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7 militants, jawan killed in 2 gun-battles

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Sept 6: Army today killed seven militants in two separate operations in areas close to the Line of Control(LoC) in Kupwara and Bandipora districts in north Kashmir. One Army jawan was also killed in the operation while another was injured.

Acting on specific information about presence of militants in Baktoor area of Gurez sector in Bandipora district, Army launched an operation yesterday to neutralize them, official sources said.

They said as soon as the soldiers noticed movement of the militants, they were asked to surrender but the ultras refused and opened heavy firing on the troops.

Army troops returned the fire towards the militant positions, leading to a fierce exchange of firing between the two sides.

"Four militants have been killed in the encounter so far," Srinagar-based Defence spokesman Lt Colonel J S Brar said.

He said identity and group affiliation of the militants was not known immediately as the operation was still in progress. "Full details of the operation will be known once post-operation searches are concluded and it is ensured that there are no remnants of the militant group left in the area", he added.

Two Army jawans were injured in initial firing by the militants. One of the injured jawans, Havaldar J B Thapa, later succumbed to injuries.

It was not immediately known whether the slain militants were part of an infiltrating group of ultras. According to intelligence reports, a group of over 20 militants had sneaked into the Valley from Gurez sector last week and security forces have launched massive operations in the forest area of Bandipora district to track them down.

The infiltration of militants from across the LoC has been on the rise recently as the Pakistani handlers of the ultras are desperate to push in as many militants as possible before the onset of the winter in Kashmir.

In another operation, which also began yesterday, Army troops eliminated three militants in Hafruda forest area at Vilgam in Handwara area of Kupwara district.

The encounter begun last evening when Army launched a combing operation in the forest area and came under fire from the ultras, the sources said.

"The hiding militants opened fire on the search party prompting the Army to return the fire. In the exchange of fire, three militants who have not been identified so far were killed," the sources said.

The Defence spokesman, while confirming the killing of militants, said the security forces did not suffer any casualties in the operation.

The fresh success for the Army comes close on the heels of a similar feat late last month when Army troops killed nine infiltrators in Uri Sector of Baramulla district.

Only 8 sittings in 12 days brief Assembly session

By Sanjeev Pargal

JAMMU, Sept 6: There will be only eight sittings in 12 days brief Assembly session called by the Government from September 30, which will fulfill the Constitutional obligation of convening the Legislature once in six months.

Beginning September 30, the session will last till October 11.

Out of eight sittings of the Assembly, six have been reserved for Government business.

Official sources told the Excelsior that Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone in consultations with the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry today issued a calendar for the Assembly session.

Only two days have been kept for private members bills and resolutions.

September 30 and October 1 have been fixed for Government business followed by holidays on October 2 and 3. October 4 has been reserved for private member’s resolutions.

October 5 and 6 have again been fixed for Government business while private member’s bills will be taken up on October 7. The Government business will again be taken up on October 8 and 11 while October 9 and 10 are holidays.

According to sources, the Government has decided to keep only eight sittings of the Assembly for September-October session due to ongoing disturbances in the Kashmir valley. Moreover, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone have already promised to take number of Legislature session from two to three from this year onwards.

Mr Lone has already said that a brief session of eight to 10 sittings could be held in Jammu, the winter capital of the State, in November ending after the move of Civil Secretariat here.

The Government has been anticipating a very stormy session of the Legislature in view of ongoing protests in the Valley, which have taken a toll of over 65 persons so far. Opposition from both the regions was expected to be very fierce. While the PDP with 21 MLAs was determined to rake up the issue of killings vigorously, the 11 members strong BJP group and three member National Panthers Party (NPP) were planning to oppose autonomy or any other concessions on Kashmir.

The Assembly Secretariat has already invited 10 questions from each MLA—five in starred and five in unstarred category. Five resolutions and private bills have been called from each MLA though only one each day has been reserved for them in the Assembly calendar.

Sources said the days of Government business could also be utilized for any debate or discussion on the Kashmir situation, which is likely to be asked by the Opposition. The Government is ready for any kind of debate on the situation, they added.

3 ultras held in Doda, Kishtwar

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 6: In a major success, police today arrested two militants of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit from Marmat area of Doda including the one involved in killing of two STF personnel at Sikri Top last year while a Harkat-ul-Jehad Islami (HUJI) ultra was captured in Dachan, Kishtwar.

