5 militants killed in valley
Tribune News Service and PTI

JAMMU, April 6 — The Army today foiled a major Pakistani plan to kick up subversive violence by eliminating three dreaded foreign mercenaries belonging to Harkatul Jahad-i-Islami in the Surankot sector today.

Official report said during "seek and destroy" operation troops spotted a militant hideout and opened fire. The militants retaliated killing a jawan. The troops killed three militants in the ensuing shoot out.

Moosa Talibani was the sector commander of the outfit, Badshah Khan the district commander and Peer Sulemani its group commander.

One UMG, a rocket projectile gun, 6 kg of expolsives, assault rifles, two pistols and rifle grenades were seized.

In another encounter between the police and the militants near Rajouri, two militants were killed.

A report from Srinagar said a teenaged boy along with his mother were injured in a blast in Kashmir valley last night.

In yet another incident, the militants gunned down two persons, including a counter-insurgent at Jaybae-Sang Ram and Dooru in Anantnag district of South Kashmir yesterday.

A 12-year-old boy and his mother sustained splinter injuries when an anti-personnel mine accidentally went off inside their house of Sevar Bhalla in frontier district of Kupwara late last night.

The boy had found the mine in his valley and had kept it inside the house. The explosion took place when the minor fiddled with the device.

Suspended MLAs out in the open
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, April 6 — MLAs, who had been suspended from the House for the remaining period of the session staged mock Assembly today, even as Chief Minister Frooq Abdullah announced that if they apologised to the Speaker, the demand for the revocation of the suspension order could be considered.

CPM member M.Y.Tarigami, meanwhile, raised the matter of the suspension of the opposition members twice. He appealed to the House to move a motion for withdrawing the suspension order so that the proceedings in the House could not be conducted in their absence. He said yesterday's incident was unfortunate but a strict step had been taken which needed to be amended.

At this juncture, the Speaker, Mr Abdul Ahad Vakil, intervened and said the behaviour of the opposition members was against the basic rules of the House. He said the House was supreme and nobody had the powers to "subdue" the supremacy of the House.

Dr Abdullah said, agreeing with the Speaker said "we have been elected to do something for the people and not shout slogans in the well of the House."

He said: "We are passing through a difficult period and we had no other alternative but to impose additional taxes to raise internal resources," adding that if the BJP members were agitated over the imposition of taxes, they should have gone to the Centre with a plea to provide additional financial support to the state.

Mr Sheikh Abdul Rehman (BSP) said: "We do not approve of the demonstration in the well of the House" and suggested to the Speaker to constitute a House committee for resolving the stalemate.

The suspended members "elected" Mr Harsh Dev Singh (Panthers Party) as the " chief minister" and Mr Ashok Khajuria (Congress) as the Speaker. And when the Speaker took his seat on the stairs leading to the Assembly complex, the suspended members started "grilling" Mr Hash Dev Singh.

They shouted slogans demanding the withdrawal of the taxes and demanded the sacking of a Cabinet minister who had not paid Rs 14 crore as sales tax.

In reply to two call attention motions tabled by Mr Khalid Najeeb Sohrawardhy and Mr Qaze Jalaluddin, both from NC, the Minister of State for Home, Mr Mushtaq Ahmed Lone, said with the rise of militancy in Doda district, additional companies of security forces had to be rushed to the area to contain the activities of militants. Since there were no private or government houses available in the district, they were accommodated in school buildings. He said efforts were being made to provide alternative accommodation.

Give up extra cars, ministers told
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, April 6 — The Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, has directed his ministerial colleagues to surrender additional vehicles within 24 hours, failing which strict action will be taken against them.

Replying to a question raised by Mr Mohd Shafi Bhat (NC) and Mr M.Y. Tarigami (CPM), the Chief Minister informed the state assembly here today that the government had already introduced several austerity measures in view of the acute financial crisis. He said he had directed his ministerial colleagues to use only one car and directed them to surrender surplus vehicles within 24 hours. He said he had directed the Chief Secretary to withdraw vehicles used by officers who were not departmental heads.

Dr Abdullah said he had also directed the ministers and senior bureaucrats to reduce expenses on telephone calls. He assured the House that he would look into the complaint regarding booking of ISD calls by ministers and bureaucrats. "Let the ministers use their personal telephones for booking ISD calls, but they can not exceed the ceiling fixed by the Government," he said.

He told the members that there was no plan to impose restrictions on the tours of ministers owing to the financial crunch as touring was essential for monitoring the pace of the development and redressing the grievances of the people.

The Chief Minister laid on the table of the House details of the expenses by his ministers on travel. The entire Council of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, had incurred expenses to the tune of about Rs 50 lakh on TA and DA during the past two years.

The expense statement listed the Chief Minister on top, having incurred an expenditure of Rs 3.82 lakh on travel, followed by the Minister for Housing and Urban Development, with an expense of over Rs 3.69 lakh.

The council of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, incurred an expenditure of Rs 1 crore, on petrol and telephones during the past two years. The Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, spent over Rs 3.09 lakh on petrol and over Rs 3.20 lakh on telephone calls, as against the Rs 2.5 lakh spent by the Chief Minister on telephone calls.

The Minister for Transport and Minister for Medical Education topped the list of expenditure on telephone calls with the former having incurred over Rs 4.99 lakh and the latter over Rs 4.65 lakh.

Among the senior bureaucrats, the Chief Secretary spent the maximum on petrol and telephone calls. He spent over Rs 1.21 lakh on petrol and over Rs 7.35 lakh on telephone calls. The total expenses incurred by 20 top bureaucrats on petrol and telephone calls during the past two years amounted to over Rs 56 lakhs.

During question hour, the Minister of State for Home, Mr Musthaq Ahmed Lone, said 844 persons had been killed in Pulwama district owing to militancy between 1990 and end of 1998. Ex gratia had been paid in 755 cases and 89 cases were pending for want of formalities.

When Mr M.Y. Tarigami (CPM) wanted to know why there was delay in issuance of clearance certificates in favour of those killed in militancy-related violence, the Chief Minister intervened and informed the member that the rules for clearance had been simplified. The Army no longer was required to issue clearance or no objection certificates. The Deputy commissioners and district police chiefs concerned had been authorised to issue the certificates.

Intervening during question hour, the Chief Minister said the state government would shortly start work on the 45 MW Baglihar power project. "We may beg or borrow, but the work will be started," he said.