Appointment of CVC

Queries that Governor did not raise

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jun 24: Despite his discreet loyalty to all organs of the chair for the last five years as Director General of Police, political majors of Jammu & Kashmir have done a disservice to Mr Kuldeep Khoda. At a moment, when everybody laboured under the impression that Mr Khoda had neutralized PDP’s potential of opposing his nomination as the state’s first Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) through the good offices of benefactors like Makhan Lal Fotedar, Mehbooba Mufti shot out with her sting. The PDP chief, some believe, wanted to teach the coalition government a lesson of ignoring her recommendations in favour of Justice (rtd) Bilal Nazki and Justice (rtd) Bashir Ahmad Khan in appointment of the Chairperson of Accountability Commission last year.

With Congress representative in the selection committee meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, according to Ms Mufti, assuming neutrality, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as well as Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Mohammad Sagar, put their foot down to see that the NC’s nominee makes it to the hot seat.

Hurriyat and JKLF have been, in fact, more benevolent to Mr Khoda by not going proactive against an official accused of his involvement in “killings” by a major mainstream party. The outgoing DGP, according to well-placed sources, delivered his personal condolences on the death of a separatist leader’s father who, in turn, was equally courteous all through the telephonic conversation. Even the group of human rights activists and lawyers, that threatened to challenge J&K High Court’s clean chit to Mr Khoda a day after the selection committee meeting, has meaningfully not approached Supreme Court in the last 27 days.

Look, how the ruling coalition has impaired Mr Khoda’s prospects more than the opposition---mainstream and separatist.

Firstly, Mr Khoda was indiscreetly encouraged to persist with his ‘on spot recruitment drive’ in J&K Police around the timing of his retirement from services and nomination as CVC. The drive, according to government sources, had been approved by Minister incharge Home for the poorly represented Revenue Niabats in the state Police. It practically revolved around the Assembly segments of only some influential Ministers and MLAs, making easy for others to view it as the DGP’s ‘operation quid pro quo’. 

Secondly, Mr Khoda’s nomination was inordinately delayed---exactly to the timing of his superannuation---provoking civil society to interpret it as a blue-eyed IPS officer’s post-retirement rehabilitation, rather than Omar Abdullah government’s commitment to eradication of corruption in public offices. Significantly, the State Vigilance Commission (SVC) was constituted vide SRO-59 on February 15^th, 2011, and the first meeting of the selection committee was called not before May 28^th, 2012, just three days before Mr Khoda’s date of retirement. It could have easily taken place three months before or later. This actually brought the debate out from confines of the state Law Department, General Administration Department and Chief Minister’s Secretariat and automatically out from Raj Bhawan too.

Thirdly, the names of two retired IAS and IPS officers, Samuel Varghese and Ashok Bhan, were incorporated in the panel by unknown sources at the eleventh hour. Both have been public servants of unmatched name and fame for over three decades of their service. In the wake of Ms Mufti’s dissent, Government would have to convince Raj Bhawan how its nominee was superior to Varghese and Bhan in honesty, integrity, competence and initiative. Its task would have been perhaps easier while weighing Mr Khoda against certain dwarfed panelists.

Fourthly, Mr Khoda’s image could have been boosted while making him proceed against some of his subordinate officials known for their brazen indulgence in corruption, extortion and secessionist-friendly activity. For decades, the number of Police officials, booked in corruption-related matter by State Vigilance Organisation, was almost zero. It was, in fact, out of this compulsion that the state government and its people realized the need of creating a high powered Vigilance Commission that would not have monopoly of the state Police.

Fifthly, Mr Khoda’s name was favoured by the Government members of the selection committee in the evening on May 28^th when a matter of his alleged involvement in so-called “Bhaderwah triple murder” was under hearing of the High Court. In other words, had the Government submitted its recommendation to Raj Bhawan immediately after the selection committee meeting, had the Governor appointed Mr Khoda as CVC on the basis of same recommendations on forenoon of May 29^th, and, had the High Court ordered criminal proceedings or CBI investigation, as prayed by the petitioners, Governor would have been subjected to unimaginable embarrassment, no less than the one suffered by the UPA Government at the Centre in PJ Thomas’s appointment as Central Vigilance Commissioner with Supreme Court’s judgment dated March 3^rd, 2011.

It is just a coincidence that within hours of the selection committee meeting and Ms Mufti’s playing up of ‘Bhaderwah killings’, Mr Justice Hasnain Masoodi of J&K High Court got his clean chit to Mr Khoda announced through then acting Chief Justice in Jammu.

