Escorted by BJP leaders, Then-Venayak rep denies ‘favour’ by Dy CM

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Oct 28: Promoters of the 100 mw solar power plant at Chann Arrorian Kathua, Then-Venayak Energy on Wednesday claimed that the firm had got no undue favour by Dy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh or any other Minister or politician in establishment of its plant.

“We have no association with or support from any political party, be that NC, Congress, PDP or BJP”, Adil Mustafa Khan, representative of the joint venture said at a press conference held at a hotel in Lalchowk. However, Mr Khan was escorted by a number of BJP leaders and workers including the BJP’s Media Head Altaf Thakur. All the BJP workers later enjoyed kabab and kanti with Mr Khan in presence of mediapersons.

Mr Khan with another associate claimed that the solar plant had been “sanctioned” to ‘Then India Energy’ at Kathua in 2013 when Omar Abdullah was Chief Minister and Minister of Power and Aga Ruhullah was Minister of Science & Technology. Now NC’s chief spokesman, Aga Ruhullah had on Tuesday lashed out at the BJP-PDP government for extending undue favours to a particular firm in establishing its 100 mw solar power plant at the cost of Rs 700 crore.

Mr Khan held former Principal Secretary Power Sandeep Nayak squarely responsible for the “delay” in signing of Power Purchase Agreement. “Every IAS and KAS officer should respect his chair. When Mr Nayak heard of Rs 700 figure, he thought a part of it would go to his pocket”, Khan said. He said that he had obtained a PPA draft from West Bengal but Mr Nayak did not sign it.

When mediapersons pointed out some BJP leaders’ presence and asked him why he was being escorted by the workers of a political party, he claimed that none of them was from BJP. However, BJP leader Mr Thakur remained unmoved.

END

J&K Dy CM directed Power Secretary to allot Rs 700 cr project to a favourite without tenders
 
IAS officer Sandeep Nayak was removed after he resisted Nirmal Singh’s diktat to allot Kathua’s 100 mw solar plant to Chennai-based firm ‘Then India Energy’
 
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
_________
 
SRINAGAR, Oct 26: Principal Secretary Power Sandeep Nayak’s transfer from the all-important Power Development Department to the least significant Relief and Rehabilitation on October 19^th was sequel to his refusal to allot a Rs 700 crore project without tenders to one of the favourites of the Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Power Dr Nirmal Singh.
 
Documents accessed by STATE TIMES make it unambiguously clear that the Deputy Chief Minister, who has previously had a stake in power projects along with another senior J&K BJP leader and now a Member of Parliament, during the BJP government, in Himachal Pradesh, wanted to allot a solar power project in Kathua district to a Chennai-based firm through a Jammu-based agent without tenders. Huge kickbacks behind such allotments during Congress regime have been a tradition.
 
The Chennai-based firm ‘Then India Energy Pvt Ltd” had established contact with Mr Nirmal Singh after his taking over as Dy Chief Minister and Minister incharge Power through one Anirudh Chandel of Pacca Danga, Jammu, and started efforts to get the allotment of the Rs 700 crore solar power project in Kathua without facing competition by other contenders. The project, that would generate 100 mw of solar power and sell it to State government at high-profit rates, was proposed to come up at Chan Arorian, Kathua.
 
After Principal Secretary PDD Sandeep Nayak refused to act on the Dy CM’s verbal orders, also conveyed to him through his staff, Mr Singh’s Officer on Special Duty sent a written note of the Minister’s direction to the IAS officer on August 6, 2015.
 
The OSD’s note reads: “As desired by Dy CM, Principal Secretary Power Department is requested to take immediate steps for signing the power purchase agreement with the developer so that 100 mw solar power plant at Chan Arorian Kathua is executed by the agency”.
 
Interestingly, apart from infringement of a constitutional obligation, such kind of allotment would have been also deficient for the fact that Dy CM’s illegally favoured firm had no experience of such an execution.
 
