Farooq: ‘Handiwork of people involved in fund scam’

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Jul 20: Former Chief Minister and National Conference patriarch Dr Farooq Abdullah rejected today’s election of the office-bearers of JKCA including his own replacement as President by the PDP leader and Minister incharge Youth Services and Sports Imran Raza Ansari.

“This is no election. It is completely illegal as we have still completed only one year of our three year term”, Dr Abdullah told a host of television news channels at his residence. He asserted that he would fight this “fraudulent election” legally as well as politically as, according to him, it was nothing but the PDP-led government’s vendetta against him. “But, let us be assured that Farooq Abdullah is not a fish that can be picked up and thrown out of the water. I will fight it out with all my strength”, he asserted.

Dr Abdullah claimed that the JKCA Working Committee had amended the constitution and enhanced the term of all office-bearers from one to three years. He pointed out that in 2011, office-bearers were elected for three years. Later, in 2014 again, the President and other office-bearers were duly elected for a term of three years. According to him, Mr Ansari was completely wrong in claiming that the term was specifically for one year.

Significantly, Dr Abdullah alleged that today’s government-sponsored coup in JKCA had been engineered “by the same people whose names figure and who have been found guilty in the funds embezzlement scam”. He said: “As soon as the investigation was completed and they were held guilty, they started the process of removing me as President. I have stopped releasing money to them because they have swindled funds. I have demanded accounts from them which they don’t submit”.

Dr Abdullah said that by virtue of the court order he would continue to operate as President of JKCA. Another NC leader reminded that in 2003, Mufti Sayeed’s government had similarly elected then Minister of Sports Haji Nisar Ali as President of JKCA. “That election was challenged in court. High Court declared it null and void and upheld the position of Dr Sahab as President. That fraudulent election was also rejected by BCCI”, he said and claimed that as per JKCA constitution only the General Secretary can call the Working Committee meeting on the direction of the President. “No other person can call such a meeting”, he asserted.

STATE TIMES made repeated attempts to learn from BCCI whether it recognised Dr Abdullah or Imran Ansari as the bonafide President of JKCA. BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmia’s phone was continuously switched off. He did not respond to a message recorded on his phone or an SMS. General Secretary Anurag Thakur was continuously not reachable.

END

Farooq removed, Imran elected JKCA President but court puts it in abeyance

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Jul 20: The PDP-BJP coalition’s coup d’état in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association [JKCA] was accomplished on Monday with the removal of the National Conference Patron and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah from the key position of the sports body’s President and his replacement by the PDP leader and Minister incharge Youth Services & Sports Imran Raza Ansari.

As exclusively reported by STATE TIMES, JKCA’s pro-government component attended the Working Committee’s meeting at Sher-e-Kashmir International Cricket Stadium. The participants claimed that 42 of the 64 members of the WC attended the meeting which had been called in controversial circumstances by JKCA’s Vice President of Jammu Wing Rakesh Kumar.

The members---two each from 25 recognised cricket clubs and 7 government-controlled educational and sports constituents---were on the occasion asked to elect the new office-bearers. It was emphasised in the meeting that the office-bearers had rendered themselves non-functional and most of the works and sports activities undertaken by JKCA had been “completely frozen”.

While as the nominee of J&K Youth Services and Sports Department, Imran Raza Ansari was unanimously elected as President in place of Dr Abdullah, retired bureaucrat Mehboob Iqbal, who has joined PDP after his superannuation in government service, was elected Chairman. Besides, Mohammad Iqbal Shah was elected as General Secretary in place of M.L. Nehru and Abdul Rauf as Treasurer. Mr Nehru represents North India as Vice President in the apex sports body Board of Control for Cricket in India [BCCI].

Sources said that representatives of the two government-controlled universities of Kashmir and Jammu besides nine affiliate clubs did not participate in the meeting and election. Later, at a news conference, Mr Ansari claimed that 42 members participated in the meeting and the voting. He said that the constituent members elected the four new office-bearers unanimously.

Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon, and Director General of Youth Services and Sports Jehangir Mir, were conspicuously present during the voting. However, there was no observer from BCCI.

JAMMU COURT STAYS MEETING

JKCA’s Chairman Arvinder Singh Micky, meanwhile filed a civil suit in the court of Excise Magistrate Mr Amarjit Singh Langeh to scuttle the government-sponsored process of the removal of the office-bearers duly elected for a term of three years in 2014. President of High Court Bar Association Abhinav Sharma appeared in the court in Jammu on behalf of the petitioner and sought maintenance of status quo. The court ordered that the meeting in question would remain stayed and the proceedings if any conducted today would remain in abeyance.

