BSF officer killed, trooper injured in RS Pura

KL Report

SRINAGAR

A Border Security Force officer was killed in Jammu district Friday when his service rifle went off accidentally and injuring another trooper, police said.

A police official told GNS that BSF Inspector Saitram and Constable Ramji Thakur got injured when the officer’s pistol went off accidentally inside the camp of 94 bn headquarter in RS Pura.

Both the injured were shifted to hospital where the Inspector succumbed to injuries.

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Militants decamp with cop’s service rifle

KL Report

SRINAGAR

Militants on Thursday night barged inside the police post guarding the house of a judge and decamped with a service rifle of a guard here in Srinagar city.

A police official told GNS that some unknown militants overpowered a security guard constable Mohammad Iqbal and snatched the AK-47 rifle along with 02 magazines and 60 rounds from his possession while he was performing duty near the residence of a district and sessions judge, Sujat Ali Khan at Qamarabad in Qamarwari area of city. “Khan who is presently posted as Sessions Judge in Shopian district was inside his home at the time of incident.”

“The incident occurred at around 2:00 am last night,” the officer said, adding that the other security guards opened fire following the incident.

However, the militants managed to flee from the spot, the officer said, adding that a case has been registered and further investigations taken up in this regard.

Meanwhile, authorities on Friday beefed up the security across Srinagar city following yesterday’s militant attack near SMHS hospital that left a private security guard injured and the mid-night attack after militants decamped with a service rifle of a policeman guarding the house of session’s judge at Qamarwari.

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Kousar Nag Yatra row: I had never given permission, says DC

KL Report

SRINAGAR

Authorities Friday termed the reports baseless that they had given permission to the All Pandit Migrants Coordination Committee (APMCC) for a fresh Yatra to the Pir Panjal glacial lake Kousar Nag from South Kashmir. Deputy Commissioner Kulgam Nisar Ahmed Wani told CNS that district administration never gave its consent for the Kousar Nag Yatra.

“A group of Pandits approached me and sought my permission to conduct the Kousar Nag Yatra from South Kashmir. I did not give permission but directed SP Kulgam to provide them foolproof security if they wish to perform Yatra at Kousar Nag,” Wani said adding that there is no truth in the reports that after giving permission for the Yatra the government cancelled it.

District Development Commissioner Kulgam added that the proposed Yatra will never be allowed from South Kashmir route. “No Yatra would be allowed to Kousar Nag from the Pir Panjal foothills in South Kashmir. Yatra will operate only through its traditional route in Reasi district”, he said adding that if the group of local Pandits who had approached him on June 21 spread this false notion of permission then he is sorry to say that they have misled the people of the state.

Meanwhile, Chairman APMCC Vinod Pandit castigated authorities for cancelling the permission for the Yatra from South Kashmir. He said that the DC Kulgam had issued a formal order granting permission to the organization to conduct pilgrimage from South Kashmir route. “DC Kulgam is backtracking because he is feeling the pressure of the ‘communal elements’. Pandit said.

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Police register case against its two Cops

KL Report

SRINAGAR

The state police on Friday registered a case against two of its own men for entering into a tussle at a local market at north Kashmir.

Reports informed KNS that the two police personnel namely Vikas Ahmad and Farooq Ahmad and a civilian Javid Ahmad on July 30 entered into fight with some local men at the market in North Kashmir’s Handwara area.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Handwara Maqsood-u-Zamaan said that a case of tussle was brought before his notice and he took cognizance of the same. “Law is same for all of us. Law must take its own course. I was informed that two police men were involved in the fight that took place on July 30 and a case was registered against them,” Zaman said. Reports informed that FIR number 19/2014 was registered against the two police personnel at police station Qalamabad and the further investigation has started.

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Geelani’s religious freedom ‘curbed’ again

KL Report

SRINAGAR

The state authorities again barred the Hurriyat Conference (G) Chairman Syed Ali Geelani from offering prayers for the 17 consecutive Fridays, said his party on Friday.

“August 1 was the 17th Friday when Geelani has been barred from offering congregational Friday prayers. The state authorities by such actions vindicate the popularity of the senior leader and stopping any person from offering prayers is the condemnable act,” Hurriyat Conference (G) Ayaz Akbar told KNS.

He stated further in the recent past, the state administration has cracked whip on the amalgam- keeping its entire leadership under house arrest.

He stated that including him, senior Hurriyat leader Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Raja Mehraj-Ud-din, Ghulam Mohammad Ganaie besides several others have been kept under house arrest.

Spokesperson while condemning the continuous confinement stated that such acts would not deter the conglomerate to tread the ‘Just’ path. Pertinently, most of the Hurriyat leadership was put under house detention by the government on Thursday.

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Kousar Nag Tourist, not a pilgrimage destination: G A Mir

KL Report

SRINAGAR

Claiming that neither any permission was sought nor the state government approved any Yatra, the tourism minister and a senior Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir Friday remarked that Kousar Nag is a tourist destination and not the pilgrimage destination.

Talking to KNS, G.A. Mir stated that the entire matter is local in nature and that the state government has no role vis-à-vis the Kousar Nag issue. “The fact of the matter is that some locals for worshipping near the Kousar Nag asked for the security from the state administration. The issue is now being given an unnecessary hype and in actual the tourism department has no intention in changing Kousar nag into a pilgrimage site,” Mir said.

He added further that Kousar Nag will always be a tourist destination and that no effort has been going on to convert it into any pilgrimage destination. “Some locals also worshipped near the stream last year. This is a usual prayer that the people offer near the Kousar Nag and calling it a Yatra is a misnomer.”

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Govt says Kousar Nag Yatra Not a Traditional One

KL Report

SRINAGAR

The state government Friday made it clear that Kousar Nag pilgrimage is not a traditional Yatra like Amarnath Yatra but the same is being managed by its local management.

Talking to KNS, Sajad Ahmad Kichloo, minister of state for home said: “I don’t know people are making it controversial when the Kousar Nag is not a place for traditional Yatra like Amarnath Yatra.”

The minister of state for home informed that a few hundred people visit the Kousar Nag annually to offer prayers from Reasi and no pilgrims visit the place from Valley via Kulgam district. “Some 150 to 200 people visit this place annually for the last four to five years and the government has nothing to do with its management but these special prayers are being organized by the local management of this place,” Kichloo added.

Asked why the separatists have given a call for shutdown against this Yatra, Kichloo said that he fails to understand why such a non issue has been turned into a controversy. The minister of state also informed that principal secretary home affairs will further clarify the government stand on the issue before the press in the evening.

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