Rather than taking the Minister’s diktat, Nayak forwarded the proposal to Principal Secretary Finance Naveen Choudhary for his advice in the matter. Finance Secretary categorically turned down the proposal with the observation that no such government work could be allotted to any agency without calling tenders from the bidders through a competition.
 
After Nayak’s resistance, Dr Singh exerted considerable pressure on Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to remove the Power Secretary. However, Mufti resisted Dy CM’s sustained pressure for about two months. On one point of time, Dy CM even threatened to resign in case Nayak was not removed as Power Secretary.
 
Finally, in the Cabinet meeting on October 19^th, Dr Singh managed Nayak’s transfer to an insignificant department. He was replaced by Commissioner-Secretary Relief and Rehabilitation Dheeraj Gupta. Within months of his return to the State from Central deputation and his appointment as Principal Secretary PDD, Nayak was shifted prematurely.
 
According to highly placed bureaucratic sources, Nayak narrated everything in detail to Chief Secretary B.R. Sharma who was perturbed over the development but could not put his foot down as Dr Singh was “terribly adamant” on the IAS officer’s transfer.
 
With two successful stints as Commissioner-Secretary Power and Principal Secretary Power and two more as MD of Power Development Corporation, the 1988-batch IAS officer has maximum of his achievements in Power sector alone. Major power projects he got executed include Baglihar-1 (450 mw) and Baglihar-2 (450 mw) which is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 7^t. Baglihar generates revenue of Rs 1,400 crore a year for the State government.
 
Attempts to seek Dy CM’s reaction did not succeed as he and his aides did not respond to phone calls from this newspaper.
 
END

JCO, 2 Burhan group militants killed in Pulwama encounter

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Oct 26: A junior commissioned officer of Army and two militants of Hizbul Mujahideen’s Burhan group died in a fierce encounter in Pulwama district of South Kashmir on Monday.

Informed sources told STATE TIMES that Special Operations Group (SOG) of Pulwama District Police and troops from a unit of Rashtriya Rifles 44 Bn. Swooped down on a militant hideout at Drobgam in Rajpora area of Pulwama on Monday evening. Operation was launched after SSP Pulwama learned from a source that one militant of Karimabad was hiding in the village.

SOG and Army laid a tight siege to the neighbourhood but the holed up militants opened fire and made unsuccessful attempts to escape. Suddenly, someone from the public address system of the village mosque called the residents to come out and resist the advance of the troops. Hundreds of people gathered and attempted to spoil the operation while shouting slogans and engaging the Police and paramilitary forces in ding dong clashes.

Troops nevertheless persisted with the operation, denying the holed up militants any chance to escape. Subedar KVS Reddy sustained critical injuries in the beginning of the encounter. He was evacuated and airlifted to Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar where he succumbed to injuries late in the evening.

Sources said that two local militants of Hizbul Mujahideen’s Burhan Wani group got killed in the gunfight. They were identified as Afaqullah Bhat S/o Abdul Rashid Bhat R/o Karimabad and Abdul Manan Dar S/o Bashir Ahmad Dar R/o Amarbugh. Troops did not call off the operation as they could not carry out full search of the hideout.

DIG South Kashmir Nitish Kumar confirmed the death of two militants and one JCO. He said that since the residents had also spotted an injured militant, forces did not wind up the operation even after the exchange of gunfire subsided. “We had information only about one militant. But two militants died and one more was believed to have got injured and could be hiding somewhere. We will resume searches in the morning tomorrow”, DIG said.

DIG confirmed that both the slain militants had joined Burhan’s group earlier in 2015 when he started to emerge as an icon for youngsters “on account of the wide coverage he got through media”. Burhan was the first Kashmiri militant who clicked pictures and shot videos with over a dozen of his armed militants---all without masks---and got them widely circulated through social media including Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube.

