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J&K ASSEMBLY JeM militant among four killed 2,000 Surankot refugees still in Poonch Cancellation of PG medical entrance |
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Doctors’ strike hits patients Six Farooq guards injured in accident Leopard injures two villagers Captain, jawan hurt in mine blast
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J&K ASSEMBLY Jammu, December 12 When National Conference members insisted, in their supplementaries, that custodial killings continued in the state and in support of their claim cited a number of incidents Mr Veeri admitted that he had been provided with a wrong reply and action would be initiated against the officer who had prepared the reply. At this juncture all National Conference members were on their feet demanding action against the Chief Minister who holds the Home portfolio. At least 10 members walked to the well and Mr Ajay Sadhotra, National Conference member, was seen pleading with the Speaker to direct the government to initiate action against the minister. Mr Abdul Rahim Rather, a former Finance Minister, told the speaker that since all replies were tabled in the House after the approval of ministers concerned in this case the action should be initiated against the minister or the Chief Minister. Dr Mehboob Beg of the National Conference, demanded an apology from the Chief Minister. The speaker, Mr Tara Chand, said that he had directed the minister to take action against the officer who had prepared the reply. When he rejected the demand of the National Conference members for action against the minister they walked out of the House. In reply to a question tabled by Mr Dilawar Mir of the National Conference, Mr Veeri said 114 civilians had been killed in cross-firing between militants and security forces during the past one year. The minister informed the House that the security forces had been directed to carry out operations against the militants on specific intelligence reports and officers found indulging in human rights violations would have to face action. Two separate questions relating to the development of lakes, especially the Dal Lake, witnessed animated discussion with Opposition members blaming the government for not having taken sufficient steps for clearing the lakes of encroachments and for developing the water bodies. The Tourism Minister, Mr Ghulam Hassan Mir, informed agitated members, including Mr Ajay Sadhotra, Mr Ali Mohammad Sagar and Mr Jugal Kishore, that encroachments on 1,143 kanals of the Dal Lake area had been removed out of 2,201 kanals. He listed a series of steps taken for the development of lakes and tourist spots not only in the Kashmir valley but also in the Jammu region. Mr Mubarik Gul of the National Conference said the government had not formulated any plan for the conservation of the Anchar Lake in Kashmir. However, Mr Ghulam Hassan Mir informed the House that since there were no sufficient funds available with the government encroachment could not be removed from all water bodies. Two Bills pertaining to the amendment in the Panchayati Raj Act and the Transfer of Property Act were introduced in the House. The government said amendment to the Panchayati Raj Act was called for to enable nominated members in the panchayats to have voting right for electing sarpanches. Regarding amendment to the Transfer of Property Act the government has proposed to amend Section 140 of the Act so that immovable property mortgaged to any financial institution for raising loan could be sold to any such institution owned by the Central Government in case the loan could not be paid. |
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JeM militant among four killed Srinagar, December 12 In a joint operation in the hilly areas of Surankote, security forces and police killed two militants today, they said, adding that two Pakistani militants were killed in the area yesterday. One of the slain militants has been identified as Abu Bakr, a district commandar of the JeM outfit, the sources said, adding that some arms and ammunition had been seized from their possession. The security forces during search operations also busted six militant hideouts in the area and seized a huge quantity of rations and other items from their possession. The recoveries included 100 kg of sugar, 60 kg of milk powder, 10 kg of tea, 20 kg of pulses, 10 dozen biscuit packets, two tins of edible oil and 50 litres of kerosene oil. A defence spokesman said an unidentified militant was killed in an encounter with troops of 35 Rashtriya Rifles at Sheenpora-Beerwah in Badgam district of central Kashmir today. An AK assault rifle, its one magazine and 27 rounds were recovered from his possession. In a separate incident, militants lobbed a grenade on the house of PDP block president Ghulam Hassan at Banglabagh in Baramula district last night, but it failed to explode and was subsequently defused by the bomb disposal squad. Meanwhile, the police has seized a rare pencil pistol and 25 “chemical” cartridges from a militant hideout in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district, leading to suspicion that militants might be switching over to chemical or biological weapons from conventional arms. The pistol and cartridges, marked “neroxin” were seized from the house of Bashir Khan at Krishipora-Nagrimalpora village, the Sub-District Police Officer, Handwara, the Altaf Khan, said today. Khan said during the inspection of the ammunition, one of the police officers suffered giddiness and had to be referred to Army hospital for treatment, leading to the suspicion that the cartridges might be carrying chemical or biological agents. —
