News Analysis India

Tag: Jammu and Kashmir

  • J&K: With no cinema halls in Valley, govt to come up with film policy 

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Amid continued closure of cinemas and theatres in Kashmir since 1990 after the outbreak of militancy, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said his administration would unveil J&K’s new film policy within 10 days to bring Kashmir’s golden era back on the silver screen.

    “The J&K administration will come up with a new film policy in the next 10 days to bring Kashmir’s golden era back on the silver screen,” Sinha said while virtually addressing a two-day conference on ‘Tapping the tourism potential of Kashmir – another day in paradise’ organized by the Union Ministry of Tourism.

    He said people have been reading and hearing that Kashmir was once a favorite Bollywood destination in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and “we as a team will work to restore that culture”.The film policy, he said, has been framed after consultations with various stakeholders within J&K and outside.On April 7, Sinha had chaired a meeting to review the proposed J&K film policy-2021. 

    He said the film policy will be among the best in the country and all the stakeholders would be taken onboard while finalizing it. Sinha has directed officials to streamline the single window clearance & facilitation system and bring renowned filmmakers for exploring the scenic locales available in abundance in J&K.

    All the halls functioning in the Valley were closed after militancy erupted in 1990. An effort by the J&K government in 1999 to open some cinema halls in Srinagar failed after a grenade attack at Regal Cinema in Lal Chowk and elsewhere.However, many hit Bollywood movies have been shot in picturesque Kashmir in the last decade and filmmakers have shown willingness to return to the valley. 

  • Chief commander of terror group among seven militants killed in twin gunfights in Kashmir

    Express News Service
    SRINAGAR: Seven militants including the chief commander of Alqaeda-linked Ansar Gazwal-ul-Hind were killed in two separate encounters with security forces on Friday. 

    A joint contingent of the police, the CRPF and the Army launched a search and combing operation in Nawbugh area of Tral in Pulwama district after receiving inputs about militants’ presence there. 

    He said that during the search operations, militants fired on the troops which was retaliated and later triggered into an encounter that killed two militants. Imtiyaz Shah, the AGuH chief was among the deceased in this gunfight. The search operation is underway, a police spokesperson said. 

    Meanwhile, in a separate gunfight that has been underway since Thursday in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, two militants were killed by troops. The toll in this encounter has risen to five. 

    The police said that the chief commander of the militant outfit was among those trapped in the encounter. The brother of the holed-up militant and local cleric were sent inside the mosque to persuade them to surrender and lay down their weapons. 

    The security persons are still trying to ascertain if another militant commander is trapped in the Shopian gunfight.

  • Jammu and Kashmir: 3 terrorists killed by security forces, two trapped in Shopian

    At least three terrorists were killed in an ongoing encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian where two other terrorists are holed up inside a mosque.

    As per Kashmir Zone Police, two more terrorists were firing from inside the mosque and the encounter is still on.
    “Shopian Encounter Update: three unidentified terrorists killed. Operation going on. Further details shall follow,” tweeted Kashmir Zone Police.

    “Operation Chogam, Shopian. Update. Two terrorists eliminated. Two AKs recovered. Joint operation in progress,” the official account of Chinar Corps, Indian Army said in another tweet.

    The encounter between security forces and terrorists started in Shopian on Thursday where terrorists are holed up inside a mosque. The Jammu and Kashmir Police had last night sent the brother of one terrorist and a local Imam inside the mosque to persuade the terrorists to surrender.

    In a tweet, the Jammu and Kashmir Police informed, “Shopian Encounter Update: Brother of holed up terrorist and local Imamsahab sent inside the mosque to persuade the terrorists to come out and #surrender. Efforts are on to save the mosque. Operation going on. Further details shall follow.”

    Chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) terror outfit has been trapped while three unidentified terrorists have been killed by the security forces in an ongoing encounter at Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district, police said in the evening.

    The news was confirmed by the Kashmir Zone police on their Twitter handle.

    “Chief of proscribed terrorist outfit AGuH (JeM) trapped,” the Kashmir Zone police tweeted. “Three unidentified terrorists killed. Operation going on,” the police further informed.