Many of Burhan’s associates are residents of Afaqullah Bhat’s Kareemabad village of Pulwama district. They include Constable Naseer Ahmad----Personal Security Officer of senior PDP leader and Minister of R&B Syed Altaf Bukhari. He had deserted his duty and escaped with two AK-47 rifles.

END

Vigilance probing multi-crore e-ticket scam in Gulmarg Gandola

Picked up by Talat Parvez Rohella for e-ticket contract, Afford Infocom is alleged to have swindled crores in truck with officials

Ahmad Ali Fayyaz
________

SRINAGAR, Oct 25: Enjoying high political and bureaucratic clout during Omar Abdullah’s NC-Congress coalition, tainted KAS officer Talat Parvez has managed his return to the bureaucratic mainstream and appointment as Director of Floriculture on October 19th despite the fact that the Departmental Inquiries pointed out large scale irregularities and brazen violation of laws and rules during his tenure as Managing Director of Jammu and Kashmir Cable Car Corporation  (JKCCC) and Director of Tourism Kashmir.

Prior to his appointment as Director Tourism Kashmir in May 2012, Rohella functioned as MD JKCCC. Even after his transfer, he retained JKCCC as additional charge. In January 2015, Governor's administration transferred and appointed him as DC Baramulla. However, in view of serious charges and allegations of corruption and misuse of official position, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s government attached him to General Administration Department  (GAD) in its first administrative reshuffle in March 2015.

On one hand, Government served a memo of charges on Rohella and on May 8th and on July 24th appointed Commissioner-Secretary Agriculture Mohammad Ashraf Bukhari as Inquiry Officer. On the other hand, same government picked up Rohella for induction into IAS without clearance from Vigilance and without regard to the Inquiry going on against him. The file of recommendation containing Rohella’s name was secretly carried on former Chief Secretary Iqbal Khanday’s direction by Additional Secretary GAD Khalid Majeed by hand in the morning flight one day in the middle of July when memo of charges had been served and Bukhari was being appointed as Inquiry Officer.

Mr Majeed delivered the file at Union Public Service Commission in New Delhi and returned same day by the afternoon flight.

Again, on one hand an internal inquiry found large scale fraudulent cobduct in allotment of works without tenders to the tune of Rs 15 crore in JKCCC during Rohella’s tenure besides unauthirised engagement of around 80 casual labourers, followed by e-ticket scam worth crores. On the other hand, post of Director Floriculture was reserved for the same officer for three months. Finally, even after Mr Khanday quit in protest, and after the allegations against Rohella died down due to other administrative halos, he was brought back and appointed Director Floriculture. If well placed sources are to be believed, in the second phase of his rehabilitation, he is being given a far more important posting.

Reports that a former Chief Minister advocated Rohella’s reinstatement could not be confirmed from independent sources. However, sources insisted that a senior PDP leader and Cabinet Minister came to the rescue of three blue eyed officers when they were about to be terminated as deadwood in the beginning of the PDP-BJP government. Rohella, sources said, was one among them.

While many of the real deadwood and known liabilities managed to get themselves off the hook, those terminated included a junior official who had allegedly accepted Rs 500 bribe money and an AEE of PDD who landed in Vigilance net over a transformer platform. They also included an officer who had been attending his young daughter suffering from leukemia  (blood cancer) in hospital for two years. His leave was sanctioned by GAD that terminated his services immediately after inducting him in KAS and promoting him as Additional Secretary after obtaining vigilance clearance.

As MD JKCCC, Rohella is facing charges of unauthorised allotment of works to handpicked contractors to the tune of Rs 15 crore without calling tenders besides unauthorised engagement of nearly 80 people as casual labourers, to be subsequently absorbed against Class 4th vacancies. He also allotted e-ticket contract to M/S Afford Infocom who were recently caught in the embezzlement of tickets for unknown amount of money. On a comprehensive complaint, State Vigilance Organisation has now completed secretly Preliminary Verification and many of the charges have been found correct. A criminal case has been registered against the JKCCC officials including then MD.

