Forces carry out major search op in Shopian
SRINAGAR: In less than two weeks, security forces on Wednesday conducted the second major cordon-and-search operation in Kashmir’s Shopian district but called it off after hours as no militant could be found but not before stonepelting mobs hampered it.
The search operation, in which a large number of security forces were involved, was launched in Heff village in the Zainapora area following information about presence of militants there, an Army official said. The operation, which started in the early hours, was hampered by local residents who pelted the forces with stones, a police official said.
The official said additional security force personnel were sent to the area to disperse the stone-pelters.
No casualties were reported in stone-pelting, he said.
The forces did not find any militant or hideouts and as a result, the operation was called off, the official said.
The search operation was carried out two weeks after a similar but larger operation was undertaken in Shopian district which has witnessed a spurt in militant activities recently.
In the operation conducted on May 4, about 4,000 troops scanned two dozen villages of Shopian district for a day but could not find any militant.
However, while the troops were returning on that day, militants attacked an Army patrol, resulting in the death of a taxi driver and injuries to several security personnel.
Six days after that operation, a young Kashmiri Army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz, who was on leave and unarmed, was abducted and shot dead by militants in the same district where he had gone to attend a family wedding. Major General B S Raju, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Victor Force which is responsible for security in south Kashmir, had said on Saturday lat that more than 100 militants are active in that region.
“I am aware of the presence of the militants in the area (south Kashmir) and I must tell you that because of the high vegetation that is there, they are having slight amount of freedom but we are doing operations in a way to restrict their movement and subsequently neutralize them, he had said.
Operations in south Kashmir have been intensified in the wake of videos of large groups of militants -- in some cases as many as 30 -- surfacing on the social media, despite a ban imposed by authorities on 22 such sites and applications.
Security agencies believed the videos had been shot in the south Kashmir area, mostly in the Shopian district. LUCKNOW: Under opposition fire on the law and order front, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh transferred 67 IPS officers on Wednesday.
The reshuffle comes against the backdrop of allegations that there has been spurt in crime after the new government took over in the state.
In the ongoing session of the state Assembly, the opposition has attacked the government on the law and order issue.
With today’s transfers, around 200 senior police officers have been shifted since the Adityanath government came to power in UP in March.
Prominent among those transferred today are ADG (Police Recruitment and Promotion Board) S N Sawat, who has been made ADG of the Allahabad zone.
Several SP to DIG ranks officer have been transferred or freshly posted to various districts including Allahabad, Bareilly, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Baghpat, Lalitpur, Maharajganj and Etah, in the reshuffle on Wednesday.
The exercise is being seen as an effort to revamp the police set-up as the chief minister has repeatedly emphasised his intention to curb crime.
Adityanath had yesterday said in the state Assembly that criminals will not enjoy any political patronage and strict action will be taken against them.
He said this as opposition parties cited the gunning down of two jewellers in Mathura and other incidents to claim that the law and order situation had worsened, .
“There will be no discrimination on the basis of caste, creed and religion on the law and order front .... A time frame has been set for solving the cases,” Adityanath had said. ALIGARH: A 13-year-old girl who was hit by a stray bullet near the gate of the AMU Girls’ School has succumbed to her injuries at the AIIMS in New Delhi, her family said on Wednesday.
Anam Aslam died at the hospital last night after battling for life for 9 days, they said.
The student had suffered the injury when a man opened fire on a car in broad daylight on May 7, just as she was leaving school for home in a private van.
The incident had led to a furore at the campus.
The family members of the victim said that they were deeply concerned over the delay in investigation.
The police is reported to be working on a number of theories on why the firing took place, including road rage and property dispute.