ARRIVED: DIG Satish Golcha arrived in Srinagar with a CBI contingent to investigate the Shopian rapes and murders. After initial reluctance the central agency took over the case on central government request. After understanding the details of the investigations made so far, the CBI will camp in Shopian to resolve the case that shook the Omar Abdullah government in June. The High Court has already granted bail to four policemen accused of destroying evidence. Special Secretary (Home) will be the point-man for any assistance the team would require from the state.
RETAINED: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who became father last month, retained the coveted post of chairman Hurriyat Conference (M). The election earlier scheduled in June took place in September. Meanwhile the cleric was invited by OIC to attend the meeting of its contact group on J&K on September 25 at UN Headquarters in New York. He is likely to fly to US after Eid.
REARRESTED: Dukhtaran-i-Millat founder Aasiya Andrabi was arrested under Public Safety Act (PSA) for the second time in three months. The court that had sent her to a fortnight long remand cancelled it paving way for executing fresh warrants under PSA. She was arrested on June 10, 2009 and sent to Jammu jail. A protracted legal battle led to her shifting to Srinagar. On August 27, the High Court quashed her PSA. On September 12, she was released only to be rearrested outside the jail. Her husband Mohammad Qasim is also in the same jail. In a newspaper interview the couple’s two sons said they are used to living with relatives in absence of their parents. It is their mother’s seventh turn in jail.
GRANTED: Eighteen year old footballer Basharat Bashir Baba was granted a passport on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s intervention. The boy from Pantachowk, missed his chance to go to Spain for football training this year, as he was denied the passport because his father was a militant. Two other footballers Abdul Hanan Mir and Musadiq Mehraj chosen by a soccer academy run by Argentinean coach Juan Marcos Troia will be going for the training this year. Basharat can now try his luck again in next sessions.
QUASHED: High Court has quashed the detention of a 14 year old boy, Nayeem Ahmad Dar (Rainawari) under PSA for resorting to stone pelting. Arrested in June last, he was kept in sub-jail Poonch. PSA against National Front leader Nayeem A Khan was also quashed by the high court. Arrested in June, he is detained in Sub jail Kathua. Though under preventive custody, his charge sheet accuses him of “provoking” people for mass uprising in 2008.
ELECTED: Dr M S Sumbli (Deputy Registrar Administration) was elected as President of Kashmir University Officers Association (KUOA). A doctorate in Kashmiri, Sumbli was earlier an Assistant Professor. Muzammil Masood Matoo became treasurer and Showkat Shafi as its publicity secretary.
CONCLUDED: A joint mountaineering expedition of Indian (12 members) and Tajikistan (11 members) armies concluded to Mount Stok Kangri (20,551 ft) and Gulap Kangri (19,776 ft) in Leh. The peak, which belongs to the Stok Kangri Massif in the Leh region, attracts mountaineers across the world. Major KS Rajawat of Gorkha Rifles led the expedition. Prior to expedition, Tajik team underwent a special three-week mountaineering training at High Altitude Warfare School at Sonamarg.
PREVENTED: Several Kashmiri students and traders intending to visit China were not allowed to board a China-bound flight by the immigration authorities at IGI airport in Delhi. They were not given any reason but the prevented lot said they were punished for China’s policy on Kashmir. Chinese embassy, they said, provides two types of visas to people, one pasted on the passport and another stapled on it, the latter for the travellers from J&K.
SWORN: Farah Pandith (41), a Kashmir born US citizen was formally sworn in as the first US Special Representative to Muslim communities of Obama Administration. The ceremony was held at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. Her mother held the Quran on which Farah, dressed in knee-length floral skirt and stilettos, took the oath administered by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
MOOTED: Authorities have mooted a proposal of conducting trial of top militant commanders through video conferencing by installing cameras in three select jails in two capital cities. This is aimed at skipping the security risk involved in shifting militants especially Pakistanis from jails to the court premises. Video conferencing facilities are under consideration for Kot Bhalwal and Ambphalla jails in Jammu and Central Jail, Srinagar. The proposal is part of Rs 100 crore modernisation plan of jails in the state. J&K jail population is around 2300. The government is considering eight new jails. Right now, there are 12 jails – two in Kashmir and 10 in Jammu. The proposed sites for new jails include Kupwara, Islamabad, Pulwama, Kargil, Doda, Ramban, Bandipora and Kulgam.
ORDERED: Deputy Commissioner Rajouri ordered a magisterial inquiry into the alleged custodial death of 55-year old Noor Hassan, a resident of Choudhary Nar. Four cops including an ASI were placed under suspension after protests broke out over the killing. Police had detained Hassan in a raid at his residence and the family knew no grounds for arrest. He vomited blood after alleged marshalling following which he was dropped at home where he died.
INTERACTED: Breaking a year long seclusion, PDP patriarch Mufti Muhammad Sayeed had a 45-minutes meeting with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. The two discussed issues like implementation of the working group recommendations, revocation of AFSPA, troop reduction and exploitation of state’s water resources. The two had last met in July 2008.
