Delhi on high terror alert

An alert was issued for the national capital and the areas falling within the National Capital Region by the Union home ministry on Saturday following fresh advisories issued by the US, UK and Australia warning of “imminent” terror strikes in Delhi.

The home ministry, however, stressed there is no need to panic and that “it is aware of terror threats which are not specific to Delhi”. The home ministry said an alert has been issued for Jammu and Kashmir too on the basis of intelligence inputs regarding the designs of terrorist outfits to strike over the weekend.

The Delhi Police, in response to the advisories and the alert issued by the home ministry, said it was taking “appropriate measures” to prevent any terror strikes.

The US embassy said on its website: “Terrorists have targeted places in the past where US citizens or Westerners are known to visit. Markets, such as those located in Chandni Chowk, Connaught Place, Greater Kailash, Karol Bagh, Mehrauli, and Sarojini Nagar, can be especially attractive targets for terrorist groups.” In a similar advisory, the UK government said, “There are increased indications that terrorists are planning attacks in New Delhi.” The Australian advisory said, “Reliable reporting indicates that terrorists may be planning to attack markets in New Delhi.”

 

Teenager raped, burnt alive

A teenaged girl was raped and burnt alive by some unidentified persons in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir.

A semi-burnt body of the 17-year-old was found in a tin-shed in Majalta area of the district on Friday night, police said on Saturday.

During preliminary investigation, it was suspected that the girl was raped and then set afire by the attackers.

The Station House Officer (SHO), Mr Arvinder Kotwal, said that a case has been registered and an investigation was on.

With spring, migratory birds fly out of Kashmir

It’s spring in Jammu and Kashmir and time for around a million migratory birds to bid adieu after spending nearly six months in the valley’s wetlands. Led by the eldest in every flock, they are flying back to their summer homes.

“This year we had around one million avian visitors who came here from Russian Siberia, China, Eastern Europe and the Philippines,” said Ghulam Ahmad Lone, Kashmir wildlife warden (wetland).

“Traditionally, these birds come here from their homes to ward off the extreme winter cold there,” he said.

“Hokarsar, Haigam, Mirgund and Shallabugh are the wetland bird reserves in the valley where the migratory birds spend the winter months,” Lone told IANS.

Lone said greylag geese, mallards, teals, pochards, shovelers and wigeons are the species of the migratory birds now leaving the valley and flying back to their summer homes.

“It is always the eldest bird in the flock that leads the journey to and fro their summer homes. The flight of the migratory birds is not only a treat for the bird watchers but also a marvel in flight engineering. The birds fly in daylight and during night, led by instinct which never fails them,” Lone said.

This year the local wildlife department had to arrange for feeding the migratory birds when the birds could not fend for themselves in frozen water bodies.

“During extreme frost, we arranged for feeding the birds and over 30 quintals of paddy were used for this purpose,” he said.

“We have sown trapa nuts weighing around 30 quintals to arrange for the natural food of the birds in the wetland reserves,” he added.

“The birds normally spend their days in the safety of the wetland reserves and fly to the Wullar lake and other water bodies here to feed during the night,” he said.

Even as the majority of migratory birds are now leaving the valley, some species are coming now in the spring months to stay on till winter sets in.

“The migration of the birds to the valley from their summer homes begins by Sep 15 each year and the journey back is completed by the end of March.”

“Species of herons, egrets, lapwings, cranes and storks come here in spring and live in the wetland reserves till the beginning of winter,” Lone said.

“Some of the migratory birds even continue to live in the local wetlands for egg laying and breeding purposes. Even some mallards and other migratory bird species stay back to lay eggs and bring up their chicks in the valley,” he added.

“Interestingly, it is the weak and the infirm birds which cannot fly thousands of miles that extend their stay in the valley,” he said.

Back in his Chunduna village in north Kashmir, 65-year-old Master Habibullah, a keen bird watcher, says: “Look at the majesty of the migratory birds. They are living examples of precision and timing.

