MIlITANTS kIll Off-DUTy SOlDIer

SRINAGAR: The bulletriddled body of Irfan Ahmad Dar, 23, an off-duty army soldier killed by militants, was recovered on Saturday from a village in Shopian district after he went missing on Friday evening. A senior police officer from South Kashmir said police has registered a case of murder against suspected militants for killing Dar. Police said Dar was working in the Territorial Army and was posted with the Engineering Regiment of the Army at the Gurez sector near the Line of Control in Bandipora district. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has condemned Dar’s killing. Earlier in September, Muhammad Ramzan Parray, an off-duty BSF soldier, was also killed by militants who were trying to kidnap him.

— Noor ul Qamrain After years of wait, bunkers are being built on a war footing for civilians in Jammu’s border areas, following their meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Singh had, after the meeting, dispatched a high level delegation to take prompt decision for the many welfare schemes, including building of bunkers.

Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, who advocated the case with the Central government, told the media that the state government would also take a lot of steps for the betterment of the border residents in Jammu region as they have been facing border shelling in the current year.

Giving the details, Nirmal Singh said that in the first phase the state government would complete the work on arond a hundred bunkers in Jammu. Each bunker will accommodate 1,200 to 1,800 people. He said that these bunkers would be ready by November end or at the most by the first week of December.

Border residents in the Jammu region have hailed the concern shown by the Union Government and expressed hope that it would also keep its promise of compensating them for the losses of their crops and for the loss of their children’s education.

“We have lost all the livestock and our houses have been damaged by Pakistani shelling. The government should immediately help us to live our lives as we could not even harvest our crops,” said Khir-ur-Din Khatana of Noushera village in Rajouri district.

Recently, during a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the villagers said they feared that unexploded live shells may be scattered around their villages and in their fields.

Following their request, the Central government has directed the Army to clear their fields and villages of these unexploded shells.