Mr Ansari in conversations with media in Srinagar denied knowledge of the petition and the court order but advocate Sharma claimed in Jammu that the court orders had been immediately passed on to the respondents. “By virtue of today’s court order, Dr Farooq Abdullah will continue to exist and act as President of JKCA and Mr Ansari’s purported election as President would remain in abeyance”, advocate Sharma told presspersons.

Mr Ansari claimed that his elections, as also that of other office-bearers, had happened lawfully and majority of the electors had participated in the voting. He contested Dr Abdullah’s claim that the office bearers had been elected for three years as per an amendment made to the JKCA constitution, enhancing their term from one to three years in 2011. “As per the JKCA constitution, all office bearers are supposed to be elected after one year”, Ansari asserted.

Later, informed sources told STATE TIMES that Police and JKCA staff broke open the locks of the rooms and almirahs at the office and took all records into custody. Unconfirmed reports said that a fresh account was also opened today in a branch of Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd with the authorisation of the new President. However, the operational code issued by BCCI was lying in the custody of General Secretary ML Nehru.

END

Govt-sponsored process to remove Farooq as President JKCA begins

◆Minister Imran to replace Farooq, Mehboob Iqbal to grab Micky's position

◆Farooq returns from London, calls WC meeting on July 24


Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
-----------------------------

SRINAGAR, Jul 19: Supported by the PDP-BJP government, the dissident group of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) is meeting here on Monday to dislodge the National Conference patron and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah as President and senior Congress leader and former Chairman of J&K Legislative Council Arvinder Singh Micky as Chairman of the organisation by bureaucrat-turned-politician Mehboob Iqbal.

Informed sources revealed to STATE TIMES that the State government was clearing decks to install Minister incharge Youth Services & Sports Imran Reza Ansari as the all powerful President of JKCA in place of Dr Abdullah.

Incumbent Chairman Arvinder Singh Micky is sought to be replaced by senior PDP leader Mehboob Iqbal, a retired Commissioner-Secretary to Government who has joined active politics years after he served as Chairman JKCA with Dr Abdullah as President. Dr Abdullah, facing charges of swindling huge funds received from BCCI, has held monopoly in JKCA for most of the times in the last 25 years while functioning as its President.

JKCA's Vice President of Jammu wing Rakesh Kumar, who is leading the dissident group, has called a crucial meeting of the Working Committee (WC) at Sher-e-Kashmir International Cricket Stadium in Sonwar at 10.00 a.m. on Monday. Comprising 62 members----two each from 25 enrolled cricket clubs and seven government-controlled educational and sports institutions----JKCA's WC has been called by Kumar to attend the crucial meeting in Srinagar. Main agenda, according to sources, would be a coup d'etat to replace the nominees of the previous NC-Congress regime elected in June 2014.

Even as Kumar had strategically called the WC meeting during Dr Abdullah’s medical vacation in London, the octogenarian politician returned dramatically from England today and held an informal meeting with the WC members at his Gupkar Road residence. Sources present in the meeting said that almost all the members, with the remarkable exception of Rakesh Kumar, attended and assured their support to Dr Abdullah.

"Dr Sahab is hale and hearty. He asserted to fight the government-sponsored attempts of reshuffle in the association", said a member indicating the possibility of a protest demonstration or press conference tomorrow.

Sources said that on Dr Abdullah’s direction JKCA's General Secretary ML Nehru has issued notice for an important meeting here on July 24. However, influential government functionaries including a Cabinet Minister of PDP and three senior IPS officers are reportedly making "every possible effort" to make Monday's State-sponsored meeting a success and achieve the objective of Dr Abdullah’s and Mr Micky's replacement by Imran Ansari and Mehboob Iqbal.

Seven government-controlled constituents, which have a pivotal role and can tilt the balance in favour of the government-sponsored nominees, are Department of Youth Services and Sports (which will project its Minister and nominee Imran Reza Ansari for the most powerful position of President), Sri Pratap College Srinagar, Amar Singh College Srinagar, University of Kashmir, Government Gandhi Memorial Science College Jammu, Sri Pratap Commerce College Jammu and University of Jammu.

Sources said that on learning about a Minister’s "efforts to influence the election", Dr Abdullah called him by telephone and registered his "protest". However, the Cabinet Minister, according to the sources, denied the charge and asserted that he was not interfering in any manner with the JKCA affairs. "Dr Abdullah has also learned that DGP has been directed by the government to shut the gates of the venue at 10.00 a.m. and ask Police not to allow in "any uninvited member or non-member", said a source.

