Over 50,000 visit Hazratbal

SRINAGAR, Jan 19 (PTI) — Muslims throughout the Kashmir valley today thronged mosques to offer special prayers on the occasion of Id-ul-Fitr, to mark the end of Ramzan.

Special prayers were offered in mosques. The largest gathering was witnessed at Jamia Masjid, the grand old historic mosque in downtown Srinagar.

The Hazratbal shrine on the outskirts of Srinagar attracted over 50,000 devotees.

Reports of Id celebrations were received from Anantnag, Pulwama, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Shopian, Sopore, Uri, Badgam, Chadoora and Chrar-e-Sharief.

In Jammu, Governor Girish Chander Saxena and Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah greeted the people on the occasion.

In a message, the Governor said the holy month of Ramzan highlighted the values of patience, self-control, tolerance and austerity.

The exercise of fasting, an important tenet of Islam, strengthened the feeling of compassion and respect for one another, besides reaffirming faith in the benevolence and mercy of the almighty.

The Chief Minister prayed for peace and normalcy in the state and said "let us strive for steering the state, which has withstood a lot of bloodshed and destruction, to an era of progress and development".

JAMMU: Tension gripped the high security Kot-Balwal prison on the outskirts of Jammu city after the authorities disallowed detainees, including Pakistanis, to come out of their barracks to meet one another on the occasion of Id-ul-Fitr.

The detainees, many of them belonging to Pakistan and Occupied Kashmir (PoK) wanted to come out of their barracks exchanging greetings on the occasion.

Although no untoward incident was reported, additional personnel of the police and paramilitary were rushed to the prison as a preventive measure.

Senior police and security officials also visited the prison.

Troops ‘beat up’ civilians

SRINAGAR, Jan 19 (PTI) — Eleven persons, including six militants and two counter-insurgents, were killed and 47 wounded as violence marred Id-ul-Fitr celebrations in the Kashmir valley today.

Among the dead militants was a Pakistani national, who was functioning as a self-styled deputy chief-cum-chief coordinator of Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Ansar, an official spokesman said here today.

Meanwhile, a demonstration against alleged Army atrocities rocked Batmaloo area of central Srinagar today.

Residents of Danderkhah and Sheikh Dawood localities of Batmaloo took to the streets soon after Id prayers and staged a demonstration to protest against the alleged "high-handedness" of the Army during a search operation in the area yesterday.

More than 40 persons were injured when troops allegedly beat up them with butts and lathis in retaliation against a recent militant attack on an Army camp adjacent to Batmaloo.

The injured, mostly youth, were admitted to different hospitals.

Senior district, police and security authorities, who rushed to the scene, pacified the demonstrators with an assurance that they would take up the matter with the Army authorities and appropriate action would be taken against the jawans involved in the incident.

The Harkat militant who was killed had been recalled to Pakistan for further training and briefing and after six months in Pakistan, was again sent to the valley via Bangladesh and designated as the deputy chief of the outfit with headquarters at Srinagar.

Since his return, almost a year now, he had been controlling all activities of the outfit and was next to chief commander Shahbaz Khan alias Jehadi, who is evading arrest.

Two unidentified militants, suspected to be foreigners, were killed in an encounter with the security forces at Devsar in the frontier district of Kupwara last night.

Militants attacked a police station at Lal Pul in the same district last night, but no one was hurt.

Militants lobbed a grenade at a moving security vehicle at an exhibition in the heart of the city last evening, wounding seven civilians.

J & K session from Feb 22

JAMMU, Jan 19 (PTI) — The next session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislature will commence on February, 22 with the state Governor Girish Chander Saxena’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses of the Legislature.

This was announced in an official press release here today.