Category: Union Territory

On killing of three Indian soldiers in Galwan Valley

Srinagar: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said if the Chinese can “shoot dead” three Indian soldiers during the ‘de-escalation process’, one can imagine how serious the situation must have been in the first place.

Earlier in the day, the Indian Army said an officer and two soldiers were killed in a violent confrontation with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley on Monday.

According to official sources, there was no firing between the two sides.

“If the Chinese shoot dead an Indian army colonel and two jawans during a ‘de-escalation process’ imagine how escalated the situation must be in the first place,” Abdullah said in a tweet. “This is what happens when the media propagates the government line that asking questions is anti-national,” he added.

When pointed out by a Twitter user that there was no firing at Galwan Valley, the National Conference leader said, “So they were beaten to death? That’s even more horrific.” The Army said there were casualties on the Chinese side as well but the extent of it was not immediately clear.

https://twitter.com/TheKashmirToday/status/1272873141069475841?s=19

The number of militants killed in operations in the first five months of 2019 and 2020 has shown only a small dip

Belying the Centre’s claims that shredding Articles 370 and 35-A would help end militancy in the freshly minted Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, the number of militants killed in operations in the first five months of 2019 and 2020 has shown only a small dip.

Seventy-eight militants were killed in January-May this year as opposed to 101 being killed in the same period in 2019. The number of militant incidents, however, dropped from 223 to 78 in the same period.

Two experts in the field of counter-insurgency expressed concern about the spurt in killings and the continued recruitment of locals in militant ranks. Another official said a coherent strategy was required post 370, adding that the euphoria over the number of militants killed would not win over the people of Kashmir.

Stopping recruitment

J&K Director General of Police Dilbag Singh, however, told The Hindu that the number of new recruits joining terrorist ranks had been at a record low this year and the police was engaging with families and communities to wean them away from militancy.

The officer said the recent increase in encounters and operations by security forces was not unusual and should not be seen in isolation as the focus was on stopping young boys from joining the militant ranks.

“So far this year we have been successful in stopping 20 boys who could have joined militant groups. Pakistan is leaving no stone unturned by pushing fake propaganda and old messages to recruit them. Just a few days ago, three boys from Awantipora, who had almost joined the militancy were persuaded to return as we involved their family members and counselled them,” Mr. Singh added.

Vappala Balachandran, former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, said, “J&K police is pathetically trying to connect the alarmingly high number of militants killed this year with their elevated operational efficiency to justify Union Home Ministry’s claim that Article 370 abrogation had brought peace. However, the serious increase in insurgency despite the heaviest deployment of security forces in recent memory after the August 5, 2019 lockdown would be evident with the killing of 89 militants, mostly local, this year compared to 29 during the second half of 2019”.

‘Anger against govt.’

Avinash Mohananey, a former Director General of Police who has also worked in Kashmir, said the most significant part of continued militancy was the ongoing local recruitment. “It does not matter if you have killed a certain number of militants…the conditions for local recruitment are still there. The anger against the government is still there. Security forces are able to kill more militants as these people are poorly trained and equipped,” Mr. Mohananey said.

Officials said that Pakistan continued to push militants and weapons from across the border and it did not wait even a single day as the snow melted around March 31 to send infiltrators. Mr. Singh said around 40 militant associates and 240 overground workers who formed the support system of militants had been arrested this year.

“We have intercepted chatter of militant operatives where they discussed a retaliation after several commanders were killed in the past two weeks. The killing of Kashmiri Pandit sarpanch Ajay Pandita is a result of that,” he added.

UAPA cases

Post August 5, around 400 cases under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were registered and around 300 people were booked under the Public Safety Act.

Another official, who did not want to be identified, said, “Article 370 was neither the problem nor a solution to militancy, the source is Pakistan. A clear-cut strategy is required as Kashmiris did not react violently react to 370. The next step is how to win the people over, but it cannot be done by killing them and without reviving the political process. The solution does not lie in violence.”

The number of small arms recovered from militants in the first five months stood at 77 while the recovery in the entire 2019 was 71. Already 50 AK-47 rifles have been recovered this year, compared to 101 such sophisticated weapons recovered in the whole of 2019.

It may be recalled that J&K was placed under unprecedented restrictions and a communication lockdown after August 5 last year. High speed 4G internet connectivity is yet to be restored in the newly carved Union Territory. The J&K administration asserted that there had been multiple militancy related acts, including attacks on security forces, by uploading provocative videos and false propaganda, justifying its continued orders to restrict internet speed.

With inputs from The Hindu

Senior military officials from the two countries are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation

In a major escalation in the ongoing standoff between India and China on the border, one Officer and two jawans of the Indian Army lost their lives during a violent faceoff between troops in the Galwan area in Eastern Ladakh on Monday night.

“During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday night with casualties on both sides. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers,” the Army said in a statement. Senior military officials from the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation, it stated.

However, Army sources said there was no firing during the face-off. There has been no firing on the border since 1975.

The two sides have been undertaking limited disengagement in a phased manner in the Galwan area before the Corps Commander lelvel talks on June 6 which was expanded to more areas in Patrolling Points 14, 15, 17A and Gogra areas after the talks.

Last Saturday, in the first acknowledgment of the ongoing standoffs, Army Chief Gen Manoj Naravane had stated that troops of India and China are “disengaging” in a phased manner from the standoff areas along the border following the series of ground talks and lot of disengagement has happened in the Galwan river area.