The issue being in the peoples’ court would make it immaterial whether or not Department of Law succeeds in convincing Raj Bhawan over the necessity of appointing Mr Khoda as CVC. Restricting Raj Bhawan’s queries merely to legality and technicality does obviously run the risk of the entire exercise getting dubbed as a ‘fixed match’ in Mr Khoda’s favour between Civil Secretariat and Raj Bhawan.

Even as Raj Bhawan has returned the file to the government with only the queries that could be comfortably responded to by the Civil Secretariat, it would be difficult to expect a Governor of Mr N N Vohra’s stature to mutely function as a rubberstamp to safeguard the government’s ego in his last year in office.

From the civil society, there is already enough of criticism that the state government was permissive to corruption, SVO had ceased to exist, SVC had remained fully blank since its inception in February 2011, State Human Rights Commission’s recommendations were not being implemented and both, State Information Commission and State Accountability Commission, had been rendered dysfunctional due to non-availability of staff and other infrastructure by the regime Governor calls “my government” each year in his Budget session speech in the Legislature.

END

Separatist​s attend book fairs, inauguration​s in Valley

Police organizes first ever cricket tournament in Sopore; 56 teams participating

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jun 24: Weeks after inaugurating a business establishment set up by a Kashmiri Pandit businessman in the heart of downtown Srinagar, Chairman of the separatist conglomerate Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, yesterday inaugurated a confectionery and fast food joint, Modern Sweets, at Kaksarai in the uptown Karan Nagar in Srinagar.

Mirwaiz drove all the way to Karan Nagar to cut ribbons of the newly established fast food centre at a place that remained ghost ridden for years with memory of the judge Neelkant Ganjoo's assassination by JKLF militants and paramilitary formations. Modern Sweets has come up near the house of Ganjoo who was gunned down by JKLF guerrillas for having sentenced to death the organisation’s founder leader Maqbool Bhat. Scores of grenade attacks on BSF and CRPF encampments also happened in the same locality for 20 years of the Kashmir militancy.

This change in Srinagar skyline is not altogether new. Telecommunication giant Reliance chose the same place for establishing the Valley’s first FM radio station, FM 92.7, five years back. It survived the Valley’s worst ever street turbulence, first in 2008 and later in 2010. When worse to the worst, FM 92.7 suspended Bollywood music DVDs and switched over to broadcasting religious hymns in praise of Allah and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). All the young female radio jockeys (RJs), all drawn from Srinagar, are firmly perched on their ground, close to late Ganjoo’s house , promoting Hindi movie entertainment---an heretic activity for jihadists. Not only that. None other than Anil Ambani said at a national seminar two years back that Srinagar station was his broadcasting network’s most profitable centre in terms of advertisement revenue, leaving behind all the 46 others, including those of Mumbai and New Delhi.

"Mouth watering delicious fried chicken Kentucky style for the first time in the Valley of Kashmir... Brought to you by chefs trained at multinational fast food outlets all over India... Most modern facility in a state of the art 3500 sft outlet" reads a paid advertisement in today's Greater Kashmir making it public that 'Mirwaiz Dr Umar Farooq' was going to inaugurate the sweets shop. Ironically, Mirwaiz and almost all of his separates colleagues prevented the people of Kashmir from organizing and attending such inaugurations and other events, arguing that these would be projected by India as indicators of peace and normalcy and hence 'anti-movement activity'.

Finding themselves marginalized after the US President Barack Obama's visit to India in November 2010 and massive participation of the Kashmiri voters in Assembly, Parliamentary and Panchayat elections in the last over three years, many of the separatist leaders are now seen at inaugurations and other non-political platforms. Last fortnight, a number of them including Mirwaiz, hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani and JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik attended a book exhibition organized by Government of India and inaugurated by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at Sri Pratap College in Srinagar.

On the other hand, Government agencies, particularly Police and security forces, are busy in reaping the fruits of peace and normality. As Army today organized a major sports event at Pattan, Police today triggered off Sopore’s first government-sponsored cricket tournament. SP Sopore, Imtiyaz Hussain Mir, told Early Times that as many as 56 of the local teams were participating in the tournament that would continue for several weeks. Interestingly, VIP guests at the inaugural ceremony were the ruling National Conference’s Minister (incharge Home, PHE, Irrigation and Revenue) Nasir Aslam Wani and local MLA, Haji Mohammad Ashraf, who for two years viewed it as a dream to make a passage through the apple town.

