Kathua residents urged Mehbooba Mufti to scrap Lakhanpur toll

Kathua residents meet Mehbooba, raise issue of illegal mining from Ravi canal The toll at Lakhanpur, the gateway of J&K, and the unabated illegal extraction of minerals from the Ravi canal predominantly came under discussion of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti with local deputations during a grievance camp in Kathua today. The camp was organised under the Chief Minister’s Public Outreach Programme. “The continuation of toll at Lakhanpur after the introduction of GST in the state has defied the idea of ‘one nation, one tax’. It is like people being looted…

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Search ops launched in Hiranagar after three armed men spotted

Amid the prevailing tension on the International Border in Hiranagar, an input about the movement of “three armed men” in a border village of Hiranagar sector today kept security agencies — Army, CRPF and Kathua police — on their toes. Immediately after the input, the Army and the police launched a massive search operation in the Maheshechak area of Hiranagar to trace the suspected militants, whom a man had seen in a field. Garrjeet Singh of Maheshechak village said he had seen three armed men suspected to be militants in…

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In Badanaal village, water is rationed from its only well : Latur of JK

Chowkidar guards the well 24×7; water theft carries penalty — no water for 5 days At Badanaal village in Ghatti panchayat, 25 km from Kathua district headquarters, a chowkidar-cum-panchayat member has been guarding one of two wells, the only source of water in the village, round the clock since the onset of summer to keep away “water thieves”. The second well of the village is dried up. Every morning, chowkidar Sardar Singh comes up with a measuring utensil to provide only 15 litres water per family from the well. A…

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Basohli tense after boy’s throat-slit body found

Villagers manhandle DSP, set afire SHO’s vehicle in Kathua Basohli and Mahanpur towns of Kathua district today observed a shutdown following tension triggered by the recovery of the throat-slit body of a Class VIII Dalit boy in the area on Monday night. Police sources said the student had been identified as Karan Kumar, 13, a resident of Ward Number 13 in Basohli. He had gone missing from his residence on Monday evening and his throat-slit body was found in an under-construction bathroom of a government school near his home. The…

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Irked BSF man creates ruckus at Union Minister’s function

Criticises Jitendra for hoodwinking people by making hollow promises An enraged youth today lambasted Minister for State (MoS) in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh for allegedly hoodwinking people by making hollow promises to them. The Union Minister had to face the wrath of the youth this afternoon when he was attending a religious congregation at the Jasrota area in Kathua district. It all started when Jitendra Singh, the Lok Sabha member from the Kathua-Udhampur parliamentary constituency, was being felicitated by community members after completing his address. Suddenly, a local…

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First cable-stayed bridge of North opens today

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will inaugurate Northern India’s first cable-stayed bridge on the Ravi river in the Basohli area of Kathua district on Thursday. The 592-metre-long bridge is important for quick induction of armed forces from Punjab to J&K. The load of the bridge will be borne by 96 cables supported by two towers Built at a cost of Rs 14,543.52 lakh, the bridge will provide additional route to Srinagar from Pathankot. It will shorten Pathankot-Basohli distance by over 35 km

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‘We’re living in hell, no one pays heed to our miseries’

Displaced border residents recount tales of misery as they battle government apathy The administration’s apathy is adding to the woes of hundreds of border villagers, displaced again by border firing in Kathua and Samba districts. Around 300 villagers have taken shelter at the Santoshi Mata Temple here, being frequented by politicians nowadays, but the displaced residents have received no major help from the authorities so far. The administration has so far sent only one bag of rice, weighing 50 kg, and two bags of flour, weighing 50 kg each, for…

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ED sleuths in Jammu and Kashmir foil bid to smuggle banned forest products

Sleuths of the Jammu and Kashmir Excise Department on Friday foiled a bid to smuggle rare and highly-valuable banned forest products after a huge quantity of them were seized at the Lakhanpur toll post in Kathua district. A vehicle from Srinagar on its way to Batala belt in Punjab was stopped at the Lakhanpur toll post for assessment of the goods, Deputy Excise Commissioner Rajesh Sharma said. During checking of the vehicle, 31 bags of forest produce, comprising 22 bags of Koad-Kutki (Piccrorhiza Kurroa) (625 kgs), 9 bags of Muskbala…

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