Asked for his reaction to the dramatic development, Dr Abdullah asserted that he will not make any statement till tomorrow. "I may call a press conference or issue a statement as calling this meeting is brutally illegal and unconstitutional", Dr Abdullah told STATE TIMES.

Another office bearer, who wished anonymity, claimed that only President and General Secretary were authorised to call a meeting of WC for election of office bearers. He asserted that Dr Abdullah and all other office bearers had been elected lawfully for a term of three years in June 2014 under the supervision of a retired District and Sessions Judge who had been appointed as Observed by the Court. He said that Gen Secretary Nehru alone, who is also representing North India as Vice President in BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) was the only authorised office bearer after President to call the WC meeting.

"Dr Abdullah has still two years of his term set by a resolution of Working Committee. How can he be removed by a manipulated and illegal election? He has the additional distinction of being the only life member of JKCA", said the association’s office bearer, asserting that BCCI would never accept a "fraudulent election".

END

Pak, ISIS flags waved after Eid prayers in Srinagar

Mufti, Omar attend congregational prayers at Hazratbal amid clashes in downtown

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Jul 18: Even as Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and the former Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah participated in the 60,000-strong Eid congregational prayers at Hazratbal on Saturday, separatist demonstrators clashed with the Police and paramilitary forces in downtown Srinagar and some of them waved Pakistani and ISIS flags while shouting pro-Azadi and pro-Pakistan slogans.

Official sources insisted that over 80,000 Muslims formed the State’s thickest Eid prayers congregation at Hazratbal where Mufti and Omar attended the session in the lead row amid tight security arrangements. Authorities had placed around 300 Police recruits in civvies, mostly from Police Training School Manigam, to dominate the crowd around the VVIPs so as to provide an extensive security ring.

However, independent estimates put the number of the participants at Hazratbal at around 60,000. Some 30,000 people performed the congregational prayers in the forenoon at the traditional venue of Eidgah even as the cleric-politician Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is also Chairman of a faction of the separatist alliance Hurriyat Conference, had been placed under house arrest at his residence in Nageen area, near Hazratbal. Those held in detention and denied permission to attend the Eid prayers included hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik, Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir Shah, National Front head Nayeem Khan besides Bilal Lone, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat and Maulvi Abbas Ansari.

In an interesting development, Mufti and Omar shook hands at Hazratbal at the prayers session and exchanged Eid greetings. This was one of the rarest meetings of the two mainstream politicians in the last several years. No political activity or demonstration marred the Eid prayers at Hazratbal.

Nevertheless, immediately after the conclusion of the prayers at Eidgah, when the participants were returning to their home destinations, groups of the separatist demonstrators shouted pro-Pakistan, pro-Azadi and anti-India slogans. They also waved some Pakistani and ISIS flags while facing no resistance from Police for about 30 minutes. Later, unruly separatist groups resorted to stone pelting on Police and CRPF. Ding-dong clashes at some spots in downtown continued intermittently even as the authorities used tearsmoke and baton charge to disperse the violent but thin demonstrations.

Reports of some slogan shouting and clashes of medium intensity were received from two Civil Lines neighbourhoods of Kothibagh and Hyderpora besides from Baramulla, Sopore and Anantnag towns.

Geelani had called for “peaceful demonstrations” after the Eid prayers. However most of the participants ignored the call and avoided to play any sort of politics--- preferring to visit relatives and friends and celebrating the festival with fervour and gaiety. Congregational prayers were held at all Eidgahs and most of the major mosques with the exception of Jamia Masjid of Srinagar as the administrators had organised the prayer assembly at an open-air venue at Eidgah.

END

Gill tipped as J&K Governor in September

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
------------------------

SRINAGAR, Jul 15: Former Director General of Punjab Police, P.S. Gill, who proceeded on deputation to his home State after nearly 30 years of service in Jammu and Kashmir Police in 2009, is yet again in the NDA government’s top consideration zone as the next Governor in Jammu and Kashmir.

On Wednesday, STATE TIMES learned from knowledgeable sources that change of Governor in Jammu and Kashmir could occur anytime in the month of September after conclusion of the two-month-long Amarnath yatra. The BJP and its ideological arm RSS are understood to have zeroed in on two high profile names, including a retired Secretary to Government. Sources revealed that Mr Gill, who supervised and coordinated BJP's election campaign in Kashmir after joining BJP in 2014, had of late emerged as a favourite of the BJP and RSS high command.