Police and security forces have yet again almost completely wiped out militancy in Sopore, though search is continuing for dreaded commanders like the Pakistani Fahadullah and the local militant organizer Muz Maulvi. Earlier this year, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba’s seniormost commander Abdullah Uni had died in an encounter with Police and Army at his hideout, close to Degree College and SP’s office in Sopore town. That gunbattle, according to residents, proved to be a turning point. 

END

Ministry of Finance directs RBI to treat J&K Bank as a Govt bank

RTI activists get a shot in the arm to make the bank accountable to public

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jun 22: In their struggle to make the state-controlled Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd accountable to public, RTI activists have discovered that union Ministry of Finance had directed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to treat J&K Bank as a government bank as long as the state government retained over 50% of shares in it.

Even before some RTI activists and lawyers approached Jammu and Kashmir State Information Commission (SIC) with the plea that J&K Bank be declared as a government bank---and thus bound by law to provide information under RTI Act 2009 to the common citizens---the country’s highest executive authority in the domain, union Ministry of Finance, had directed RBI to treat J&K Bank as a government-controlled financial institution. The clarification came in the wake of confusion whether the Government of India’s Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) was applicable in respect of J&K Bank.

“I am directed to say that the Government of India is implementing Interest Subvention Scheme since 2006-07 to ensure that the short term crop loans upto Rs 3.00 Lakh is available to farmers at 7% p.a. This Scheme is applicable for Public Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Cooperative Banks”, Mr M S Azad, Under Secretary (AC) in Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India wrote to Chief General Manager RPCD, RBI, Mumbai in a “MOST IMMEDIATE” communication on 01-11-2011. Copy of the letter was also sent to Chief General Manager, CPD, NABARD, Head Office Mumbai.

Mr Azad added: “Jammu & Kashmir Bank, being majority shares owned by Government of J&K, is also a public sector bank as per section 617 of the Companies Act. It has therefore been decided that the Interest Subvention Scheme on short term crop loans as mentioned above will also be applicable for the lending done by the Jammu & Kashmir Bank as long as Government of J&K retains majority stake in the bank. RBI and NABARD are requested to take necessary action in this regard”. In order to ensure that the loanee farmers got necessary benefit of the Central scheme, Mr Azad sought acknowledgement of the receipt of his communication to RBI and NABARD. A copy of the letter was delivered on Chairman of J&K Bank Ltd for information and necessary action.

RTI activists pursuing the matter with SIC included Jammu-based lawyer Vilakshana Singh, Nasrullah, Dr Varun Suthra, Immamul Ansarullah, Raman Sharma, Sunal Mahajan, Shalini Gupta, Dineshwar Singh Jamwal and Chuni Lal.

Former Chairman of the bank, Haseeb Drabu, had resisted all efforts of the RTI movement with his contention that J&K Bank was neither a state-created or state-controlled bank nor liable by RTI Act of 2009 to share any information with the common citizens. Even as he was removed and forced to resign by Omar Abdullah’s government in August 2010, his successor Mushtaq Ahmad too adopted the same line. Consequently, the bank authorities returned all the RTI application, while asserting that the bank did not fall under the jurisdiction of the law.

In the wake of all the RTI applications being returned to the applicants blank, some Jammu-based lawyers and RTI activists filed an appeal before SIC, seeking declaration that the J&K Bank, by virtue of being creation of the J&K Government and being fully controlled by the state government that had 53.17% share in it, be declared as a government bank and thus under jurisdiction of RTI Act of 2009.

In its Decision No: 120- SIC-J/K/Comp/35/2010 on 24-04-2012, SIC’s full bench, headed by Chairman Mr Ghulam Rasool Sufi, declared that J&K Bank was a government-created and government-controlled and thus liable to provide information to ordinary citizens under RTI Act of 2009.

Paragraph 59 of the SIC’s landmark judgment read:  “Thus having regard to the above discussion, the Commission declares the J&K Bank (Ltd) to be a “Public Authority” as defined in Section 2 of the J&K RTI Act, 2009 fulfilling the conditions therein”. 

