Army officer among 3 named in police charge-sheet
Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Dec 27: Police Sunday said the three civilians from Rajouri, who were killed in July 18 fake encounter in Shopian, were innocent as the encounter was staged by an Army officer and two other persons.
A police spokesperson said Captain Bhoopendra Singh alias Major Basheer Khan of 62 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Tabish Nazir and Bilal Ahmed Lone — abducted the civilians and staged the encounter.
“They planted illegally acquired weapons and material on their dead bodies after stripping them of their identities and tagged them as hardcore militants in possession of war-like stores and deliberately providing false information to colleagues and seniors,” he said.
Giving details, he said on July 18, 2020, information was received by Police Station Heerpora that three unidentified militants were killed in an operation at village Amshipora by 62 RR. “Two pistols with two magazines and four empty Pistol cartridges, 15 Live cartridges and 15 empty cartridges of AK series and other objectionable items were recovered from the encounter site,” he said.
He said consequent upon the information, a case FIR No 42/2020 U/S 307 IPC, 7/27 Arms Act, 16 ULA (P) Act was registered in Police Station Heerpora and investigation was set into motion. “During the course of investigation, all the efforts were made to establish the identity of the slain persons but all in vain,” he said, adding a signal was flashed to all the police stations of Jammu Kashmir as well as to all the police stations of the country to ascertain the identity of the victims.
“On August 10, 2020, a signal was received from Incharge Police Station Peeri, District Rajouri mentioning therein that three youth – identified as Abrar Ahmad, Imtiyaz Ahmad and Abrar Ahmad — had gone to Kashmir to work as labour on July 16, 2020 but since then their whereabouts are not known to the family nor they reported back to their respective homes,” he said.
He said further it was informed, that missing reports have been entered in Police Station Peeri, Rajouri. “On receipt of this information, a Police Party from Shopian was deputed for collection of DNA samples from the claimant families. Accordingly, DNA samples of claimant families were taken through team of Doctors Constituted by District Magistrate Rajouri. DNA samples of claimant families along with DNA samples of the dead bodies were sent to CFSL, Chandigarh for analysis and comparison. Which were identifies as same as 3 missing youths of the District Rajouri,” he said.
He said keeping in view the nature and sensitivity of the case, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Headquarters, Shopian was constituted.
“On receipt of this DNA report, two persons, identified as Tabish Nazir, son of Nazir Ahmed Malik, resident of Chowgam and Bilal Ahmed Lone, son of Ghulam Nabi Lone, resident of Arabal Nikas Pulwama were summoned at Police Station Heerpora for questioning and were arrested in the instant case,” he said.
He said whereas Captain Bhoopendra Singh was detained by Army under relevant sections of law.
“During investigation, it transpired that conspiracy was hatched by the accused Captain, Tabish Nazir and Bilal Ahmed Lone to abduct and staged the fake encounter. “They deliberately and purposefully chose not to follow SOPs, they planted illegally acquired weapons and material on their dead bodies after stripping them of their identities and tagged them as hardcore terrorists in possession of war-like stores and deliberately providing false information to colleagues/senior,” he said.
He said as per SOPs Army informed the police for registration of FIR. “During investigation of theFIR, sections 307 IPC, 7/27 Arms Act, 16 ULA(P) Act against the slain youth were dropped. “The offences under section 302, 364, 201, 436, 120-B, 182 IPC and section 7/25 IA Act against accused the Captain, Tabish Nazir and Bilal Ahmed Lone was established and therefore incorporated in the instant case,” he said.
He said the disclosure of accused persons led the SIT to recreate all the scenes of crime which included routes used after meeting the victims and the place where the victims were murdered. “During further investigation, all the circumstantial evidences which included two vehicles, service rifle of Captain Bhoopendra Singh of 62 RR etc were seized,” he said.
He said the accused Bilal Ahmed Lone has become approver under relevant Section of law and his statement has been recorded before Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Shopian.
He said accordingly, on Saturday chargesheet of instant case running in 1400 pages against accused was presented before Chief Judicial Magistrate Shopian for judicial determination.
“An order has been issued by the Court asking the Army Authorities under relevant sections of law to give their opinion whether the accused Captain Bhoopendra Singh be tried by the Criminal Court of ordinary jurisdiction or by the Court Martial,” he said.
He said statement of 49 witnesses was recorded under relevant sections of law and a total of 75 witnesses were listed under the list of witness annexed with the challan.