If these sources are to be believed, Gill was last fortnight called to New Delhi for a closed-door meeting with RSS supremo Mohan Madhukar Bhagwat. "It appears that his name has been finalised but his appointment is still subject to a discussion bdetween BJP and RSS", said a source privy to the significant political development. Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, he said, would be taken on board.

The incumbent Governor Narendra Nath Vohra, according to highly placed authoritative sources, had conveyed to New Delhi his desire to quit in the middle of his second term after the change of regime last year which witnessed replacement of over a dozen Governors appointed by the Congress-led UPA government. However, he had been asked to continue, making it clear to him that the Narendra Modi government had no immediate intention of the gubernatorial reshuffle in the sensitive State. Rumours of General (retd) Ata Mohammad Hasnain's possible appointment as J&K Governor were "appropriately" discounted to the Raj Bhawan by the Centre.

Mr Vohra, who also worked as the UPA government's pointman for Kashmir, was appointed Governor of J&K in June 2008 when Lt Gen (retd.) S.K. Sinha, was removed in the wake of a controversy that led to the Amarnath land row and fall of Ghulam Nabi Azad's Congress-PDP regime. Mr Vohra was granted extension of another term at the completion of five years as Governor in 2013.

A J&K cadre IPS officer from Punjab, Gill held key positions including SSP Jammu, DIG Kashmir, IGP Kashmir twice (during which he played a decisive role to uproot the secessionist militancy), additional DGP Armed Police, DG Prisons, Transport Commissioner and Vigilance Commissioner. He also held a tenure as Director of Sher-e-Kashmir Police Training Academy Udhampur.

However, Gill's contribution to creating an extensively linked counter-insurgent force and eliminating militancy in close coordination with Army, paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies, remained unmatched. He, nevertheless, faced tremendous criticism to his working from human rights activists to different political parties, all invariably accusing him of ordering extrajudicial killings of the captured militants and their civilian sympathisers in fake encounters. It was during his leadership that the hardcore counter-insurgent officers like Farooq Khan, Munir Khan, JP Singh, Ashkoor Wani, Jagjit Kumar, Manohar Singh, Ramesh Kumar Jalla and many others wiped out militancy with hundreds of operations by Special Operations Group, initially known as State Task Force (STF).

Officers like K. Rajendra Kumar (now DGP of J&K) and Shiv Murari Sahai (now ADGP Armed) subsequently played prominent role in putting an end to the militancy which is officially claimed to be currently at its lowest ebb.

Gill's father, who was a Congress MLA in Moga, had been shot dead by militants during the armed insurgency in Punjab. Gill's elder brother also retired as a DGP in Punjab. After his retirement, PS Gill contested but lost Assembly elections in Punjab on Akali Dal ticket. However, in 2014, he joined BJP.

When STATE TIMES contacted Mr Gill in Chandigarh to know his reaction to the reports of his likely appointment as Governor of J&K, he asserted: "I am here with my family since last week. I have no knowledge of any such development in recent past".

END

BJP embarrasses Mufti with boycott to Iftar party, Martyrs Day function

◆Omar says PDP is BJP's collaborator in desecration of martyrs

◆BJP says it's no martyrs day, just Sheikh-type hoodwinking of Kashmiris


Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
----------------------------

SRINAGAR, July 13: For the first time since the formation of government in March this year, BJP has created an embarrassing situation for the coalition partner PDP and Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed with its 'boycott' not only to the latter's Iftar party in New Delhi but also to the State ceremonial function on occasion of the Martyrs Day in Srinagar on Monday.

As exclusively predicted by STATE TIMES in its edition of July 11, BJP Ministers without exception boycotted the State function at the Martyrs Graveyard which was nonetheless presided over by Chief Minister Mufti and attended by a number of his Ministerial collegaues in the PDP and other senior leaders of the principal ruling party. In keeping with the tradition of the last 67 years, Chief Minister paid floral tributes to the 22 Kashmiri martyrs who fell to the bullets of Maharaja Hari Singh's armed forces during a mayhem at the hearing of a political detainee Abdul Qadeer outside Srinagar Central Jail on July 13, 1931.

The massacre led to a mass uprising, providing a popular political platform to the National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah whose struggle terminated the Dogra monarchy in 1947 and replaced it with democracy.

Jammu and Kashmir Police contingents paid their tributes to the martyrs with a traditional guard of honour. Senior government functionaries, including Director General of Police, K Rajendra Kumar, participated in the remembrance ceremony.

