Colonel killed in Kupwara encounter; 3 militants holed up

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Nov 17: Commanding Officer of Rashtriya Rifles 41^st battalion, Col. Santosh Mahadik, was killed in an encounter with a group of militants holed up in Manigah forest cover in Kupwara district on Tuesday.

Informed sources in North Kashmir told STATE TIMES that two “Pakistani-looking militants” descended on Manigah village and demanded food for themselves and their ailing associate. However, the villagers refused to cooperate with them and both the militants went back towards the forest. Army’s sources called Col. Mahadik over telephone and told him that two Pakistani militants had entered their village and later gone back towards the jungle.

Leading a unit of his RR 41 Bn, headquartered at Khumriyal, Col. Mahadik reached Manigah within half an hour. As he was ascending towards the forest cover, the militants on the vantage position opened fire and were seen fleeing. Col. Mahadik got critically hit while as one soldier and one SPO also sustained minor injuries.

Col. Mahadik was evacuated and quickly airlifted to Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar. However, he succumbed to injuries. Reports from Khumriyal and Manigah said that the soldiers were seen weeping over his death as he was an exceptionally popular Army officer. Residents described him as an officer of tremendous public popularity and relations who would never tolerate a soldier’s misbehaviour with any civilian.

During routine patrolling, a unit of RR 41 Bn had accidentally stumbled on the body of an unidentified militant, with an AK-47 rifle in his hand, between Trumnard and Kani Bahak on November 10. Thereupon, troops launched a wide search operation and learned from its sources that a group of four Pakistani militants of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba had infiltrated through the unusual route of Manigah. It learned that the militants seemed to be suffering gangrene and were not fit enough to walk a distance.

Defence sources told STATE TIMES that three militants of the group, who are believed to have infiltrated two to three weeks ago, were still hiding in Manigah forest area and their escape would not be easy. “They are holed up in that very area and will be eliminated in a couple of days”, said an officer.

A Defence spokesman said that Colonel Santosh Mahadik “attained martyrdom while leading his troops in an fierce encounter with a group of three terrorists in Manigah Forest Area”.

“Colonel Mahadik, the Commanding Officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles made the supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Indian Army. The Colonel was a true soldier and had conducted many successful counter terrorist operations. Originally from the Special Forces, the officer was earlier awarded Sena Medal for exhibiting gallantry and leadership in counter terrorist operations”, said the Defence spokesman in his statement.

Lt Gen DS Hooda, Army Commander, Northern Command expressed deep condolences on the officer’s death.  He said: “We owe a deep debt of gratitude to officers like Santosh who lead from the front and are willing to pay the ultimate price in the fight against terrorism.”

“Colonel Mahadik leaves behind his wife and two children aged eleven and five years. The Army is committed to providing all support to the family in this hour of grief”. 

In his message, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed conveyed his heart-felt sympathies to the bereaved family and prayed for peace to the departed soul.

END

Army smashes woman’s head in Bandipore clash

FIR filed against RR 14^th Bn. after severe thrashing of six civilians

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
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SRINAGAR, Nov 16: Police on Monday registered a criminal case against a unit of Rashtriya Rifles 14^th Battalion after the troops severely thrashed civilian protesters and left six of them wounded in Bandipore, in northern Kashmir. 

Informed sources told STATE TIMES that troops barged into the residence of Noorani Khan at Surrender Gujjarpatti in Chuntimulla village of Bandipore district at around 0300 hours and whisked away cousins Manzoor, Shakoor and Junaid after wrapping their heads with black cloth. They were detained and intensely interrogated at a camp of RR 14^th Bn near Chuntimulla with the allegation that they had harboured some militants in recent past. 

Army has conducted a chain of cordon-and-search operations in a vast forest area from Bandipore to Boothu in search of the militants of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba after they shot dead J&K Police’s ace counterinsurgent, Sub Inspector Altaf Dar, at Gund-e-Dachhin village on October 7. On two occasions, troops during the operation were fired upon by militants but none of them could be arrested or killed. 

During the course of the search operation on Monday, troops swooped down on Noorani Khan’s house and lifted three of the family members for sustained interrogation. 

In the morning at around 0800 hours, a large number of the residents of Kudara, Sumlar, Surrender Gujjarpatti and other Chuntimulla hamlets gathered at the Army camp. They shouted slogans with the allegation that the troops had arrested and physically tortured “innocent civilians” who, the gathering claimed, had no links to militants. 

After a while, troops came out and severely thrashed scores of the demonstrators. Officials claimed that the clash took place after the “mob” attacked the camp and a bunker of Army. 

However, residents of Chuntimulla, who insisted to remain anonymous, told STATE TIMES that the soldiers mercilessly thrashed men and women. Six protesters, who included two Gujjar women, Sakeena and Reshma, were left wounded. Reshma’s head was smashed with a baton and she bled profusely while being rushed to District Hospital of Bandipore. 

Three of the injured, namely Reshma, Junaid Khan and Hussain Khan were referred to SKIMS Soura for specialised treatment. Three more, including two of the detained youths, Manzoor and Shakoor, were treated at District Hospital Bandipore. 

