22 persons including 15 militants killed in January this year

Srinagar, Jan 31, : At least twenty-two people including 15 militants were killed in January this year, reveals official data. Besides 15 militants, 2 soldiers, a policeman, a trooper, a BSF man and an Army porter were killed.

  As per the data 15 militants were killed in 7 encounters. Two among the fifteen slain militants were non-locals. The areas where gunfights raged between militants and Government Forces included Gulshanpora Tral, Aripal Tral Choudarybagh Pulwama, Khatpora Kulgam, Hafat Nallah Charar-e-Sharif, Shirmal Shopian and Binnar Baramulla. At Aripal Tral militants managed to give a slip to Forces after killing a trooper trooper Mahesh Meena.

   Besides top militant commander Zeenat-ul-Islam, others who were killed included Shakoor Ahmed Parrey of Laribal Tral, Touseef Ahmed Thokar and Zubair Ahmed Bhat both residents of Chursoo Awantipora, Shakeel Ahmed Dar of Chilipora Shopian, Sabzar Ahmed of Lassipora, Syed Rabani of Nazneenpora Shopian,Touseef Ahmed of Nowpora Payeen Pulwama, Dr Shamsul Haq Mengnoo alias Burhan Sani of Dragad, Aamir Ahmed Bhat alias Abu Hauzif of Chidipora, Shohaib Ahmed Shah of Shirmal Shopian, Suhaib Farooq Akhoon of Khanpora Baramulla, Mohsin Mushtaq Bhat of Qazi Hamam Baramulla, Nasir Amed Darzi of Batapora Sopore and Saqib Shafi of Arihal.

This month according to news agency CNS suspected militants carried out 08 grenade attacks on security pickets. The areas were grenades were lobbed by militants included Abdullah Bridge Rajbagh, Ghanta Ghar Lal Chowk, KP road Anantnag, General Bus Stand Anantnag, Tahab Pulwama, Lal Mandi Srinagar, Damhal Hanjipora Kulgam, Sherbagh Anantnag.

  As per the data available three government forces personnel including a policeman committed suicide this month. They include CRPF man Mukesh Bhawuk (24 Battalion), army soldier Abishekh Roy Kumar and police head constable Muhammad Shafi Mir of Sadoora Kulgam.

  Unlike previous year, no rife snatching or bank robbery incidents occurred in the first month of the current year.

   This month Kashmir witnessed a shutdown call only on R-Day function while different areas of Kashmir valley observed shutdown to mourn killings and arrests. These areas included Lal Chowk Srinagar, Sopore, Baramulla, Handwara, Kupwara,  Sumbal, Shopian, Pulwama and Tral.

Srinagar, Jan 31 : Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday has slammed national conference vice President Omar Abdullah over his statement on power projects, stating that NC should remain silent on the issue if they are not able to join forces with the PDP and other stake holders in seeking these power projects back from Delhi. Reacting to Omar Abdullah’s recent statement in which had termed the handing Ratle Power Project to NHPC a Sellout, senior PDP leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar said that while PDP has from the very beginning been against such surrender of state resources and rejected the proposal of handing over Ratle when it was in power. The PDP Government had prepared for its takeover by the JK Power Development Corporation. 
He added that it is ironic that now national conference is trying to brazen out the loot it facilitated with the brute majority in the state assembly. “It began with the Indus Water Treaty- the first sharing of water between the dominions of India and Pakistan but the then Prime Minister of the state was at that time neither consulted nor did he find anything wrong in this. Then it started with Salal and ended with joint ventures under Omar Abdullah. In between when NC in 1996 came to power having 60 seats in the assembly, Farooq Abdullah gave away power projects as a price of Omar Abdullah’s continuation in the BJP led government as a junior minister. NC handed electric power to Delhi in order to secure its political power and monopoly in the state,” Akhtar said. 
He added that it goes to the credit of PDP that it made the people of Jammu and Kashmir aware of their rights which had been given away at their back by National Conference since they were working only as power brokers and commission agents. It is after 2002 that these issues are being debated in Jammu and Kashmir whether it is JK Bank, extension of central laws or sell out of power projects. 
Akhtar said that it is time for everybody to rise above politics and launch a joint campaign in all the three regions of the state because at the end of the day, it is everybody whether he is living in Jammu, Kashmir or Ladakh who is suffering due to the loss of state’s water resources. “We need to rise like one man instead of fighting between themselves. We have to get these power projects from the centre and we must join hands to do that. It is the people of the state whether they are Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs or Buddhists who suffer from load shedding in cold winters of Kashmir and hot Summers of Jammu or in remote areas of Ladakh,” Akhtar said. 
The PDP leader added that among the people of the state, the issue of power projects is the prime issue of their survival because everything these days depends on power. “However, it is unfortunate that NC is playing politics over the state’s worsening power scenario and if the party is not brave enough to acknowledge is anti-state role and apologise to people for the same, it must at least stay silent on the issue,” Akhtar said.