    The gunfight began in the afternoon after a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir Police and security forces launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about the presence of terrorists.

  • Rohingyas detained in Jammu won’t be deported to Myanmar without due process: Supreme Court

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday said that Rohingyas detained in Jammu shall not be deported to Myanmar without following the prescribed process.

    A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde passed the order on a plea seeking immediate release of detained Rohingya refugees in Jammu and a direction to restrain the Centre from deporting them to Myanmar.

    The Centre had earlier opposed the plea saying that the country cannot be the “capital” for illegal immigrants.

    During the arguments, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, had said that Rohingya children were subjected to killing, maiming and sexual exploitation by the Myanmar military which has failed to respect international humanitarian law.

    Violent attacks allegedly by Myanmar army have led to an exodus of Rohingya tribals from the western Rakhine state in that country to India and Bangladesh.

  • Kin of CRPF jawan abducted by Naxals stage protest in J-K, demand assurance for his safe release

    By PTI
    JAMMU: Relatives of a CoBRA commando held hostage by Naxals after a recent gun battle with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district blocked the Jammu-Poonch highway on Wednesday, demanding an assurance from the government for his safe release.

    “He is the responsibility of the government, which should take immediate action to ensure his safe return to us. We want the government to inform us about the action it is taking for his release,” Meenu, wife of abducted jawan Rakeshwar Singh Minhas, said in a fervent appeal from the protest site.

    Thirty-one jawans were injured while CoBRA commando Minhas, belonging to its 210th battalion, went missing after the gunfight that took place along the Bijapur-Sukma border on Saturday and was stated to have been taken hostage.

    ALSO READ | Maoists in Chhattisgarh release image of abducted CoBRA commando

    Twenty-two personnel from various security forces like the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) of the Central Reserve Police Force, its Bastariya battalion and those from the District Reserve Guard and STF of the Chattissgarh Police were killed in the ambush.

    In Jammu, dozens of relatives and neighbours of Minhas took to the streets and blocked the main road outside his Burnai residence on Wednesday, raising slogans of “Bring back our hero”, “Long live India” and “Shoot the traitors of the nation”.

    Officials said a police party was at the scene trying to persuade them to allow normal movement of traffic, which had to be diverted to another route.

    A purported statement released by the Maoists on Tuesday claimed that they have abducted a jawan during the gun battle in Bijapur and sought nomination of some mediators for his release.

    Asked about the statement, Meenu questioned the central government’s “silence” on the issue.

    “If a jawan is late to report to duty by just one day after leave, action is taken against him, but here he is missing since Saturday and nobody is bothered,” she said.

    She added that not a word had been received from the government or the CRPF, and whatever information they had was through the media.

    Demanding an assurance from the government for her husband’s safe release, Meenu said, “We are concerned about his safety.

    The Naxals made a claim and also came out with a written statement, and now the government should look for a mediator to bring him back.”

    “We do not have any source or approach to reach out to the Naxals. We can only make a request for his release,” she said, as her five-year-old daughter, Shragvi, stood dumb-struck nearby.

    The jawan’s younger brother, Sumit, also appealed to the government to act fast.

    “We request the government not to waste any time and bring him back. He is not on any foreign land like (Wing Commander) Abhinandan Varthaman, who returned home from Pakistan within 60 hours,” he added.

    National president of NSUI, the student wing of the Indian National Congress, Neeraj Kundan visited the family members along with J&K Congress vice-president and former minister Raman Bhalla on Monday, and facilitated a telephonic conversation between them and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

    “I want to talk to my son. Please bring him back,” Minhas’s mother Kunti Devi, a CRPF jawan’s widow, had then told Baghel.

  • ISJK commander arrested in Jammu; terror strike averted: IGP

    Singh said the major success came when police started checking at Jhajjar Kotli after being tipped-off about the possible movement of a terrorist commander.

  • Security forces recover arms, ammunition during searches in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: Security forces recovered arms and ammunition during a search operation in the Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said Saturday.