Leh highway open for one-way traffic

Srinagar, Dec 27: Hundreds of Kashmir-bound vehicles were stranded as Srinagar-Jammu highway, connecting the valley with rest of the country, was closed due to landslides on Sunday.
Meanwhile, only one-way traffic continued on 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh highway, connecting the Union Territory of Ladakh with Kashmir, due to bad road conditions while historic Mughal road remained closed due to accumulation of several feet of snow.
“Traffic on 180-km-long Srinagar-Jammu highway was suspended due to landslide at Chandarkoot,” a traffic police official said.
He said due to suspension of traffic hundreds of vehicles were stranded at various places on the highway.
However, he said the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the road, have pressed into service sophisticated machines and men to clear the landslide. “Traffic will be allowed on the highway only after clearance of the road,” he said.
“Only Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) were on Sunday allowed to ply from Jammu to Srinagar. Vehicles had to cross Nagrota (Jammu) between 0500 hrs and 1200 hrs while Jakheni (Udhampur) between 0600 hrs and 1300 hrs,” he added.
He said the historic 86-km-long Mughal road, linking Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region, remained closed due to accumulation of snow and slippery road conditions for the past about three weeks.
He said only one-way traffic will be allowed from Kargil to Srinagar today on Ladakh higwhay. “LMVs followed by Heavy Motor vehicles (HMVs) will be allowed from Minamarg in Ladakh to Kashmir from 0900 hrs to 1400 hrs,” he said, adding vehicles may carry anti-skid chain to gain more grip on slippery road.
He said forces will also follow the same schedule, adding no vehicles will be allowed to ply in the opposite direction.

Kargil freezes at – – 17.4 degree c, Gulmarg at -7.2 degree C

Srinagar, Dec 27: The chilly weather conditions further intensified as the mercury dipped and settled several degrees below normal across Kashmir valley, where moderate to heavy rain and snowfall is predicted on Sunday.
Most of the water bodies in Srinagar city had partially frozen as the mercury dipped and settled at minus 5.2 degree though there was some improvement in the day temperature due to sunshine.
Meanwhile, people continue to suffer in the Union Territory of Ladakh, including Drass — the second coldest place in the world — as the maximum and minimum temperatures remained below freezing point.
A Met department spokesperson said that moderate rain and snow would occur on Sunday and Monday at most places in the valley under the influence of a Western Disturbance (WD), which has hit the region this evening.
The border town of Kargil was the coldest place in the region at minus 17.4 degree, followed by Leh, where the mercury settled at minus 12.9 degree.
The mercury in the city dipped about 2 degree from Saturday and settled at minus 5.2 degree, which is 3 degree below normal. Most of the water bodies, including world famous Dal Lake, were partially frozen due to sub-zero temperature. People woke up to a chilly Sunday morning in the city, where mechanics and drivers had burned wood on roadsides to keep themselves warm. However, as the day progressed sun came out though chilly weather conditions continued due to ice cold winds.
World famous ski resort of Gulmarg, about 55 km from here in north Kashmir, was the coldest place in the valley. Against minus 6.5 degree recorded on Saturday, the night temperature in Gulmarg was 7.2 degree, which is over a degree below normal. “Despite chilly weather conditions, tourists, including foreigners, were out on ski slopes enjoying different snow related activities. The footfall of tourists has started to increased in the resort, which is known for its ski slopes and quality of snow,” a hotelier from Gulmarg told UNI over the phone.
World famous health resort of Pahalgam, about 100 km from here in south Kashmir, also witnessed a dip in the night temperature and settled a degree below normal. Against minus 4.5 degree recorded on Saturday, the night temperature in the resort was minus 5.9 degree.
The night temperature at Qazigund, gateway to the valley, Kupwara in north Kashmir and tourist resort of Kukernag dipped and settled at minus 5 degree, minus 4.8 degree and minus 4.9 degree, respectively.

