Woman killed in Pak shelling

BARAMULA, Sept 20 (UNI, PTI) — At least one person was killed and five others were injured in a mine blast at Puthkha, 14 km from here, this afternoon.

Official sources said militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) when a CRPF vehicle was passing through the Puthkha area in this district around 3.46 p.m.

The device exploded after the CRPF vehicle crossed the area. But a Tata Sumo which was behind the CRPF vehicle was blown up.

One person was killed and five others were injured. The injured were reported to be in a critical state and have been rushed to a hospital in Srinagar.

Meanwhile, a report from Srinagar said militants shot dead a ruling National Conference leader at Tangmarg while four persons were injured in a bomb blast in Badgam district during the past 24 hours.

Sources said some militants killed Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, a ruling National Conference Block Secretary at Kunzar Tangmarg in Baramula district late last night.

In the central Kashmir district of Badgam, a blast took place in the house of Ghulam Nabi at Khansahib this morning. The explosion caused injuries to four persons.

Three militants and a police constable were killed in separate encounters in Poonch and Udhampur districts of Jammu division since last night, sources said at Jammu today.

Two militants, who had infiltrated from across the border into Mendhar area of Poonch, were gunned down by Army troops last night, they said.

Two AK rifles, two pistols, a wireless set, two land mines, four rifle grenades and a hand grenade were recovered from the spot.
In another incident, security forces shot dead a militant belonging to the Lashker-e-Toiba in Mandi area of Poonch and recovered an AK-47 rifle, two magazines, some rounds of ammunition and a diary, the sources said.

Reports from Udhampur district said police constable Bharat Bushan was killed during an encounter with the militants at Dehari village of Ramnagar tehsil.

The constable was the bodyguard of the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Udhampur, the sources said, adding that the encounter was continuing in the area and more troops had been rushed there.

Jammu to have more power cuts
From Our Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 20 — More power cuts are on the cards for winter months in Jammu city.

Mr R.S. Sachdeva, Chief Engineer (Maintenance and Rural Electrification), said the department would be forced to curtail power from October 1 as the power purchase bill restraint had been put Rs 58 lakh units. But the Power Development Department (PDD) had been providing 65-70 lakh units to consumers in Jammu everyday. The power requirement in Jammu was 80-85 lakh units per day.

Presently, there are four-hour scheduled power cuts.

Though the situation was slightly better during the elections, the Chief Engineer denied having increased power cuts after the elections.

He said the PDD had formulated a project in consultation with the Central Electricity Authority for upgradation of its gadgetry, involving an expenditure of Rs 111 crore. But due to financial crunch, only 25 per cent of the work could be executed.