Rohella outsourced the online ticketing system of Gulmarg Gondola to M/s Afford Infocom free of cost just like he handed over a portion of under-construction TRC Building at Srinagar to M/S Kashmir Art Quest. These tickets were sold through the official website of Gulmarg Gondola and the amount was embezzled by bypassing the payment gateway and using the official website and database managed by the firm. The access to official website and database including payment gateway is a multi-layer password protected system administered by the officials of M/s Afford Infocom. The database can only be tampered with when all such passwords (including the administrator password which is held by head of the firm i.e Director) are entered correctly by their originators who have the authority to command the software to skip payment gateway.

An inquiry by Tourism Department reveals that the details in the database were erased by an employee of M/s Afford Infocom that is hosting the database, as a result of which the quantum of money actually embezzled cannot be established. This argument is ridiculous as every database has a backup server that can restore the data in case of database crash or other damage due to natural disaster and the details of this scam can easily be unearthed by NIC.

Further, reconciliation of money received from online booking with the number of e-tickets issued to tourists can also establish the quantum of money embezzled by the beneficiaries who manipulated the system and diverted the payments received through payment gateway into their bottomless pit instead of official account of J&KCCC. Rohella who headed JKCCC failed to ensure regular reconciliation of revenue with e-tickets issued during that particular period with counter-foil of the boarding passes as is done by airline officials.

Incharge MD JKCCC Nazir Ahmad Mir confirmed to STATE TIMES that State Vigilance Organisation was holding an investigation but he asserted that it were the officials of the Corporation itself who got suspicious and nailed the fraud. He said that during a departmental inquiry, an employee of Afford Infocom confessed to the crime and offered to return entire amount of Rs 4.89 lakh. However, JKCCC wrote to the government, seeking direction about the further course of action. “They claim that only Rs 4.89 lakh has been swindled but only an investigation by IT and cyber crime experts can determine precisely how much of the revenue has been siphoned off”, Mr Mir said. He said that with average annual revenue of Rs 40 crore a year, Gulmarg Gandola’s income in financial year of 2014-15 was Rs 46 crore.

As Director Tourism, Rohella created further liabilities to the tune of Rs. 209.46 lacs over and above the sanctioned budget of Rs. 650.00 lacs by not adhering to budgetary ceiling and cleared under process bills, amounting to Rs. 395.98 lacs. Inspite of a ban imposed by the government, he illegally engaged 482 persons as "need-based workers". He projected additionality of Rs. 1330.00 lacs over and above the Annual Plan 2014-15, allocation whereof was Rs. 2245.75 lacs.

END

Amid ban on main procession, Ashura observed across Valley

After 1988, authorities have never allowed Srinagar Zuljanah rally
 
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
______

SRINAGAR, Oct 24: Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Hazrat Imam Hussain and his companions in the battlefield of Karbala in Iraq, was observed across the State of Jammu and Kashmir with traditional practice of mourning by Shia Muslims on Saturday. Even as the authorities, like every year since 1988, did not allow the main Zuljanah procession on its traditional route of Abiguzar Lalchowk-Zadibal in the capital city, quoting security reasons, thousands of devotees participated in scores of the mourning processions in Shia population areas throughout Kashmir valley.

On the pattern of a post-1988 tradition, mourners brought out the Valley’s largest attended Zuljanah procession from Botakadal Lalbazar in the forenoon braving inclement weather. It marched through different Shia-dominated neighbourhoods and culminated late in the night in the traditional Majlis-e-Shaam-e-Gareebaan at the historic Imambara of Zadibal.

Organisers as well as authorities said that over 50,000 mourners participated in the Zuljanah procession while reciting Nowha and Marthiya and paying tributes to the 72 martyrs of Karbala and Imam Hussain’s companions who survived the bloodshed.

