Militants
minister Mehbooba Mufti to resign.
On Friday morning, after receiving credible information about the presence of the militants in Khiram area of Sirigufwara in Anantnag, a search was launched by a joint team of the army, CRPF and J&K police.As they advanced towards a house where the militants were suspected to be holed up, gunmen inside opened fire, hitting policeman Ashiq Hussain and a civilian, Mohammad Yousuf Rather, 53, and his wife. Hussain and Rather died of their injuries.
The police said the militants were hiding in the house of Rather. The militants who were killed in the operation have been identified as Dawood Ahmad Sofi of Srinagar, Majid Manzoor Dar, Aadil Rehman Bhat and Mohammad Ashraf Itoo from south Kashmir.
Sofi, 33, was involved in number of stone-pelting cases in the area prior to joining the ranks of militants. He was involved in a terror attack which resulted in the death of assistant sub-inspector Ghulam Mohammad and head constable Naseer Ahmad at Bagh-Ali-Mardan Khan in Zadibal, Srinagar, and also in the killing of a policeman and snatching of his rifle at Tengpora Batamaloo, besides other terror attacks, a police officer said.Sofi joined militancy two years ago and was an A+++ category militant, the officer said.
Defence spokesman, Colonel Rajesh Kalia, said that two militants were killed in the first assault. Two more died near a stream in the area when a search operation was carried out.
Even as the encounter progressed, villagers began pelting stones at security personnel in an attempt to allow the militants to escape. Twenty people were injured in the clashes when the police used teargas shells and fired pellets to disperse the protestors. Internet services were suspended in Srinagar and Anantnag after the encounter. In the afternoon, the body of Sofi was brought to his native place, Zanikote, where hundreds of mourners had gathered. raise crop prices and also ensure that farmers get actual MSPs for 23 crops.
The possibility of higher kharif MSPs this year has raised concerns of inflation. In their last review of monetary policy, all six members of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee agreed that there were upside risks to inflation due to the government’s impending decision on hikes in MSP.
According to farm minister Radha Mohan Singh, in deciding on the MSPs, the Centre would use the “prevailing method” called “A2+FL” to calculate cultivation costs. This includes all out-of-pocket expenses of farmers plus the value of family labour used. Farmers organisations have been demanding the use of “C2”, which also includes imputed costs of capital and rental on land. Then finance minister Arun Jaitley had also stated in Parliament on February 9 that the government would use A2+FL.
“The key challenge is to have MSPs that would not knock inflation too high. MSPs that are too high may price Indian crops out of the international market. It’s important to remember that exports are crucial to farm income. These considerations could be the reason for the delay,” said farm economist Yoginder Alagh.