The operative portion of the judgment in Paragraph No: 60 read: “Accordingly having declared the J&K Bank Ltd. to be a “Public Authority” as defined in Section 2 of the State RTI Act, the Chairman /Chief Executive Officer of the Bank is directed to designate First Appellate Authority /Authorities, Public Information Officer/Officers and Assistant Public Information Officers as provided under Section 5 of the RTI Act. His attention is specifically invited to Section 5 of the State RTI Act 2009 which 7 of the State Right to Information Act. The Chairman of the Bank shall also kindly take necessary steps to impart training and sensitize the officers so designated about the various provisions of the State RTI Act, 2009 read with State RTI Rules, 2010. In this connection if the Bank desired any assistance and guidance of this Commission, the Commission may be approached and requested for doing the same. The Chairman being the Public Authority of J&K Bank Ltd is also directed to ensure the implementation of provisions of Section 4 of the Act”.

However, within days, J&K Bank challenged the SIC judgment in J&K High Court. On May 22^nd, Mr Justice J P Singh stayed operation of the SIC’s impugned judgment and directed that Government of Jammu and Kashmir too be impleaded as a party.

END

IB associated with SIT probe into Police-militant nexus

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jun 19: Amid strong resistance from a section of J&K Police officers, premier central intelligence agency, Intelligence Bureau (IB), has been associated today with the investigation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state Police into the lately exposed Police-militant nexus on the orders of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Authoritative sources revealed to Early Times that, contrary to his initial stand, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has finally directed Chief Secretary Madhav Lal, Principal Secretary Home, B R Sharma, and officiating Director General of Police, K Rajendra Kumar, to involve a team of IB officials with the investigation into the Police-militant nexus. Though many of the state Police officials and top ranking bureaucrats were quick to demonstrate obedience, some of the senior officials put up strong resistance to the idea of ‘making the Police organisation suspect’.

Sources revealed that at least one senior officer implored Chief Minister to relieve him of his posting before associating with the investigation “central agencies who have, by law, neither mandate nor infrastructure” to investigate crime. He sought to emphasize that Police and investigation of the crimes like Police-militant nexus was “an exclusive state subject” and any unconstitutional value-addition would not only lower the image of Jammu & Kashmir into the eyes of common people but could also make the entire Police organisation as ‘suspect’.

Some other officials opined that it would be better to formally hand over the entire investigation to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) than informally associating IB with the process and thus abdicating the authority to a central agency. Believed to be under sustained pressure from union Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi, Chief Minister remained adamant and argued that keeping the central agency deliberately away from the crucial investigation “having national security concerns” would not be prudent for the state government. According to sources, Chief Minister later decided to discuss the whole gamut of investigation with the MHA in New Delhi.

In the wake of Chief Minister’s direction, a team of IB officials was today involved with the investigation. Although, the network still seemed to be restricted to Tral and Srinagar city, efforts were underway to know whether any middle ranking or senior officials too were part of the nexus. As of now, sources said, the detained Police officials’ involvement appeared to be limited to arranging a gun and helping the militants of Hizbul Mujahideen in eliminating a released militant of the outfit, namely Ghulam Hassan Mir alias Shabnam of Tral, in Sadarbal area of Srinagar on June 7^th.

SSP Srinagar, Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, declined to comment on the progress, if any, in the investigation. He, however, dismissed reports that CRPF had sought its involvement with the investigation. “They have full faith in our investigation. Neither did they seek their association with the investigation nor did we involve them with the process”, he said.

END

Constable Abbas---a kin of Navy deserter Jan Maulvi

5 more lifted in Tral for sustained interrogation

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jun 18: With a Special Investigation Team of District Police Srinagar continuing raids and lifting five more persons for questioning in Tral, detained CID constable, Mohammad Abbas, has surfaced to be a cousin of top wanted militant, Jan Mohammad Ahangar, who had deserted Navy and was subsequently killed in a gunbattle in Pulwama district.

Highly placed sources in J&K Police revealed to Early Times that SIT was smoothly carrying on investigation into the Police-militant nexus that has surfaced last week in wake of the assassination of a former militant of Hizbul Mujahideen, namely Ghulam Hassan Mir alias Shabnam. Arrested in 2006 and released in 2007, Shabnam had shifted his residence and business to Sadarbal area of Srinagar where he was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on June 7^th. These sources strongly contradicted New Delhi-based media reports that J&K Police had granted access to “certain Central agencies” in the interrogation of four Police and CID personnel arrested and booked in Shabnam’s killing.