    The search operation was conducted in the forests of village Shanipora Khan Sahab in the central Kashmir district upon receipt of specific information, a police official said.

    Incriminating material of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror outfit, and a cache of arms and ammunition including a Chinese pistol, a UBGL (Under Barrel Grenade Launcher), four UBGL rounds, four pistol magazines, three radio set antenna, three rounds of 7.62 mm, a battery, 98 rounds of 9 mm and a bonnet cover were recovered, the official said.

    A case has been registered and further investigation taken up, he said.

  • Two militant associates of Lashkar-e-Taiba arrested in Jammu and Kashmir

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: Two militant associates of Lashkar-e-Taiba were arrested in Sopore area of Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir in connection with a grenade explosion case, police said on Saturday.

    On December 12 last year, three civilians were injured in a grenade explosion outside the gate of Police Post Bus Stand in Sopore area of the north Kashmir district, a police official said.

    A case was registered and investigation was set into motion.

    During the course of investigation, two suspects — Mohammad Asif Najar, a resident of Noor Bagh Sopore; and Sahil Rashid Bhat, a resident of Green Town Sopore — were apprehended, the official said.

    During their questioning, he said, they confessed that they were working for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as overground workers and had thrown the grenade on the police post on the directions of LeT militants.

    The duo also confessed that they wanted to join the militant ranks, and the grenade was handed over to them to throw it on any security force/police establishments in Sopore area, the official said.

    Both have been arrested and further investigation is going on, he added.

  • Former Jammu and Kashmir Bank chairman arrested in illegal allotment of tender case

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: Former chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Bank Parvez Ahmad Nengroo was arrested on Saturday in connection with a case of illegal allotment of tenders for housekeeping that led to a loss of crores of rupees to the bank, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said.

    The ACB had registered a case in October last year against a private firm and three former bank officials, including Ahmad, for allegedly causing a Rs 6.92-crore loss to the bank by not following tendering rules.

    “Nengroo has been arrested by ACB in connection with the investigation of a case that pertains to illegal allotment of tenders by Jammu and Kashmir Bank regarding housekeeping, to a Mumbai based Company (M/S SILA Solutions Pvt.Ltd) by not following proper tendering norms as provided in the contract,” the ACB said in a statement here.

    The statement said due to not following the proper tendering processes, improper ATM cleaning, undue addition of the Management Fee and other omissions and commissions detected during the investigation, the J&K Bank suffered losses worth crores of rupees from the date of award of the contract.

    Besides this case,  the ACB said charge sheets in connection with another case registered a year earlier have already been filed before the Anti-Corruption Court against Nengroo.

    The case relates to illegal appointments in J&K bank which suffered a loss of more than Rs 250 crore on account of salary paid to these illegal employees over the period.

    Besides Nengroo, the ACB has named Sahil Vora and Rishabh Vora, directors, SILA Solutions Pvt Ltd, Surjeet Singh Seghal, the then executive president of J&K Bank (now retired) and Feroz Ahmad, the then assistant vice-president, in the tendering fraud.

  • Three militants gunned down by security forces in Pulwama encounter

    By Express News Service
    SRINAGAR: Three militants died in an ongoing gunfight with security forces at Kakapora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir.

    A joint contingent of police, CRPF and army launched a cordon and search operation at Gath Mohalla area of Kakapora in Pulwama district in the early hours of Friday after receiving intelligence inputs about the presence of a group of 3-4 militants there, a police official informed. 

    He said after plugging off all the possible entry and exit routes, the security men zeroed in on the target area where militants were hiding.

    “The militants were asked to surrender. However, they turned down the offer and fired towards the troops. The fire was returned by the security men and in the ensuing gunfight three militants have been killed,” the official said.

    He said the search operation in the area was going on when reports last poured in. “Arms and ammunition and incriminating material have been recovered from the slain militants,” the official said.

    The police suspect that those killed in the gunfight were involved in Thursday’s militant attack on BJP leader Mohammad Anwar Khan’s residence at the Nowgam area on the outskirts of Srinagar in which a policeman was killed.