J&K militant who injured cop, killed
Showkat Ahmad Bhat, a Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM) militant involved in a grenade attack in which three police personnel were injured in Baramulla district was killed on Thursday in a gunfight with security forces in Pulwama district. J&K police said his accomplice, a Class 11 student, was arrested.
Police said both had joined militancy in first week of this month and had posted their pictures on social media with weapons. Police spokesman said that Showkat was killed during the night at Pulwama and arms and ammunition was recovered from him. “He was an active militant of Tahreek-ulMujahideen militant group and was wanted in Pattan grenade incident.’’
A senior officer said both were in Sopore and had plans to reach south Kashmir. They were intercepted on the national highway near Pattan. “We had received information that militants were crossing Baramulla-Srinagar highway. Based on the information, police party was deployed,” said Baramulla senior superintendent of police (SSP) Imtiaz Hussain.
VALLEY SHUTS DOWN
Meanwhile, Kashmir witnessed complete shutdown against the killing of two militants and a civilian in an encounter in the old city on Wednesday.
The call for the strike was given by Joint Resistance Leadership led by three separartist leaders, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik against the killings of militants and a civilian.
Additional troops were deployed in the old city and restrictions were imposed in several parts of the city. The train services between Baramulla and Banihal remained suspended. There was also thin traffic on the city roads and the internet which was snapped soon after the encounter started was not restored.
Two militants , a civilian and a policeman, were killed in an encounter at Fateh Kadal in the old city. After the news spread on Wednesday clashes broke out in different parts of the city. The two were buried at Eidgah last night in the presence of hundreds of locals.
The militants were identified as Mehraj Bangroo and Fahad Waza, while the civilian was identified as Rayees Ahmad Shah son of the house owner where militants according to the police were hiding.
SRINAGAR:
minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi announced the pilgrimage schedule on Wednesday, and said all registrations be it through the Haj Committee of India (HCOI) or through private tour operators (PTOs), will be done online.
“Our aim is to make the process digital and 100% transparent. There is a separate portal launched for the PTOs. Pilgrims can also make use of the app for filing their Haj form,” Naqvi said.
He said the decision to go digital was taken in order to reduce the number of complaints that the HCOI was receiving against tour operators.
The application process for Haj 2019 will begin from October 18.
While the policy for subsidy remains the same, Naqvi said the amount paid to airlines in 2018 was ₹973 crore, which is less than ₹1,030 crore paid in 2017.
When asked whether the sea route for pilgrims will be revived from the coming year, Naqvi said a fresh tender was floated after the ministry was not satisfied with the previous ones.
“We are trying to send pilgrims through ship next year. If everything goes as planned, the sea route will be revived by 2019,” he said.
This year onwards, an additional embarkation point has been added from Kerala, wherein, those who would want to travel to Saudi Arabia from Calicut will be able to take a direct flight.
MUMBAI:The
65-FT FLAG HOISTED AT
HAJ HOUSE
Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday hoisted the national flag on top of the Haj House in Mumbai. The dimensions of the flag are 20 feet by 30 feet and flies from the rooftop of the Haj House from a 65.61 feet-high pole. A flag at Belagavi, Karnataka, considered to be the tallest in the country, is 365 feet. The national flag at the Attari Wagah border is 360 feet.
Naqvi was in the city to announce the schedule for the 2019 Haj pilgrimage.