by Pak shelling Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 5: Four people were injured in renewed shelling by Pakistani troops in Kargil town of Frontier Ladakh region today, a Defence spokesman said here. The Pakistani troops continued to target Kargil town and its adjoining areas with mortar fire and shells, the spokesman said. Four civilians were injured in Idgah area of the town, he said, adding Indian troops also retaliated effectively. While Indian troops destroyed one Pakistani bunker at Siachen glacier last evening, two Indian bunkers were damaged in Batallick area of Kargil district during the exchange of firing, he said. Heavy firing exchanges
between two sides were continuing in Tangdhar area of
Kashmir valley. Details of any casualties or damage to
property in the latest firing and shelling were awaited,
he said.(PTI) NEW DELHI, Nov 5 : Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani said today the Government had nothing to do with the organisation reportedly trying to build a Ram Temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya. Speaking to a delegation of all political parties from West Bengal here, Mr Advani refuted the allegation that the BJP led coalition Government was associated with any organisation reportedly constructing a Ram Temple at the disputed site. It was a section of the media and the people opposed to BJP who were making the allegation. What the Government was concerned with was maintenance of peace and harmony. The Government had nothing to do with the construction of the proposed temple at Ayodhya. As a representative of the Government, he was concerned with preserving peace and communal harmony, Mr Advani said. A spokesman for the delegation said the Home Minister made the remarks after the delegation had submitted to him a resolution adopted by the State Legislative Assembly unanimously on June 17 condemning the attempt at constructing the proposed temple.(UNI) |