“As if by an alarm bell, the birds know it is time to say goodbye to Kashmir,” he added. “Despite giant strides by humankind, the biological clock is still the most accurate time keeper.

Pulwama encounter ends; Army Captain, 3 ultras killed

An Army officer and three militants were killed in a 30-hour long fierce gunbattle in Pulwama district of south Kashmir on Thursday in the second major operation in eight days.

The gunbattle broke out when militants hiding in a cluster of houses fired at a joint search party of police and troops of 42 Rashtriya Rifles in Mir Mohalla Dadasir, 40 kms from here, police said.

Captain Deepak Sharma was killed in the encounter that started on Wednesday in which three jawans and a policeman were injured.

The operation to flush out the militants was suspended on Wednesday night due to inclement weather. It resumed this morning and the exchange of fire went on till afternoon between the two sides, police said adding three militants were killed.

The Captain is the second Army officer to be killed in an encounter in Kashmir in eight days. On February 24, Captain Devinder Singh Jass was killed in a gunbattle in Sopore.

Teenager killing case: BSF commandant arrested

Senior BSF officer R. K. Birdi, suspended in connection with the killing of a teenager here last month, was today handed over to the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Birdi was handed over to Superintendent of Police (city-east) and is lodged in Khotibagh police station, police sources said.

Birdi’s name surfaced in the case after the arrest of BSF jawan Lakhvinder Kumar, who was handed over to police after internal investigation by the paramilitary force claimed that his service rifle was used to kill 16-year-old Zahid Farooq on February 5, an incident which triggered massive protests in the valley.

Zahid was killed at Brein-Nishat after he along with his friends had entered into an altercation with BSF personnel who were on their way to Shalimar for a medical check-up.

Though Kumar was arrested, eyewitnesses and the probe claimed that it was at the insistence of the commandant that the BSF Jawan had fired at the boy.

Two BSF jawans - Dhananjay Gori and Ram Singh who were part of the team - had recoded their statement before a magistrate supporting the claims of Kumar that the commandant had even cocked the gun and ordered firing at the boy.

Police have seized the weapon that was used to kill the boy and three vehicles used by the personnel of the unit at the time of the incident. The weapon has been sent to ballistic experts for tests.

Forensic teams have taken samples of tyres of the three seized vehicles and matched it with those at the crime scene.

Following Kumar’s allegation, the Union Home Ministry has issued suspension order for Birdi, commandant of the 68th battalion, who has been confined to the local headquarters pending an inquiry by an officer of the rank of inspector general.

Chidambaram chairs meeting of Unified Command

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday chaired the meeting of the Unified Command to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Tight security arrangements have been made for the Home Minister’s visit in view of the State BJP’s plan to gherao him to protest his approval of the policy to allow surrender of militants mooted by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Barring a demonstration by over 100 workers led by BJP’s State legislative party leader Chaman Lal Gupta at Bikram Chowk, the law and order situation was peaceful in the city, police said.

The meeting being held at the Chief Minister’s residence was attended by Director general of Police Kuldeep Khuda besides chiefs of BSF and CRPF.

The agenda of the meeting includes review of the security situation, plans of modernisation of the police force and the surrender policy, officials said.

Contours of the “cross-border surrender policy” after taking into consideration militants in PoK camps, latest intelligence inputs, screening setup and modalities of surrender are expected to be discussed.

The Centre has said it was ready to “welcome” Kashmiris who had gone to PoK if they were ready to return after giving up militancy.

“The idea that any Indian who had crossed over to PoK and wishes to return India is certainly welcome,” Chidambaram has said.

Life crippled in Srinagar as separatists call for strike

Life in Srinagar and major towns of Kashmir valley was crippled on Tuesday by a separatists-sponsored strike called to protest the killing of a teenager in teargas shelling on Sunday.

Shops and business establishments remained closed and transport was off the road in response to calls given by separatists, including both factions of Hurriyat Conference, police said.

Youths pelted stones at vehicles in Batmaloo, Maisuma, Bemina and Natipora in uptown and several other areas of old city, they said, adding the situation was, however, under control.