The standoff began with a scuffle in the Pangong Tso area after Chinese troops came in large numbers and resulted large number of injuries on both sides. There was a second scuffle on May 9 at Naku La in Nirth Sikkim.

With inputs from The Hindu

BJP, NC corporators voted against me: Junaid Mattu                 

Srinagar: The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu on Tuesday lost the floor test after 40 corporators voted against him.

The special session of corporation was held after the majority of corporators had moved a no-confidence resolution against Mattoo.

41 councillors including the Deputy Mayor were present. 40 councilors voted against Mayor while Dy Mayor who presided the session didn’t vote. Under rules, the presiding officer (Dy Mayor) has to vote when there is a tie.

“Out of 70 councillors, 40 corporators have voted against Mattoo,” officials in SMC told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO)

It is worth to mention here that Congress councillors didn’t participate in the special session today.

Meanwhile, Mattoo in his tweet said that he respect the verdict of corporation.

“The vote of ‘No Confidence Motion’ against me, and the @JKPC_has been passed in the SMC with 42 votes out of 70. The @BJP4India, @JKNC_and some independents have polled against the @JKPC_and @INCIndia abstaining whip where 28 Corporators abstained,” Mattoo tweeted.

“I respect the verdict of the Corporation. The seemingly unthinkable seems to have happened as @JKNC_ and @BJP4India have come together in Srinagar. But more on that later. Time to spend some time with my family after nearly four months of our war against #COVID19,” Mattoo wrote on twitter.

Meanwhile,  the authorities will hold fresh election for the post of SMC Mayor—(KNO)

PTI

Jammu, Jun 15 (PTI) Five alleged drug peddlers were arrested on Monday after a large quantity of narcotic substance including poppy straw was seized from them at separate places in Samba, Udhampur and Jammu districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Yaspal Singh, a resident of Dharamkot area of Punjab, was arrested when 42 kg of poppy straw was recovered from his truck during checking at Jakhani on Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur district, a police spokesman said.

Another drug peddler, Suresh Kumar alias Sheeshu was arrested with 12 grams of heroin in his possession near Shiv Nagar in Udhampur district, he said.

Two more drug peddlers, Ram Kumar and Yog Raj of Kathua, were arrested and 26 kg of poppy straw was seized from them during checking at Tapyal near Ghagwal on Jammu-Pathankot highway in Samba district, the spokesperson added.

Manzoor Ahmad alias Kaka , a resident of Gol-Gujral, was arrested with 10 grams of heroin during checking of a parked load carrier at Kunjwani bypass in the outskirts of Jammu, the spokesman said.

Srinagar: A top commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen along with his two colleagues, one of them the nephew of a former PDP MLC, were killed in a gunfight in Turkwangam area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Tuesday.

Sources told GNS that a joint team of Police, Army’s 44RR and CRPF launched a cordon-and-search-operation in Turkwangam early morning.
As the joint team approached the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them. The fire was retaliated by the team, triggering off an encounter in which three militants were killed.

While police said that the identity of the slain militants was yet to be ascertained, official sources identified the slain as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen district Commander Zubair Wani of Turkawangam, Kamran Manhas, nephew of former PDP MLC Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, a resident of Sharaab Kareena and Muneeb-ul-Haq of Sugan Zainapora Shopian.

Kamran Manhas had announced joining the Hizb ranks in January 2019 and a picture showing him holding an AK-47 rifle went viral on social media then. Reacting to it then, Zaffar Manhas said he was in “absolute disbelief” and that he and his family could never imagine such a thing even in dreams. Since then Zaffar Manhas left PDP and joined Jammu and Kashmir Apni party.

Kamran was the first youth from the Sharaab Kareena village to join militancy in more than twenty years. It could not be ascertained immediately if any other youth has joined the militant ranks since then.

With the fresh killings, 19 Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants have been killed in Shopian and Kulgam district this month alone.

Meanwhile, internet services have been suspended in Shopian district to prevent protests, sources added. (GNS)

Kulgam: In a shocking incident, a leopard dragged out a two-year-old baby from his house and mauled him to death in Damhal Hanjipora area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Tuesday morning.

Official sources told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that leopard appeared in Gujarbasti Korial village of Damhal Hanjipora in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district and pounced upon a 2-year-old baby last night.

On finding the boy missing, the family and authorities of Wildlife department searched for him and partly-eaten body of the boy was recovered from the bushes in a forest near his village on today morning.

The deceased baby has been identified as Muhammad Sharief Dragad (02) son of Abdul Latief of Gujarbasti Korial Damhal Hanjipora Kulgam.

In charge Wild Life Kulgam, Shabir Ahmad Naik told KNO that body of the baby was found in nearby forest area—(KNO)

PTI

Jammu: The Pakistani army on Monday violated ceasefire by unprovoked firing and shelling on forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said.

The firing with small arms and mortar shelling started from across the border in Sunderbani sector at around 2.30 pm, drawing a befitting retaliation from the Indian army, the spokesman said.

He said the cross-border firing between the two sides was going on when the last reports were received.

There has been a spurt in Pakistani shelling along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir this year with over 2,027 ceasefire violations reported till June 10.

Three army personnel have been killed in Pakistani firing in the twin sectors of Rajouri and Poonch in the past two weeks.