Jammu and Kashmir

The Srinagar-Jammu Highway remained closed for the third consecutive day. The nearly 300-km long highway is the lifeline of supplies for the landlocked valley. Each time, the highway gets blocked, hoarders and profiteers resort to black marketing. Authorities on Tuesday announced rationing of petroleum products and cooking gas.

Well synergised, intelligence-based operations have resulted in significant successes and have considerably degraded terrorist leadership and their capabilities in Jammu and Kashmir, the ministry said. Attempts to spread violence South of Pir Panjal Range have been comprehensively defeated by proactive operations. It is South of Pir Panjal Range from where terrorists from Pakistan make attempts to infiltrate in the valley.

Three persons Aejaz Ganai from Pulwama, Zubair Lone from Shopian and Athar Mushtaq from Pulwama were killed in an encounter at Lawaypora on in Srinagar on December 30. Army said that they were repeatedly given a chance to surrender which they did not do and instead fired at the security forces and threw grenades. The families of those killed have been contesting the version of security forces claiming that their sons are not militants.

Eight civilians sustained injuries in the explosion. They were shifted to hospital for treatment. Doctors said all of them are out of danger, police said. The area was immediately cordoned off for searches to trace the militants.

Defence ministry spokesman, Colonel Devender Anand said at about 3.30 p.m. on Friday Pakistan initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district. Defence sources said Naib Subedar Ravinder Kumar was injured and later succumbed to the critical injuries sustained in the Pakistani firing.

Till December 28 this year, Pakistan carried out 4700 incidents of ceasefire violations at Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Ceasefire violations have jumped to 4700, highest in the last 17 years. In 2019, there were 3168 ceasefire violations. Interestingly, out of the 3168 ceasefire violations 1551 have taken place since August.

Besides Goyal, Railway Board Chairman and CEO V.K. Yadav, Northern Railway General Manager Ashutosh Gangal and Chief Administrative Officer of USBRL project Vijay Sharma were also present during the meeting. Sharma apprised Goyal about the latest status of work on the last leg of the project between Katra-Banihal.

The gunfight broke out on Tuesday evening after a joint team of the army and police cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of a specific information about the presence of terrorists. As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where the terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.

The phone conversation between Amir Siraj (A), and apparently his father (B), reveals how Amir was indoctrinated and regretted the decision of joining the terror outfit. Amir's family has called the audio clip fake and said that no such conversation took place between him and his father.

The man has been identified as Mohammad Ashraf, a resident of J&K's Reasi district, but was presently living at Peerbagh colony in Jammu's Sunjawan. Ashraf was arrested on Sunday evening. Police said two hand grenades were recovered from his possession.