Beaten up: Police on Friday beat up senior journalists, Mehrajudin of Associated Press TV and Mufti Islah of CNN-IBN near Bhagt Chowk in Srinagar. Mehrajudin suffered grave injuries, mostly in the neck, and was rushed to the nearby Bone and Joints Hospital.
SUED: A month after opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) MLA from Bandipora, Nizamuddin Bhat accused chief minister Omar Abdullah of receiving Rs 500 crore as kickback in the Rattle Power project, the state government filed defamation suit against him and party chief spokesperson Nayeem Akhtar. The government also sued US based renowned cardiologist Dr Fayaz Shawl, for accusing Minister of State for Tourism and Urban Development Nasir Aslam Wani of demanding bribes in lieu of permission to construct a hospital in Nishat.
INVESTIGATED: Government has asked the State Geology and Mining Department to ascertain the cause behind sudden occurrence of numerous long and deep cracks on the earth surface in a remote Batpora village of Ramban district. Forty-five houses, a mosque and an educational institution were damaged prompting the administration to evacuate entire population to safer places and declare the village out of bounds for people. Railway work and incessant rainfall are suspected to be the cause.
GRANTED: Within days after the CCS asked state government to take a series of measures for getting Kashmir back on rails, a unified headquarters meeting on Wednesday decided to remove 16 security bunkers from the capital city. The government is also setting free 50 youth, mostly stone pelters. Srinagar city has over 400 bunkers manned by CRPF alone. “This is just the beginning,” state home secretary B R Sharma told a hurriedly arranged news conference. “We will be looking at many other towns in coming days.”
RESUMED: After remaining closed for 12 days, most of the government offices completely burnt or damaged by the mob in Mendhar town of Poonch, started functioning from tents or alternate accommodation on September 27. The Panchayat Ghar of Rural Development Department (RDD) has also been thrown open for the government offices as a temporary arrangement. A number of offices were set on fire by the mob in Mendhar on September 15 after three civilians were killing in police firing on the people protesting against desecration of holy Quran.
DETAINED: The state government has booked a special police officer (SPO) under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for indulging in stone pelting and blocking a highway. A first of its kind, SPO Naseer Ahmad Sheikh was arrested along with two others from Chadoora in Budgam district, central Kashmir, on September 15 when they were trying to set a road bloackade.
CHANGED: The state government has reduced the food given free of cost to the hospitalized patients and only those having a Below Poverty Line card will get it. The order has come at a time when state-run hospitals remain flooded with patients, most of them wounded in police and paramilitary action. The items like mutton, chicken, milk and eggs have been deleted altogether from the menu. This austerity is said to be first of its kind in India.
REINSTATED: Jamaat-e-Islami has reinstated chairman Hurriyat (G), Syed Ali Geelani as party’s basic member after he was suspended on April 6 for “maintaining silence” over the accusations levelled against the party in the book “Quaid-e-Inquilab-A history, a movement” authored by Dr Shafi Shariati. The decision was taken a month back came to light only when it was published in the party mouthpiece Al-Momin.
RELEASED: 18-yr-old Faizan Samad who was arrested for publishing details of police officers from Kashmir on his Facebook account was released, after it was learnt that he had copied the same from some other user. Samad had become the first person to be arrested for his activity related to cyber world. Facebook has been brimming with anti-India and pro-freedom activity during the last three months and police continues to monitor it.
RECOVERED: After a gap of four months police has recovered the body of MBBS student Syed Zuhaib Rizvi from Mansar lake in Jammu. Mystery had surrounded Rizvi after he went missing in area, even as police and Rizvi’s relatives were contesting suicide claims. Experts diver of Indian Navy too had been employed to locate the body which was later found floating by the local residents.
Approached: Jammu and Kashmir Tourism department has approached Southern actress Sindhura Gadde with an offer to become brand ambassador for the troubled state. Her job will require her to meet foreign delegates and promoting tourism in the troubled state. It is said that that Sindhura is very excited about the new job and might accept the position as well. She will play the role of a public relations officer and increase the amount of foreign currency coming into the state.