According to these sources, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had personally taken a meeting with the J&K Police top brass on the exposure of a nexus between Police personnel and militants of Hizbul Mujahideen operating in Tral area. They asserted that even the Principal Secretary Home, B R Sharma, emphasized that J&K Police was “very much capable” of holding the investigation independently and there was no need for it to go for any “agni pariksha” to establish its integrity and competence. Sources said that officiating DGP, K Rajendra Kumar, as well as IGP Kashmir, S M Sahai, too were on the same page.

“There is no scope of a detainee being passed on to intelligence agencies or paramilitary forces for custodial interrogation. We have registered the FIR under law and we only can investigate it. Central agencies or forces, should they so desire, could be associated later after we complete the investigation”, a senior authoritative source maintained. He claimed that CRPF had neither sought any detainees’ custody, for interrogation or otherwise, nor had been anybody from the force associated with the process till date.

Sources said that over the disclosures of four Police and CID personnel, SIT had today taken into custody five civilians who had purportedly remained in association of Shabnam’s assassins or helped them in different capacities in carrying out subversive activities. Sources identified the fresh detainees as Shahbaz (a driver of Rishipora Tral), Bilal (a motor mechanic of Rishipora), Mohammad Amin alias Amin Battery (a mechanic of Haina Tral), Tauseef Ahmad (a carpenter of Haina) and Riyaz Ahmad (resident of Rishipora and brother of a detained Police constable).

Sources said that Awantipore District Police lifted all the five and passed them on to SIT in Srinagar for questioning. Detained Police personnel, Mohammad Abbas of Buchoo Tral, Mohammad Illyas of Kaw Mohalla, Khanyar and Mukhtar Ahmad Sheikh of Rainawari are understood to have made certain disclosures that led to the detention of five civilian in Tral.

Even as these sources maintained that three District Police personnel and three CID personnel had been already detained and subjected to questioning, SSP Srinagar, Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, claimed that only three CID officials and one District Police official were under custodial interrogation. According to him, involvement of the group and its activity was so far limited only to Shabnam’s killing, though SIT was investigating if the detainees were involved in any other subversive incident or area.

Early Times learned from authoritative sources that Constable Mohammad Abbas of Buchoo, Tral, who was the key character in the network, was a cousin of the once top wanted militant, Jan Mohammad Ahangar alias Jan Maulvi alias Hamza S/o Abdul Gani Ahangar R/o Buchoo, Tral. On August 16^th, 2009, Jan Maulvi had got killed in a fierce gunbattle with security forces at village Aramulla, Pulwama. One AK-56 rifle, one grenade and four mobile phone sets had been recovered from the site of the encounter.

Two of Jan Maulvi’s associates had managed to escape. Even as Army helicopters were pressed into the search, security forces failed to get their clue. Sources said that Army wanted to question Jan Maulvi and his associates in a subversive incident that had occurred few years back in Navy’s War College in South India. Sources said that before joining militancy, Jan Maulvi had joined Navy and functioned as a navigator for some time. Later, he deserted the Indian Navy and returned to Tral, only to join the local militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. He subsequently shifted to Pakistan-based Jihadi militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. Jan is believed to have indoctrinated Abbas and others from Tral area and motivated them to work for militants.

END

Mob torches 15 GREF sheds in Tulail, 12 labourers injured

Bandipore ‘desecration’ flames engulf Gurez-Tulail area, reinforcements rushed

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jun 17: Even as Police placed most of the Valley’s separatist leaders under house arrest and succeeded in preventing demonstrations at the major flashpoints of Bandipore, Sopore and Baramulla, residents of different villages of the border area of Gurez today took out a major procession to protest alleged desecration of a holy scripture. Later a mob attacked a camp of Project Beacon’s GREF at village Hussan on Dawar-Tulail Road, torching 15 sheds and causing injuries to 12 Bihari labourers who have all fled the site and taken refuge at a camp of Rashtriya Rifles 51 Bn.

Authoritative sources at Dawar, capital town of the border valley of Gurez in Bandipore district, told Early Times that nearly 2,000 people of different villages of Gurez and Tulail today converged at the Tehsil headquarters and staged a demonstration to protest an incident of desecration of a holy book at Tragbal---a small village on 86-Km Bandipore-Gurez Road. According to reports, labourers working with GREF had found one of three copies of the holy book missing on Friday last at a makeshift place of worship and later found some torn off pages in close vicinity of their camp. On their complaint, Police Station Bandipore registered a criminal case and detained 10 of the Bihari labourers, all belonging to one particular religion.

