31-YRD-OLD MAN GETS DEATH FOR RAPE OF MINOR

But a senior government official with knowledge of developments said the Centre was disinclined to move them out of the region. “Targeted killings reflect a level of desperation. Our system will take care of this. We will not transfer Kashmiri pandits to Jammu. We can’t be a part of any ethnic cleansing, and believe in a multicultural society,” said the official, requesting anonymity. Pandits will be moved to safer locations, he added.

Since March 2, at least 13 civilians – of which six were local Muslims, five Hindus were from the Valley, including one Kashmiri pandit, two non-local Hindus – and five police personnel have been killed by unidentified terrorists. Many members from the migrant and Pandit communities say they fear a return to the 90s, when many Pandit families were forced to flee their homes under the shadow of terror. Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit employees deputed in the Valley under the PM’S package for the rehabilitation of the community in 2008 have boycotted work and held sit-in protests across Kashmir. Some have even started leaving. “Half of the families have left. Our only demand is relocation from Kashmir,” said Sandeep Kumar, who lives in the Sheikhpora transit camp.

But the government official quoted above indicated that the administration had dug its heels in. “A small group of people are trying to create a narrative that only they can run the state and get back to the old system. We won’t allow that,” he said.

“Some killings here and there will not deter us. Common people are very nice. This is not jihad. It is being done by some militants, and Pakistan is behind all these attacks. There is an attempt to create chaos,” he said.

“Amarnath Yatra is going to happen,” he added. This is a significant decision because the pilgrimage is being organised after two Covid-interrupted years. The official added that since January, one million tourists have visited the region but held out a warning. “Tourists can be killed if they are targeting non-locals. Anybody can come under attack. They will target Muslims too.”

The killings of civilians – a cab driver, a school teacher, a Youtuber, shop worker, government worker, railway worker and village chief among them – marks a new phase of uncertainty and bloodshed for the restive region that has battled terrorism and armed separatism for decades. On Thursday morning, an unidentified terrorist barged into Ellaqie Dehati Bank’s branch in Kulgam’s Mohanpora and fired on Vijay Kumar inside his cabin. CCTV footage showed the veiled assailant shooting Kumar before escaping. Kumar, who was from Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh, was shifted to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead. In the evening, terrorists fired at a brick kiln in Kulgam, killing Dilkush Kumar and injuring Guri. Dilkush was a resident of Arnia in Bihar.

Rahul Bhat, a government employee, was shot dead inside his office in Budgam on May 12. Five days later, wine shop employee Ranjit Singh was killed in an attack in Baramulla. On May 25, artist Amreen Bhat was gunned down in her house in Budgam and on May 31, school teacher Rajini Bala was shot dead inside a government school.anger continued to course through the Hindu community in Kashmir. “How long we will be killed...i have stayed back but yesterday many migrated. I want to appeal to the central government to take swift action”. said Sandeep Mawa, chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Reconciliation Front.

The developments reflect a change in the modus operandi of Pakistan-supported terrorists who are going after soft targets, said former director general of military operations Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd). “The way forward is to launch widescale intelligence-based operations to neutralise terrorists...also, we have to keep invested in the silent majority of the Valley which has been proindia,” Bhatia added.

handloom and textiles. The PM said the country was poised to play a larger role in the word and it is “only our democratic India” that can prove to be the reliable partner the world is looking for today. “We are growing the fastest among the G-20 economies. Today, India is No. 2 on the Global Retail Index. India is the third-largest energy consumer country in the world,” Modi said.

The PM also highlightec particular initiatives that have been upheld by the government as its some of its marquee achievements on the occasion of the party completing eight years in power last month.

“Through our reforms, we have worked to make India strong as a nation,” Modi said, mentioning schemes like One Nation-one Tax and One Nationone Ration Card. “These efforts are a reflection of our concrete and clear policies,” Modi said.

In this year’s Budget, he said, an unprecedented capital expenditure allocation of ₹7.50 lakh crore was made. Modi said the emphasis being laid today on defence manufacturing was never given earlier. “Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, we...identified 300 defence items which will not be imported ...those who want to come in the field of defence manufacturing, for them, there is an assured market of these 300 products,” he said. In UP’S context, the PM said the state now has better law and order, which has restored the business community’s confidence, and an improved administrative machinery.

He specifically urged the people gathered to visit his parliamentary constituency, Varanasi. “The fact that Kashi, along with its ancient glory, can also emerge with a new version of itself, is a living example of the capabilities of Uttar Pradesh.”

“There is nothing new in holding groundbreaking ceremony. They have been holding such ceremonies in the past and will continue to do so in future as well. But this will not solve problems of the people or lead the state to development,” said Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary.

MUMBAI: A special Pocso (the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012) court on Friday sentenced to death a 31-year-old man for raping and killing a 9-year-old girl in Juhu in April 2019, barely eleven months after he was released from jail after serving a sevenyear term for sexually assaulting another nine-year-old girl.

Special POCSO judge Harsha Chetan Shende said: “He came out of the jail on May 9, 2018 and on April 4, 2019, in less than a year, again committed the same horrendous crime. To destroy evidence, this time he killed the hapless girl in a horrible, spinechilling and filthy manner.”

J&K SECURITY MEETING