It was for the first time in over half-a-century that the government’s own Ministers boycotted the Martys Day function and a coalition partner asserted this day and the martyrs carried no significance for it. Some of the BJP leaders were quoted by media as saying that the July 13 martyrs were of the same mentality and mindset that had been adopted by the post-1990 separatists and militants.

BJP's spokesperson Khalid Jehangir had told STATE TIMES on last Friday that his party would stay away as Chief Minister or his PDP had never organised or attended an event in honour of the Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee.

Significantly, all the national and State level BJP leaders, with the one-odd exception of Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, had been conspicuously absent at Chief Minister’s Iftar party at Hotel Ashok in New Delhi on Sunday evening. Participants described it as a "lacklustre show", saying that not a single BJP leader turned up at the high profile venue.

A senior officer associated with organising CM's Iftar party claimed that most of the CM's guests could not attend as the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hosted a similar Iftar party at the same time on Sunday evening.


PDP TO TAKE UP MATTER WITH BJP HIGH COMMAND

With the discomfiture becoming evident in the PDP, the party’s authorised spokesperson Dr Mehboob Beg issued a statement promptly. He said that to attend the official function to pay respects the Martyrs was an obligation that the Ministers ought to have fulfilled and any deviation from such a precedent was inappropriate. He stressed that it should be amply clear that the martyrs belonged to the state and not to any particular religion, region, caste or creed and their sacrifices must not be forgotten or belittled.

Dr.Beg pointed out that Mufti "paid his respects to the martyrs not as the PDP Patron but on behalf of the people of the state as their Chief Minister". He emphasised that it was "in indebtedness and gratitude that we salute these martyrs and that the martyrs transcended way beyond party lines".

One of the senior PDP leaders and a Cabinet Minister revealed to this newspaper that his party and the government had viewed BJP's "disrespect to the martyrs" so seriously that it would be taken up directly with the Prime Minister and the BJP President Amit Shah in a couple of days. "They have committed insult to the State and the government of which they are a pert. Even Governors Jagmohan, GC Saxena and NN Vohra attended this function and paid tributes to the martyrs during Governor’s or President's rule", he pointed out.


PDP COLLABORATOR IN BJP'S DISRESPECT TO MARTYRS: OMAR

Meanwhile, leader of the principal opposition party and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah too reacted to the absence of BJP ministers at the Martyrs Graveyard. He said he had already cautioned that BJP’s coming to power would be "dangerous for the state of Jammu and Kashmir". “You should ask this question to the PDP which opened the doors for the BJP in Kashmir. We had already said that BJP will be dangerous for the state,” Omar told reporters after paying floral tributes to the martyrs at their tombs on the premises of the reverred Naqashband Sahab shrine between Nowhatta and Khanyar.

Drawing an analogy between late Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad and the PDP patron Mufti, Omar said that Government of India was trying to "purchase the conscience of the Kashmiris" as it had done from 1953 to 1963. His uncharitable insinuation was unambiguously to the reported Rs 70,000 crore economic package Prime Minister Modi was expected to unfold for J&K during his visit to Jammu on July 17.

“Do they really think that by bringing in Rs one lakh crore, they will win over hearts of the people? Just like they did during the time of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad. Sher-e-Kashmir (Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah) was arrested and lots of funds were given to Bakshi, thinking that Kashmiris will sell their values and honour. Kashmiris did not sell their honour then and they will not do it now,” Omar asserted.

He also castigated Centre over the delay in the relief package for flood victims, saying they were left in lurch despite 10 months have passed since the occurrence of floods in Kashmir.

The former chief minister maintained that the promises PDP made to the people of Kashmir ahead of coming to power had been outrightly ignored by the party. “Those with whom dialogue was ought to be started have been arrested. There is not even a single talk over reducing the number of forces deployed in Kashmir and furthermore there is complete lull over revocation of AFSPA,” Omar said.

Let me also say the people of J&K are not saleable and cannot be bought and sold through economic packages while their political rights and their dignity is bartered. When Sheikh Sahib was incarcerated, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad got numerous economic packages and a flood of funds. We all know how futile that nefarious plan turned out to be. Our party and our people are the vanguards in a battle to safeguard our State from all evil plans – and economic packages won’t change that”, the NC Working President said.

BJP's Ministers avoided speaking to media on their boycott but its spokesman in a conversation with mediapersons defended staying away from the Martyrs Day function.


