Category: Community

Riyaz Naikoo, most wanted rebel from Kashmir

Editor

The abduction and release of family members of the Jammu and Kashmir policemen has brought the spotlight back on Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, the most wanted militant in the Valley at the moment. Naikoo, 30, started figuring prominently on the radar of security agencies after the killing of militant poster boy Burhan Wani in 2016. He carries a reward of Rs 12 lakh on his head. A resident of Naikoo Mohalla in Durbug of Awantipora , Naikoo has been listed as a category “A++” militant, which is given to the most-wanted…

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Zakir Moosa, Riyaz Naikoo on new list of most wanted militants across Kashmir

Editor

Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have released a list of most-wanted terrorists active in the state. Sources say this is part of a larger strategy of the security forces to act against terror outfits. They say this is an extension of the ‘Operation All Out’ under which a number of top terrorists, including Burhan Wani, were killed in the past two years. The list comprise names of 17 terrorists from Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Al Badar, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind. The list includes terrorists like Zakir Moosa (who is categorised…

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Abducted kin of Kashmir policemen released

Editor

Militants have released the relatives of policemen whom they had abducted from various places in south Kashmir, official sources said on Friday. At least eight people, whose relatives were working in the Jammu and Kashmir Police, were abducted last night by militants. The sources said all those abducted had been released. However, a senior police official said they had to check whether those abducted had returned home. Unconfirmed reports said the total number of kidnapped kin of policemen was 11. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar…

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Four years on, detailed objections not filed in Article 35A case

Editor

Even as the state government has approached the Supreme Court seeking adjournment of the hearing into the petitions challenging validity of Article 35A, it has chosen not to file detailed objections to the main petition yet. The filing of the objections would have revealed J&K’s stand vis-a-vis the constitutional provision protecting state’s hereditary state subject laws. The J&K Government’s main ground for delaying the submission of detailed objections is that the main petition, ‘We the Citizens’ versus the Union of India and others, is still at the “admission stage”. Besides,…

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Seven relatives of policemen abducted in Kashmir, police to launch manhunt

Editor

Militants abducted two more relatives of Jammu and Kashmir policemen on Friday taking the number to 11 within the last three days, an official said. Former chief minister Omar Abdullah has termed the development “worrisome”. Even when the security forces were working their strategy to recover the hostages safely, a statement purportedly issued by Hizbul operational commander Riyaz Naikoo, on the social media said that henceforth the militants would follow “an eye for an eye policy”. “Police has compelled us to follow the course of an eye for an eye…

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BJP Kashmir cadre quitting over militant threats, Article 35A

Editor

Militant threats and the controversy over Article 35A have triggered resignations from the Kashmir unit of the BJP. The resignations have mostly come from the militancy hotbed south Kashmir in the wake of the recent killing of a BJP leader on the day of Eid in Pulwama district. At the same time, videos released on the social media have created a scare among Valley-based BJP leaders. “The killing of Shabbir Ahmed Bhat on Eid shocked us. We are not bogged down or demoralised, but there is a need for a…

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Post Shabir Bhat’s killing fear runs rampant among BJP workers across Kashmir

Editor

As threats against mainstream political workers and leaders increases in South Kashmir, Reyaz Ahmad, a low-key member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been exploring the possibility of migrating to the relatively safer Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. At the same time, Ahmad has been pushing the inevitable, trying to assure his family members that the “situation is getting better”, and that his two children, who are enrolled in a government-run school in South Kashmir, cannot be admitted to another school in the city mid-session. However,…

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Forces accused of ransacking, torching militant’s homes during nocturnal raids

Editor

The families of two militants in Shopian district of south Kashmir on Thursday alleged that the government forces set their houses ablaze last night. The family members of a militant Shahjahan alleged that the forces raided their house in Amshipora village of the district. “We were asked to come out of the house. Later, they sprinkled some powder on the house and set it ablaze,” said a family member. The family members of another militant Syed Naveed also alleged that the forces set their house on fire in Nazneenpora village…

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Amid article 35A row, fat Valley weddings turn austere

Editor

This was the peak wedding season and we were fully booked. Unfortunately, people are either postponing weddings to next year or holding them in an austere manner. We make money only in the wedding season and whenever the situation deteriorates, our business takes a hit. Fayaz Ahmad In the season of weddings, the row over Article 35A has thrown Valley’s wedding calendar into disarray. While some are going for austere celebrations, others are juggling with dates, so that wedding ceremonies do not coincide with the Hurriyat shutdown call. Many have…

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Srinagar – Jammu highway reopens post two day closure

Editor

The strategically important Jammu-Srinagar Highway was reopened partially this evening after remaining closed for over 44 hours, in a relief to passengers who were left stranded due to a massive landslide, officials said. The landslide blocked the 270-km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, at Ramsoo in Ramban district early yesterday. A major road clearance operation was launched immediately after the landslide but intermittent rains hampered the early reopening of the arterial road. “After hectic efforts, the road was cleared for one-way traffic this…

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