Sources said that the protesters in the afternoon gathered in Bandipore town and staged a demonstration outside Deputy Commissioner’s office. They demanded arrest registration of “attempted murder” case against the officers of RR 14^th Bn involved in severe manhandling and thrashing of the civilians and their arrest. 

Superintendent of Police Choudhary Shabir said that Police received a written complaint and FIR “is being registered against Army”. Later, an official source told STATE TIMES that FIR No: 161/2015 was registered against officers of RR 14 Bn. “We have taken cognizance and will initiate an investigation”, SP Bandipore Mr Choudhary said. 

DC Bandipore Sajjad Hussain Ganai, who was not reachable on telephone, is reported to have ordered a separate magisterial inquiry which would be conducted by Assistant Commissioner Revenue Massarat Hashim. 

Meanwhile, Chairman of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and some other separatist leaders in their statements issued late in the evening condemned Army’s alleged excesses on the civilian protesters in Bandipore. 

END

Meaning of TERRORIST in different 21st century dictionaries:

 

American: One who kills an American or Israeli and is a member of Al-Qaeda or ISIS outfits. Others can be called Rebels.

 

British: One who kills a Briton, European or American. Others can be freedom fighters.

 

French: One who kills a French man or woman and is a member of ISIS. Others can be rebels, freedom fighters.

 

Indian: One who kills an Indian Hindu and is a member of LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad or Hizbul Mujahideen.

 

Iranian: One who kills an Iranian or Palestinian or Lebanese or Syrian or Iraqi Shia.

 

Saudi Arabian: One who kills an Arab royal family member or an aboriginal Arab, comes from Yemen or Iran.

 

Pakistani: One who kills a Pakistani Muslim and comes from TTP, Afghanistan or India.

 

Kashmiri: One who kills a Kashmiri Muslim and belongs to SOG, Ikhwan, BSF, CRPF, Indian Army, BJP, Jan Sangh, RSS.

 

So the 8 rounds in 8 different directions and Mr Terrorist does 'hahaha.....'

END

C O M M E N T

Even those of us, whose hearts beat for ISIS and who perceive ISIS and her terror cousins as messiahs and freedom fighters, have condemned the Paris bloodbath with their lips and finger touches-----not for the 150-odd innocent civilians whose blood spilled on the streets but to escape Europe's post-11/14 radar, to protect their own luxurious shuttling between Asia and Europe and flow of money from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and Europe. At a mosque or procession in Asia, they love waving of ISIS flags and eulogise the masked youths as heroes of freedom but in Europe same people call them 'terrorists' and empathise with the victims of a carnage. Crass hypocrisy. Characteristic of a class from 6th century to 21st century. This is completely different from the teachings of the great founder of Islam whose conduct and character, honesty, clarity of thought and action, respect for other religions, universal brotherhood and co-existence made hundreds of thousands embrace Islam. Swords and AK-47s are for defence when a combatant will attack. These are an evil when used to spill the blood of innocent, non-combatant followers of other faiths. Practice only the great Mohammad's Islam which does not terrorise, not the one professed by his hypocrite enemies.

Before 1990, as well as after 1990, Kashmir has been almost a single constituency with respect to key pilitical expressionions and indications. However, for academic reasons and sociopolitical analysis, we need to know why post-2002 separatist political expressions----with exception of 2008 and 2010 turbulences----have remained delineated within seven Police Stations (or 4 Assembly segments) of downtown Srinagar (including Maisuma), Palhalan and Sopore towns of North Kashmir and six particular Assembly segments of South Kashmir (Kulgam, Shopian, Wachi, Pulwama, Rajpora,Tral). May be the sentiment of 'azadi' is spread across the Valley in disagreeable proportions but so far, out of 46 segments in Kashmir (and 87 in J&K ), we get reports of encounters, demonstrations, stone pelting, clashes, curfew, killings, fresh militant recruitments, huge funeral processions for slain militants etc from less than a dozen segments. Without getting rhetorical, what precisely are the reasons?

C O M M E N T

Why should they choose drowning to death if MPs Muzaffar Hussain Baig and Tariq Hameed Karra feel that PDP is a "sinking ship"? Like their colleagues, they should shower praise on Mufti Sahab and his way of running the party and government. Nobody will take their diatribe seriously as long as they, in Kashmiri proverb, eat in the same pot and piss it too. Out of frustration, why are they reducing themselves to Mr Kamaal and Mr Rattanpuri? If they feel their political existence is not subservient to PDP and Mufti Sahab, they should seek fresh mandate.

C O M M E N T

Imposition of curfew every second day, restrictions on peoples' movement and traffic, freezing of Internet, blackout of news, clashes with CRPF and Police, people getting killed and injured come as an incontrovertible evidence of the fact that the situation in Kashmir has deteriorated due to erroneous political handling and could go out of hand if not held on gun point. We had nothing of this after 2010. It's a hell of difference between November 2014 when almost everybody was associated with elections with tremendous enthusiasm and November 2015 when everything seems to have come to a standstill. No good indicators!