Arrested militant Nawaj Ahmed Hajam, 27, son of Abdul Qayoom Hajam, a resident of Labbar, Marmat was absconding since the killing of two STF personnel at Sikri Top in Marmat area of Doda district on September 18, 2009.

SSP Doda Prabhat Singh said the cops were looking for Hajam for past several months. On a tip off, a police party nabbed Hajam from a hide-out in Marmat this afternoon along with a grenade. He was on way to throw the grenade on a police picket when he was apprehended and whisked away for questioning.

Hajam along with Hizbul Mujahideen divisional commander Javed Qureshi, Muzaffar Hussain, Zakir Hussain and Javed Iqbal had gunned down two STF personnel Abdul Gani and Reyaz Ahmed on September 18 last year after laying an ambush for them.

Muzaffar, Zakir and Javed were killed in subsequent operations by security forces and police while Hajam was nabbed today. Qureshi was still at large.

A case against Hajam had already been registered at Doda police station in FIR No. 232/2009 under Section 302 RPC and 4/5 Explosive Substances Act.

The dreaded militant was arrested by a police party led by Incharge Police Post Marmat Rajesh Kumar under the supervision of DySP Headquarters Nazir Ahmed Ganaie and SHO Doda Inspector Sanjeev Gupta.

Another militant Farooq Ahmed son of Ghulam Qadir Mir, a resident of Labbar, Marmat was arrested by police in a separate search operation. One .303 rifle, one remote control Improvised Explosive Device (IED), 35 Insas rounds, 15 AK rounds and four binoculars have been recovered from the possession of Farooq, who has been booked under Section 7/25 Arms Act.

Both Hajam and Farooq are being interrogated to ascertain hide-outs of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit.

Both search operations were supervised by DIG Doda-Ramban range Manish Kumar Sinha and SSP Doda Prabhat Singh.

Meanwhile, Army and Kishtwar police achieved a big success when they nabbed a top HUJI militant from Tandar Nullah in Dachan area of Kishtwar today. He has been identified as Yasin alias Hunaid son of Ghulam Qadir R/o Tandar.

Junaid and his associate were reportedly injured in an encounter at Tandar on September 1 but had managed to escape. Searches were going on in the area to nab fleeing associate of Junaid.

A grenade and a radio set have been recovered from the possession of Yasin.

Upline movement of trains allowed

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 6: After about 20 days, the movement of the passenger trains was allowed today on upline of the Balole bridge, which was closed for movement of all sorts of trains because of severe damage to its flooring due to flash floods in the nullah last month.

"The decision to operate passenger trains on the upline was taken after the engineers conveyed that maximum work on restoration of damages to the flooring of the Balole bridge has been completed and now it is safe to allow movement of trains on the up line", Divisional Railways Manager (DRM), Ferozepur Division, Vishvesh Choubey said when contacted.

Soon after the nod of the engineers, a trial was conducted on the up line this morning and finally it was decided to allow movement of trains from today itself but with limited speed, he said while disclosing that all the trains will stop ahead of the Balole bridge and then chug on up line with 10 kilometers per hour speed.

Similarly, only empty goods trains will be allowed on the up line while as loaded goods trains from both sides will cross the Balole bridge on down line, the DRM further said while disclosing that this will continue till the work on restoration of damages to the flooring is completed.

To a question, he said, "we are hopeful of getting the entire work completed within next one week or 10 days".

With the opening of up line for the passengers trains although on limited speed, normal train operations to and fro Jammu Railway Station will get restored, the DRM said, adding even the trains which were being terminated at Amritsar, Pathankote and Chakki Bank following washing away of some portion of the flooring of the Balole bridge, will now chug up to Jammu Railway Station and passengers of these trains will ultimately heave a sigh of relief.

Responding to another question, the DRM said, "minor damages to the flooring of bridges on Jammu-Pathankot section is a routine affair during rainy season due to flowing of big bounders in flash floods but utmost precautions are taken".

"After the current rainy season is over, we will carry out inspection of flooring of all the bridges and take corrective measures", he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that the initial damage to the flooring of the Balole bridge was not taken seriously by the railways authorities but when the situation turned grave, they deputed Principal Chief Engineer and his team to check the intensity of the damages and subsequently the restoration work was geared up by completely stopping movement of trains on up line.