Unlike in the last several years when intermittent clashes occurred at some places en route to Zadibal, authorities had made best security arrangements and other logistics for smooth proceedings of the procession. Restrictions were strictly imposed in vast area of downtown Srinagar. Like in the last two days, there was curfew-like situation in entire downtown, with the exception of Lalbazar-Zadibal belt, even Lalchowk area of uptown where Police had placed barriers of Concertina wire at several places to prevent human movement and traffic.

A number of the religious and political outfits had condemned the restrictions and the government’s refusal to permit the main Zuljanah procession as “interference with religion” and threatened to violate the ban.

With the restrictions strictly in place, no attempts were made to take out a procession from Abiguzar in the Civil Lines. On Thursday, scores of mourners had been thrashed and detained for violating the restrictions on occasion of 8^th of Muharram and attempting to take out a procession.

In the countryside, the largest Zujanah and Alam procession came out from Imambara Mirgund and in the forenoon and concluded with Majlis-e-Shaam-e-Gareebaan at Budgam. Thousands of Shia Muslim mourners, including a large number of women, participated in the procession.

Smaller Zuljanah, Alam and Tazia processions were taken out in around 50 Shia-dominated towns from Chhatergul in South Kashmir to Kamalkote Uri in North Kashmir.

No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the Valley.

Reports of large Ashura processions poured in also from Kargil and Leh. Ladakhi Shia Muslims thronged Imambargahs and participated in the processions while reciting Nowha in Urdu and Ladakhi languages and dialects.

In their separately issued statements, different opposition leaders including Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani lashed out on the Mufti Sayeed government for disallowing the Muharram procession from Lalchowk to Zadibal. Some of them even referred to the RSS procession in Jammu which was permitted by the authorities despite the fact that nobody had sought any permission and the chalaks were allowed to march with swords and guns throughout the old city of Jammu.

The centuries old Ashura procession had been for the first time banned by the authorities after tension built up in Srinagar with the Pakistani military ruler Gen Ziaul Haq’s death in a plane crash in 1989. In the following 25 years, the main Ashura procession was disallowed as the authorities claimed that militants could attack or cause a blast and hold the Government responsible for it. However, the political parties, including National Conference and PDP, have refused to be the takers of this theory though neither of them allowed it when they were the ruling parties.

END

PDP, BJP at loggerheads over PDC chairmanship
 
Dy CM sleeping over 8 reminders from MoS Power, Law Minister, Power Secretary
 
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz & Samaan Lateef
__________
 
SRINAGAR, Oct 23: While sleeping over as many as eight reminders from Law Minister Basharat Bukhari, Minister of State for Power Mohammad Ashraf Mir and Principal Secretary Power Sandeep Nayak, Dy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh has failed to constitute new Board of Directors (BOD) for Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation as Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has not accepted the proposal of his appointment as Chairman of the State’s most important corporation. A tug-of-war over the prestigious portfolio has been underway between PDP and BJP ever since the coalition government assumed office in March 2015.  

As per a post-1996 tradition, Chief Minister has been functioning as Chairman PDC even if he does not hold the portfolio of Power. Chief Secretary, administrative Secretaries of Power, Finance, Planning besides Managing Director of PDC usually happen to be the Directors on Board, presided over by Chairman. With this development, PDC has been headless and its decision making body, BOD, has been non-existent after the former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tendered his resignation in January this year.
 
In absence of Chairman and BOD, PDC has failed to hold Annual General Meeting and other key deliberations since June 2014. Under the Companies Act, if the AGM is not held and annual accounts finalised before September 30, the company is liable to one time penalty of Rs one lakh besides fine of Rs 5,000 each day.
 
Latest on September 14, Law Minister Basharat Bukhari has made it clear to the Deputy CM, who is holding portfolio of Minister of Power, to ensure constitution of BOD within September 2015. However, Dy CM did not pay any attention to it. Highly placed bureaucratic sources revealed to STATE TIMES that prior to Bukhari, MoS Power Mohammad Ashraf Mir had also sent a memo of urgency to the Power Minister which failed to evoke any response.
 