16-year-old Wanik Farooq, a resident of Rainawari locality, was allegedly hit by a teargas shell in his head at Rajouri Kadal during a clash between police and a mob on Sunday and later succumbed at Soura Media Institute.

At least 35 people, including nine policemen and six CRPF personnel, were injured in day—long clashes between stone-pelting youths and law enforcing agencies in the city on Monday.

Describing the killing of Farooq as the worst instance of “State terrorism”, several separatist organisations, including Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Democratic Freedom Party and Jamaat-e-Islami demanded a probe into the incident and strict punishment to the erring cop who “killed” the young boy with a teargas shell.

Chairman of Hurriyat Syed Ali Shah Geelani said Farooq’s killing “shows how armed forces are carrying out the genocide of Kashmiris. It is a part of a military strategy to eliminate young Kashmiris.”

Moderate faction of Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq described the killing as “a barbaric act“.

He urged the people to observe “civil curfew” by staying indoors to express their resentment over the incident.

JKLF chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik described Farooq’s killing as an “inhuman act“.

The High Court Bar Association also supported the strike call and alleged Farooq’s killing was a part of genocide perpetuated by the State in Jammu and Kashmir.

Ahead of Republic Day, huge arms haul in J&K

Ahead of the Republic Day, security forces seized a huge cache of arms and explosives, including over 15-kg RDX and 150 grenades, in two separate operations on Sunday, scuttling militants’ plan to disrupt the national event in the State.

The seizures, which included two Pak-made Anti-Personnel Mines and 13 mortar bombs, were effected in Baramulla district in Kashmir valley and Rajouri in Jammu region, police said.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of police, army and CRPF personnel raided Check-e-Mamoosa area in Baramulla district in the wee hours and recovered a large quantity of arms and explosives from a stream.

The haul included over 10-kg of lethal RDX, 15O grenades and two Anti-Personnel Mines, SSP (Baramulla) Shakeel Ahmad Beigh told PTI.

The arms and explosives, smuggled from across the border, were concealed in two water tanks which were pulled out from the bed of the stream, he said.

“The weapons were meant for distribution among militants to create distubances in the run-up to the Republic Day,” Mr. Beigh said.

Other recoveries included a Universal Machine Gun with over 700 live cartridges, 57 hand grenades, 42 Under Barrel grenades and four wireless sets with 26 additional batteries.

Six explosive sticks, 330 electronic detonators and two boxes filled with 1500 live rounds of AK series rifles were also recovered from the water tanks, the SSP said.

He said the operation lasted nearly four hours, but no one was arrested.

In another operation, police recovered a huge haul of arms, ammunition and explosives, including five-kg RDX, in Barsa forest belt, five-km from LoC, in Rajouri district.

During the searches, which were conducted this morning, three Pak-made pistols, five AK magazines, 286 rounds of AK rifles, two grenades, 12 electronic detonators and 15-mt of cordex wire were seized.

The militants had smuggled the arms from across the border recently for making IEDs to set off explosions in the run-up to the Republic Day, police said.

Centre lifts ban on pre-paid mobile phones in J&K

Nearly two and a half months after imposing a ban on pre-paid mobile phones in Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre on Thursday lifted its order with immediate effect but put stringent conditions on operators for verification of customers.

The decision to lift the ban was taken after the Centre finalised a “foolproof” plan to ensure proper verification of nearly 38 lakh cell phone subscribers in the state, official sources said.

The Union Home Ministry had imposed the ban on pre-paid mobile phone services on November one last year and Home Minister P Chidambaram had recently said that if the service providers come up with a foolproof plan of 100 per cent verification and the ministry was satisfied with it, then the issue may be revisited.

Jammu and Kashmir government as well as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had been pursuing with the Centre on the issue asking it to work out a solution at the earliest.

The State government had favoured a policy for the telecom operators for resuming pre-paid mobile services in the State, which should include stringent action besides financial penalties for firms not complying with verification process.

The State had maintained that it did not have any issue over the pre-paid ban and wanted the telecom operators to behave in a disciplined manner.