New Delhi, Dec 27: India’s daily new COVID-19 caseload dropped below 19,000 after 6 months, the Union Health Ministry update said on Sunday.
A total of 18,732 new COVID-19 cases were added to the national tally in the last 24 hours. The new added cases were 18,653 on July 1.
India’s total active COVID-19 caseload has fallen to 2.78 lakh (2,78,690) on Sunday. This is the lowest after 170 days. The total active cases were 2,76,682 on July 10.
The country has reported a trend of sustained decrease in the number of active cases.
India’s present active caseload consists of just 2.74 per cent of India’s total positive cases.
A total of 21,430 cases recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours. This has led to a net decline of 2,977 from the total active caseload.
The total recovered cases stand at 97,61,538. The gap between recovered cases and active cases, that is steadily increasing, is nearing 95 lakhs and presently stands at 94,82,848.
The difference in the new recoveries outnumbering new cases has also improved the recovery rate to 95.82 per cent on Sunday. This difference is continuously growing as the recoveries outpace the daily new cases.

London, Dec 27: The cases of new coronavirus strain initially emerged in the United Kingdom has now swiftly started to appear in many European countries as well as in Japan in Canada.
The cases of the new contagious variant of coronavirus has been detected among many travellers who have arrived to Spain, Switzerland, Sweden and France from UK.
Japan is set to ban most of its non-resident foreign nationals from entering the country for a month from December 29 (Monday) amid the virus concern, says a BBC news report.
The news of the new variant triggered travel restrictions around the world last week in the UK.

Srinagar, Dec 27:  A Special Police Officer (SPO) turned militant, who deserted his post and decamped with two AK-47 rifles in October this year in Budgam, and three militant associates were arrested in central Kashmir.

A senior police official said following specific information, a joint Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) was launched by police, 53 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and 181 battalion of CRPF launched at Hayatpora in Chadoora.

“During the operation, a vehicle tried to flee from the cordon which was tactfully stopped,” he said.

He said four persons onboard the vehicle tried to resist, but were overpowered by forces.

“Out of them one was identified as Deserter SPO-turned-militant Altaf Hussain,” he said, adding the other three have been identified as Shabir Ahmad Bhat, Jamsheed Magray, and Zahid Dar, all residents of Pulwama.

He said on their search, arms, ammunition and other incriminating material were recovered. “On further enquiry it was found that the group is associated with Jash-e-Mohammed (JeM) and were operating in the area with the intention to carry out some subversive activities,” he said.

Altaf, who was posted in Special Operations Group (SOG) camp in Chadoora, had gone missing with two AK-47 rifles and three magazines on October 24, 2020. “In this regard case FIR no 242/2020 under relevant sections of UAPA has been registered in Police Station Chadoora and investigation has been taken up,” he added.

New Delhi, Dec 27: The dates for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Board examinations for class Xth and XIIth, to be held next year will be announced on December 31 at 1800 hrs.
This information was given by Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in a tweet on Saturday.
‘Major announcements for students & parents! I will announce the date when the exams will commence for students appearing for #CBSE board exams in 2021. Stay tuned,’ the Minister said in a tweet.
Every year, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducts examinations in the months of February and March and releases the date sheet in November.
However, this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CBSE Board exam time table has been delayed.
Pokhriyal has recently informed in a live discussion with teachers on December 22 that the CBSE board exams will be conducted after February and in offline mode.
“The practical exams are usually held between January 1 and 15 while the optional exams are conducted between February 15 and mid-March. However, taking into account the present situation, it is impossible to conduct the exams till the end of February. We will make a final decision on the exam dates as to when will the exams can be held after February,” he had said.
Education Minister had also said that if students cannot visit their schools to do lab work, alternatives to practical exams will have to be explored. He also assured students that “our government is in favour of students”.
Considering the difficulties students are facing while availing online classes in remote areas, it will be difficult for the students to take online exams, the minister said. “Many CBSE schools are in rural areas. Hence, the upcoming 2021 exams cannot be held online,” Pokhriyal said.