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Saturday,
December 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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2 Army intelligence men shot If POTO fails, J&K to bring harsher law Fencing of border in progress 18 of marriage party injured
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2 Army intelligence men shot Srinagar, December 7 Security personnel killed a Lashkar militant before he could storm the Rashtriya Rifles camp at Zainapora in Pulwama district early this morning. Elsewhere in the valley, militants killed two Army intelligence officials and injured two others, including a jawan, while forces captured a self-styled company commander of the Hizbul-Mujahideen and a Pakistani intruder overnight. A Rashtriya Rifles spokesman said a sentry noticed a group of militants approaching the camp at about 3.30 a.m. When challenged, the extremists fired upon the sentry with automatics. The sentry returned fire and the exchange continued for some time. Later, the body of a Lashkar terrorist was recovered near the site of the encounter, along with one AK rifle, two magazines, 47 rounds and one grenade. In another incident, official sources said, militants shot dead Army intelligence officers Javid Ahmad Khan and Jai Singh at Wanigam Pattan in the district this morning and escaped after committing the crime. Meanwhile, the Army and the Special Operation Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested a self-styled company commander Nazir Ahmad Wani, alias Saleem, and captured from him one AK rifle, four magazines, 120 rounds and a wireless set at Peth Zanigam Beerwa this morning. A Pakistani intruder was also arrested along the International Boundary at Ramgarh sector in Jammu district this morning while he was trying to cross the boundary, official sources said. He was identified as Amir Ali (21), a resident of Sahiwal in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). On interrogation, Ali claimed that he was an electronics engineer, the sources said, adding that Rs 335 (Pakistani currency) and three blank identity cards were seized from him. At Khumriyal in Kupwara district, a “jawan” was injured when militants attacked a road opening party of security forces early this morning. A massive hunt has been launched to arrest them. Militants also shot at and critically wounded Mushtaq Ahmad Sofi at Zaindar Mohalla in the old city last night. Meanwhile, the one-day general strike called by Pakistan-based Jaish-i-Mohammad against the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) crippled life in Kashmir valley today. Shops and business establishments here and in other major towns remained closed and traffic was off the roads. Work in government offices, courts, post offices and banks was badly affected. Educational institutions and petrol pumps also wore a deserted look.
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If POTO fails, J&K to bring harsher law New Delhi, December 7 “Let me assure you, that if POTO is not cleared by Parliament, the Jammu and Kashmir Government will bring a new legislation which will be harsher than POTO and will shake all concerned”, Dr Abdullah told newspersons here today. An Act such as POTO was necessary in the current context of things and “India needs to send across the message that we mean business”, he said. “One lakh persons have died in this country due to terrorism and we need the requisite laws to counter the menace. In my opinion, the state needs adequate safeguards, as provided by POTO to ensure that Kashmir never becomes a part of Pakistan”, Dr Abdullah said. Stating that the same legislative features were not incorporated in the lapsed Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA), the Chief Minister said he had requested the Chief Ministers of other states to arrive at a consensus on the issue for the sake of national security. “Politics of vote at the cost of national security will not lead us anywhere”, he said. Earlier, speaking at the Chief Ministers’ conference organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) here, he said unemployment was one of the major reasons of terrorism and urged the industry to liberally invest in the state. |
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Fencing of border in progress Jammu, December 7 As the progress in fencing registered an improvement during the past three weeks, the BSF authorities were short of concertina coil and an agency from the north-east offered to supply the required material. The Central agencies agreed to supply the material as per the specifications of the BSF authorities. Under the supervision of BSF, Inspector-General Vijay Raman, 17 km of the IB has been fenced. The fencing of a 8-km border stretch in Samba sector, prone to ingress, has helped the BSF in strengthening the area to counter infiltration. Mr Raman said not a single person intruded into the Indian territory from across the IB in the areas already fenced. He said about 50-km stretch of border would be fenced within the next six months and if all goes well, the entire IB would be fenced by the end of 2003. Flood lights have been installed on a 2.5-km stretch in Samba sector, he added. Security experts have advised the Ministry of Defence to insulate some areas along the LoC against infiltration by raising physical barriers for better border management. Defence Ministry sources said as a result of heavy snow in the forward areas of Machel, Bandipore and some pockets of Kupwara, the infiltration rate has declined considerably. However, the rate of ingress from across Poonch and Rajouri has not declined. In the wake of reports that groups of Afghan nationals may try to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir, the security forces have been kept on the alert. But security experts rule out the possibility of the Taliban entering into Jammu and Kashmir unless they were pushed into this state by the Pakistani troops and other agencies. Reports from across the border said fundamentalists and the ISI were planning to pushed into Jammu and Kashmir well equipped militants in bigger groups to create panic and disrupt the plan of the government to hold the next Assembly election by the middle of the next year. The experts opine that the next four months would be crucial in the state. If the security forces were able to check infiltration, the militants operating within the state may not be in a position to sustain their armed campaign. |
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18 of marriage party injured Jammu, December 7 The police said the bus carrying 50 persons was heading for Akhnoor. Near Domana Mandir it tried to overtake another bus. The driver of the vehicle lost control and the bus rammed into a banyan tree, injuring
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