Apprehending shutdown, demonstrations and clashes with Police, authorities imposed restrictions in certain areas of Bandipore and Baramulla districts in North Kashmir on Saturday as well as today. Even as the infamous flashpoint of Sopore remained by and large calm and composed, people observed shutdown in Bandipore and Baramulla district headquarters. On Saturday, groups of youth in both the major towns shouted anti-government and pro-Azadi slogans and clashed with Police after a long pause of calm for over three months.

Fearing trouble, Police maintained siege around the residences of most of the separatist leaders. While none of them was permitted to move out, nearly two dozen of the lower level separatist activists were reportedly detained at different Police Stations. Hardline faction of the Hurriyat, headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, complained that a number of its leaders and activists were taken into custody and detained for the day in their attempts of converging for a remembrance ceremony at the ‘Martyrs Graveyard’ of Iddgah in Srinagar.

With many shops shut in Bandipore continuously on the second day today, trouble erupted in the unexpected border villages of Gurez and Tulail, far across the Razdan Pass. Sources at the garrison township of Dawar said that the 2,000-strong demonstration enforced shutdown in Gurez-Tulail belt and later headed towards a camp of the Project Beacon’s GREF at village Hussan, midway on Dawar-Tulail Road. While shouting slogans, the mob swooped on the camp and torched 15 sheds of the Bihari labourers working with GREF. Twelve labourers sustained injuries in the stampede while fleeing for safety. Sources said that all the labourers took refuge at a camp of Rashtriya Rifles 51 Bn.

According to a complaint filed by incharge of the GREF camp, Hussan, Captain Kuldeep Singh, a mob attacked the camp and set on fire sheds of the non-J&K labourers. Captain Singh reported in the complaint with Police Station Dawar--- which was later shifted to Police Station Tulail for jurisdiction---that 15 sheds of the Bihari labourers were torched by the mob and 12 of the targeted labourers sustained injuries. Police sources confirmed the mob attack on the camp and participation of 1500 people in the procession but claimed that only 80 to 100 people succeeded in reaching the camp.

Authoritative sources in Srinagar said that Police and paramilitary reinforcements today rushed to the disturbed areas of Gurez and Tulail. However, they had not reached their destinations till late this evening. None among Divisional Commissioner, Asgar Hassan Samoon, who is himself a resident of Gurez, DC Bandipore, Manzoor Ahmad Lone, and SP Bandipore, Bashir Ahmad Khan, responded to phonecalls from this newspaper.

END

KASHMIR VIOLENCE

01] 14-10-2011: Constable Sajjad Ahmad shot dead at Hazratbal, Srinagar.

02] 11-12-2011: SgCt Gulzar Ahmad killed in firing at Zaldagar, Srinagar.

03] 24-12-2011: NC worker Bashir Ahmad Dar shot dead in Batmaloo, Srinagar.

04] 18-02-2012: NC worker Gh Hassan Dar shot dead at Hajan, Bandipore.

05] 09-03-2012: Constable Afroz Ahmad injured in firing at Saraibala, Srinagar.

06] 17-03-2012: Peer Jalaluddin injured in firing at Batmaloo, Srinagar.

07] 30-03-2012: NC Hlq President Mohiuddin Bhat shot dead at Pinglish, Tral

08] 20-04-2012: ASI Sukhpal Singh shot dead at Safakadal, Srinagar.

09] 17-05-2012: RDX-laden abandoned car seized at Nowgam, Srinagar.

10] 30-05-2012: 7 CRPF men injured in firing at Victory Crossing Khanyar

11] 15-06-2012: NC Blk President Ab Rehman Ganai shot dead at Nattipora, Sgr.

_____________________________________________

Police-militant nexus surfaces in Srinagar shootouts

4 cops, 3 civilians arrested in firing on ex-militant Shabnam

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jun 16: Special Operations Group (SOG) of District Police Srinagar has unearthed a nexus between Police and Hizbul Mujahideen. At least six Police personnel and three civilians have been identified so far in the June 7^th attack on Hizbul Mujahideen’s released militant, Ghulam Hassan Mir alias Shabnam, and investigation is underway to see if the dangerously operating network was involved in any other subversive incident.