Significantly, even Principal Secretary Power Sandeep Nayak sent as many as five reminders to Nirmal Singh, making it clear that in absence of the BOD and Chairman, PDC had become handicapped in taking critical decisions. All the eight official communication, according to sources, are gathering dust in Dy CM’s chamber.
 
With no Chairman and BOD, PDC has failed to take policy decisions on new projects, energy generation, and operation and maintenance of its projects. While the execution of a critical bridge on Baglihar-2 has fallen in limbo, PDC has failed to allot and execute 93 mw New Ganderbal Hydroelectric power project.
 
Contrary to the past practice, Nirmal Singh has staked the claim for the hot seat in PDC. However, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s office has not acquiesced into the Power Minister’s proposal.
 
“Several times PDC initiated the process to constitute BOD but it has met a negative response from the Power Minister’s office,” a PDC official said on condition of anonymity. “Power Minister wants to be the Chairman while as Chief Minister’s office is averse to ceding the post to the BJP,” he said.
 
“The detailed project report for New Ganderbal hydropower project was submitted to the Power Minister’s office but due to absence of BOD, the approval is pending,” a source disclosed to STATE TIMES.
 
Similarly, construction work on 850 mw Rattle Hydro Electric Power Project (RHEPP) in Kishtwar has not started in past 14 months after the Hyderabad based company, GVK Development Projects Private Limited, left the project incomplete. PDC has been unable to take a decision whether to construct the project of its own or hand it over to any other company.
 
GVK has refused to resume work citing recurring losses due to insecure atmosphere and continuous protests of local people seeking adequate compensation for land.
 
The decision to approve the Denmark-based company, Danish Hydraulic Institute, to quantify the losses suffered by the State on account of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT) between India and Pakistan is also pending due to absence of the BoD. As per rough estimates, State Government has suffered Rs 18,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore losses due to IWT. Omar Abdullah’s NC-Congress government had for the first time floated the idea to quantify the IWT losses in 2009.

As per rules, BOD is bound to meet once in a quarter every year. Government’s non-seriousness towards power development could be gauged from the fact that since June 2014, PDC’s BOD has not met even once. Officials insist that PDC has five power projects in pipeline and all are pending in absence of Chairman and BOD. Even the MD’s post was retained by Power Secretary Nayak on adhoc basis after the re-employed former bureaucrat Meraj Kakroo resigned in the beginning of the new government.
 
Even the Chenab Valley Power Projects have also been hit as two of its board members come from PDC.

To harness 20,000 MW hydropower potential in a sustained manner, the State government had set up PDC on February 16, 1995. It was incorporated to takeover, execute, complete, operate and maintain all power stations and power projects of the State. Presently it has 20 hydroelectric projects with installed capacity of 758.70mw located in various districts of Jammu & Kashmir including 450mw Baglihar Hydroelectric Project.
 
While as one of the Power Minister’s aides said that Dr Singh was busy in a function and he would call back later, MOS Power Ashraf Mir did not respond to the calls from STATE TIMES.
 
END

 

Curfew imposed, exams cancelled, highway closed, train services suspended

Valley boiling over trucker’s killing; Geelani, Malik detained

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

_______

SRINAGAR, Oct 23: Authorities on Thursday imposed curfew without formal announcement in Srinagar and Anantnag towns, cancelled all the scheduled examinations of the University of Kashmir and Public Service Commission, closed traffic on Srinagar-Jammu highway and suspended all the train services in apprehension of a fresh spell of turbulence over the death of a civilian in an attack in Udhampur on October 9^th.

Even as the separatists have not called for a shutdown or mass protest on Friday, Deputy Commissioners of Srinagar and Anantnag imposed curfew in all major townships, albeit without a formal announcement. Sources said no pedestrian or vehicular traffic movement will be allowed in over half of the capital city besides in Anantnag, Bijbehara and other towns around in South Kashmir on Friday.