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2,000 Surankot refugees still in Poonch Jammu, December 12 According to official sources, a growing concentration of militants in several hilly areas of Poonch, including Surankot, Hari Marot, Dara Sangla, Khooni Nallah and Cheli Pahari, has prevented migrants from returning to their villages. Eyewitness accounts said groups of militants, who had been camping in the hilly belts of Surankot,were joined by big groups of rebels who infiltrated from across the Mandi belt between August and October in carving out fortified hideouts in the area. According to these accounts, large quantities of arms and ammunition were being stored in these hideouts under the supervision of leaders belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Al Badr and the Harkatul Mujahideen. People in the Surankot area fear that Cheli Pahari was going to be another Hill Kaka where large groups of militants had entrenched themselves for launching a major attack on security camps and pickets. It took a couple of weeks for the troops to dislodge the militants from the Hill Kaka area in March. In the recent past, lack of coordination between the men belonging to Punjab Regiment and the Rashtriya Rifles had enabled groups of militants to fortify their positions in the Mendhar, Naar Balnoi and the Balakot forest belts. However, senior Army functionaries had detailed discussions with the sector commanders recently and worked out a plan which has facilitated smooth coordination among the soldiers of different regiments. Official sources confirmed that the level of infiltration from across Poonch sector had registered a decline during the past two months. However, police sources said “even if the rate of ingress had declined, there were large groups of militants roaming freely in the forest areas of Poonch, Mandi, Mendhar, Surankot and Cheli Pahari who were capable of carrying out deadly attacks against the security forces and soft targets.” |
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Cancellation of PG medical entrance test sought Jammu, December 12 The president of the party, Dr Nirmal Singh, told a deputation of students that he would take the issue with the authorities concerned. Dr Nirmal Singh issued a statement here today in which he berated the coalition government for refusing to cancel the December 7 entrance examination for the MD and MS courses after the government was informed that the question paper was leaked out to a few candidates belonging to influential families. The BJP chief said despite the fact that two persons had been arrested and Rs 14.85 lakh had been recovered from them the government refused to cancel the examination. Dr Nirmal Singh alleged that by refusing to hold fresh examination it was clear that the government wanted to help Kashmir-based medicos belonging to influential families. He warned the government against shielding the corrupt and demanded cancellation of the examination. |
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Doctors’ strike hits patients Srinagar, December 12 More doctors joined the strike demanding a hike in the pay started by post-graduate doctors yesterday, sources said. Terming the strike as "unfortunate", the state Health Minister, Chaudhry Lal Singh, asked the doctors to return to work and said people should not be made to suffer for their interests. Meanwhile, patients going to the hospital faced immense hardship, spending and travelling more on being referred to Sher-e-Kashmir institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) at Soura. —
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Six Farooq guards injured in accident Jammu, December 12 The mishap occurred at Dayala Chak last night when the National Conference leader was returning to Jammu from Kathua district. Four National Security Guards were among those injured and the condition of two of them was critical, the sources said adding the rest were discharged from hospital after first aid. The injured were identified as Kuldeep Sharma, Mukesh Sharma, Anil Kumar, Manoj, Mukesh and driver Chotu. —
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Leopard injures two villagers Jammu, December 12 The leopard, which had lost its way from the nearby Sunderbani forest area, appeared in the village and attacked some persons last night, the sources said. Two persons were injured in the attack, the sources said adding that villagers holding sticks and torch lights chased away the leopard from the area. Wildlife authorities assisted by the police and the local people have launched a search operation to track down the leopard, the sources said. —
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Captain, jawan hurt in mine blast Jammu, December 12 Captain S. Bumea and sepoy Sant were de-fusing a landmine yesterday when it exploded in Gulabgarh area near the international border, they said. While Captain Bumea lost a leg in the explosion, Sant received head injuries, the sources said. —
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J&K labourers’ antecedents verified Nurpur, December12 |
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