BJP: NOTHING BUT HOODWINKING KASHMIRIS

“We have seen since decades that such exercises are done to exploit people, gain political mileages and hoodwink masses at large,” he said. He alleged that Sheikh Abdullah used the same slogan of July 13 to become the chief minister and NC continued "to exploit people of the state even today with that slogan". BJP maintained that it entered into alliance with the PDP "for giving good governance to the state of Jammu and Kashmir and not for participating in the events like these of July 13".

Authorities enforced virtual curfew in downtown Srinagar and did not permit the separatists' joint march to the cemetery. All the prominent separatist leaders were either detained at Police Stations or placed under house arrest. However, there were no reports of any clashes with Police or paramilitary forces.

END

Kulgam crowd roughs up PDP MP, sets ablaze 2 vehicles of his cavalcade

◆Nazir Laway rescued by Police amid violent clashes as youth hit by rubber bullet

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
----------------------------

SRINAGAR, Jul 11: While shouting pro-Pakistan, anti-PDP and anti-RSS slogans, a thick gathering of the separatists on Saturday torched two vehicles of the ruling PDP activists even as Police and security forces foiled their attempts to hold hostage PDP's Rajya Sabha member Nazir Ahmad Laway at Bogam village in Kulgam district of South Kashmir.

Eyewitnesses from the spot told STATE TIMES that Mr Laway had fixed a schedule of visiting some Higher Secondary Schools in his home district of Kulgam. He wanted to donate computers to some educational institutions out of Member Parliament's Local Area Development (MPLAD) Fund. As soon as he reached Higher Secondly School of Bogam after visiting two schools in Yaripora, hundreds of the angry residents resisted his entry, objected to his visit and made sustained attempts to hold him hostage.

The high spirited separatist crowd shouted slogans in favour of Pakistan as also against India, PDP and RSS.

Police and security forces in large numbers foiled the mob's attempts to take Mr Laway hostage. Amid a violent clash with the crowd, Laway and his associates were rescued by two Dy SPs and the local SHO with the help of SOG and CRPF.

During the clashes, a 17-year-old Class 11th student Nadeem Ahmad Dar was hit by a rubber bullet fired by Police or CRPF. He was evacuated to a hospital for treatment. Sources said at least six persons, including three Policemen sustained injuries. During the melee, the crowds set on fire a Bolero (JK02B-1829) and a Santro (JK22-4260) belonging to the PDP activists Mubarak Ahmad Koka of Kulgam and Tauseef Ahmed Dar of Tarigam. Both the vehicles suffered extensive damage.

DIG South Kashmir Nitish Kumar told STATE TIMES that Bogam village had a history of separatist activism and arson. Not a single vote had been polled in the village in last year's Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. "We foiled the mob's attempts and rescued the honourable MP successfully even as the crowd torched a vehicle", DIG said.

Senior Superintendent of Police Kulgam, Mumtaz Ahmad, added that the crowd held Chief Education Officer and some other officials of Education Department in wrongful confinement after the Police rescued Mr Laway. "Police swung into action and got the captives rescued", he said. He told STATE TIMES that the Police filed two FIRs against the miscreants and got four four if them arrested. "We have arrested their kingpin Mohammad Shafi Wani and four others", SSP Mumtaz said.

Mr Laway was not reachable on phone for his comment. However, PDP's authorised spokesperson Dr Mehboob Beg said: "I called Laway Sahab by phone immediately after I learned about the attack on his cavalcade. He maintained that it was an attack by supporters of the CPI(M) State Secretary and MLA Kulgam Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami. When I asked him why Mr Tarigami's followers would attack him, Laway Sahab said that the CPI (M) leader was labouring under envy and jealousy due to the PDP MP's activity and support among the public". Dr Beg said that the unruly crowd also torched a PDP worker's vehicle.

Asked for his reaction, Mr Tarigami told STATE TIMES that he or his workers were not instrumental behind the attack on PDP MP. "It's an open secret as to who did it. Everybody knows well. It's bullshit if PDP holds us responsible", Tarigami asserted. He pointed out that Bogam had witnessed total boycott to the Assembly elections.

Later, a CPI (M) spokesman elaborated that Bogam village stood predominantly under the influence of Jamaat-e-Islami and followers of Syed Ali Shah Geelani's faction of the Hurriyat Conference. He said that District chief of Geelani's organisation Mohammad Shafi Wani, JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik, Zamrooda Habib had frequently visited Bogam and set up their base there. "It has become some sort of a liberated zone. Police or forces or any mainstream politician doesn't dare to enter this village", he said, claiming that Mr Laway had been attacked by the separatists.

END