Authoritative sources disclosed to Early Times that during investigation of some recent incidents of firing and grenade attacks in the summer capital, Srinagar District Police hit upon a network of Police personnel and militants of Hizbul Mujahideen operating in at least three districts of the Valley. Making use of human intelligence as well as technology, including interception of cellphones, Police gathered enough evidence, necessitating detention and sustained interrogation of a number of Police personnel and civilians.

Initially, the investigation was supervised by SSP Srinagar, Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, and SP CI Kashmir, Sheikh Junaid Mehmood. Later, a special investigation team of Special Component of Srinagar District Police (SOG Srinagar) and some other officials from the Executive Police, carried out the process. It was during this process of investigation that the SIT learned how some constables of CID, in coordination with at least three civilians, had helped Hizbul Mujahideen in planning and executing an attack on one Ghulam Hassan Mir alias Shabnam of Tral late in the evening on June 7^th.

A former militant of Hizbul Mujahideen, Shabnam sustained gunshot injuries in the firing on him that happened outside his hosiery shop and residence at Sadarbal, Hazratbal. A civilian, identified as Abdul Rashid of Nayidkhai, Sumbal, had also sustained minor injuries in the same shootout. Shabnam has been recuperating at SKIMS after a surgery. He had been arrested by SOG Srinagar in the year 2006 and released in 2007. Few years back, he shifted his residence to Sadarbal, near Hazratbal, and set up a hosiery shop there.

Sources said that during the last four days of the investigation, SIT gathered substantial evidences of the involvement of at least six Police personnel---four from CID and two from District Police---in the attack on Shabnam. Four of them have been detained and they were reportedly under custodial interrogation to identify other members of the network besides their involvement in other incidents of firing and grenade throwing, if any. Sources said that two CID personnel, posted for several years in Special Branch (SB) Srinagar, Kashmir, namely Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Illyas of Tral area, spilled the beans during question and their disclosures led to the arrest of two more constables.

According to these well-placed sources, four Police and CID personnel had been arrested and raids were being conducted in search of two more CID personnel, who had reportedly gone underground immediately after the detention of two of their colleagues. Among the three civilians, detained for questioning but still not formally booked, one happens to a resident of Tral area, in the south Kashmir district of Pulwama.

Even as almost all the senior and middle ranking Police officials either refused to comment or ignored repeated telephonic calls from this newspaper, IGP Kashmir, S M Sahai, confirmed that two CID personnel and a District Police constable, who too was posted in CID until March this year, had been arrested and their involvement in the firing on Shabnam had been established. IGP CID, Dr B Srinivas, was among the senior Police officials who did not respond to repeated telephonic calls. Mr Sahai said that the breakthrough had been achieved but the militant of Hizbul Mujahideen, who fired upon Shabnam, was still at large. He said that the investigation was in progress and sharing details with media could hamper the process.

A press release from Zonal Police Headquarters, Kashmir, today said that three constables had been taken into custody. “During the course of investigation in case FIR No: 48/2012 under section 10,13,18 unlawful prevention activities Act and section 3 of Police Enhanced penalties ordinance of Police Station Shergari, it surfaced that a Police constable was also involved and was in touch with anti- national elements”, said the release without elaboration.

“Further investigation revealed that two more constables of Jammu and

Kashmir Police are also involved in such activities. These three constables

have been taken into custody and their conduct is being  scrutinized” it concluded.

Srinagar Police has been on tenterhooks in the wake of a number of subversive incidents since October 14^th, 2011, when constable Sajjad Ahmad was gunned down at Hazratbal. Suspected militants later fired upon the escort and PSOs of senior National Conference leader and Minister for Law and Rural Development, Ali Mohammad Sagar, killing his PSO Gulzar Ahmad, outside the Minister’s ancestral house at Zaldagar, Nawab Bazar, on December 11^th, 2011. NC worker Bashir Ahmad Dar was later shot dead near Rekka Chowk, Batmaloo, on December 24^th, 2011.

In two incidents of suspected militant firing on March 9^th and 17^th respectively, PSO of then Director Information Farooq Reenzu, Constable Afroz Ahmad Khan, and civilian Peer Jalal-ud-din were left injured at Sarai Bala and Batmaloo.

On April 20^th, Assistant Sub Inspector of Police Sukhpal Singh was shot dead by suspected militants near Safakadal. On May 30^th, seven CRPF men were injured in a militant strike at Victory Crossing in Khanyar locality of Srinagar. NC’s Block President, Abdul Rehman Ganai, was shot dead at Nattipora in broad daylight on June 15^th.

END