It was officially announced on Thursday evening that the University of Kashmir and Public Service Commission have cancelled all the examinations scheduled for October 23. Due to undeclared curfew in Anantnag area on Thursday, students and candidates failed to attend KU’s and PSC’s exams. Sources said that no train services would operate in Kashmir valley on Friday and traffic on Srinagar-Jammu national highway would remain suspended. “Restrictions would remain limited to only Srinagar, Anantnag and parts of Kulgam districts. But other areas could be included if any trouble occurred elsewhere”, a senior official told STATE TIMES.

Main reason of clamping curfew is reportedly Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s plan of holding a protest sit-in at Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area of downtown Srinagar. Unusually, Mirwaiz has invited senior separatist leaders, including head of Hurriyat’s radical faction, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik for the sit-in. Mirwaiz has asserted that the sit-in would be held against the young Kashmiri truck’s killing by fanatics in Udhampur, “repression, State terrorism and interference with religion”.

While Malik had been already taken into custody by the Police at SKIMS Soura on Wednesday, Geelani was lifted from his Hyderpora residence on Thursday and lodged at Police Station Humhama. All other prominent separatist leaders have been placed under house arrest.

DC Srinagar Dr Farooq Lone told STATE TIMES that “restrictions under section 144 Cr PC” would be enforced in areas falling under seven Police Stations of downtown, namely Nowhatta, Maharaja Ranbir Gunj, Safakadal, Rainawari, Khanyar, Kralkhud and Maisuma. DC Anantnag Munir-ul-Islam said that “restrictions” ---euphemism for curfew----would remain in force at the district headquarters and areas around Botengo, residential village of Zahid Rasool Bhat who was attacked by goons in Udhampur with a petrol bomb on October 9^th and died in New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on October 19^th.

On Thursday too, both Srinagar and Anantnag areas reeled under undeclared curfew and protestors clashed with Police and CRPF at some places. Unconfirmed reports said that late in the evening, when the authorities restored traffic, a group of people resorted to stone pelting on tourist vehicles on Khannabal-Pahalgam Road. At least one vehicle was reportedly damaged. DC Anantnag said: “I have received this information but I am still seeking its confirmation from Police”.

While as traffic on the highway remained suspended till 9.00 pm, no train services operated. Reports from South Kashmir said that unrest over the trucker’s death has spread to usually calm and peaceful areas of Anantnag, particularly on either side of both the roads connecting Anantnag and Pahalgam. Intense stone pelting was witnessed on the last four days not only in Anantnag, Bijbehara, Botengo and Ashajipora but also at Mattan, Akad, Srigufwara, Salar and other villages.

Anantnag-based cleric Qazi Yasir had called for shutdown in the district on Thursday. Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani had planned to visit the slain trucker’s residence. However, authorities placed Concertina wires and blockades, sealed all the roads leading to Botengo and did not allow outsiders to gather for Zahid’s fourth day remembrance ceremony. As two civilians, Naseer Ahmad Dar of Zirpara and Javed Ahmad Sofi of Sethar (Bijbehara) were critically injured during clashes on Wednesday and Thursday, situation grew further tense.

A Police spokesman said in a hand out that Sofi was hit by a stone thrown by miscreants near Chursu, Awantipora. His condition was critical at SKIMS, Soura.

Here in the summer capital, curfew was enforced with similar restrictions by the authorities in Lalchowk, Civil Lines and several other areas mainly to foil the Shia Muslims’ attempts to take out a traditional Zuljanah and Tazia procession on occasion of the 8^th of Moharram. Karbala mourners clashed with Police at several places. Police forced their retreat amid slogans as scores of the mourners were taken into custody and detained at different places.

Since 1989, authorities have not allowed 8^th Moharram and 10^th Moharram (Ashura) processions in Civil Lines, though these gatherings are not disrupted in Zadibal, Hassanabad and other Shia-dominated localities in the Capital.

END