Briefing May 7-13, 2023

SANASAR

It was tragic that in the middle of the night when a hotel went up in flames, the inmates were deep into slumber and two of them – including the hotel manager, lost their lives. Five others survived with serious injuries. Now the government has ordered an enquiry into the destruction of the Maa Shanti Hotel. Survivors said though the hotel management informed the government about the mishap, the fire tenders took their own time from reaching the hill station from Kud and Batote, from the two sides of the Patnitop hills. The deceased manager was been identified as Raman Sadhotra of Samba and the other deceased was identified as Surinder Kumar of Sudhmahadev, Chennai. All the five injured in the incident were locals from Jammu and Kashmir.

In Samba, Jammu Kashmir Police said they traced and recovered 23 missing females within three months

KISHTWAR

Yet another army helicopter crashed after a “hard landing” on the banks of Marua River in Marwa’s Machna Village killing the flying machine’s technician, Pabballa Anil, as the two pilots survived injured. The Dhruv was in operational mode and the crew had conveyed the chopper has developed some snag. As the residents saw the chopper crashing, they mounted a quick rescue operation, which was later joined by police and the army. Anil, 30, hailed from Telangana. The Army has ordered a court of inquiry into the helicopter crash incident. Earlier, a Dhruv crashed in Lakhanpur on January 25, 2021, and killed its pilot. On August 3, 2021, Rudra helicopter crashed into Ranjit Sagar dam on the Kathua-Pathankot border, killing both pilots. On September 21, 2021, Army’s Cheetah helicopter crash-landed in dense forests near Patnitop in Udhampur district, killing both pilots. On March 11, 2022, Army’s Cheetah helicopter crashed in the Gurez sector in Bandipora district, killing its co-pilot.

Earlier, the entire fleet of ALH Dhruv with the armed forces was grounded after the March 8 Navy chopper accident off the coast of Mumbai. Subsequently, the Army had allowed a select number of helicopters, including the one that met with the accident, to fly after clearing all the checks and procedures. There are around 300 ALH Dhruv helicopters, of which 145 are with the Army.

Between 2019 and 2022, the passport was denied to 805 citizens in Jammu and Kashmir.

REASI

The administration has demolished the “illegal” house of a school teacher Mohammad Auraf Sheikh, whose name was linked to twin Jammu blasts earlier this year. It was constructed on State land under Khasra No 602/457/1 at the village Baransal (Mahore). Earlier, he was terminated by the Government when his involvement in the twin Narwal blasts was established by the police. One of the blasts killed five security personnel.

The Government of India has banned 14 messaging apps in Jammu and Kashmir for spreading terror. These include Crypviser, Enigma, Safeswiss, Wickrme, Mediafire, Briar, BChat, Nandbox, Conion, IMO, Element, Second Line, Zangi, and Threema.

LONDON

Jay Mala, the widow of Panthers Party’s founder, Bhim Singh, was finally cremated nine days after her death. The cremation followed days of drama and an apology by their son, Ankit Love, 39, who lives in the UK. Apparently, Love had conveyed that his mother should not be cremated in his absence. However, he could not fly home to Jammu because the Government of India did not process his visa because he was amongst the blacklisted people who had protested outside Indian High Commission in London. “I Ankit Love, son of late Prof. Bhim Singh and late Adv. Jay Mala, resident of the UK hereby sincerely apologise for my mistake of pelting eggs and stones at the Indian High Commission in the UK which I deeply and sincerely regret,” Ankit wrote a day later in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mala, an erstwhile advocate, lived with her niece Mrignayani Slathia at Domana in Jammu, fell from the stairs at her home on April 25, and died the next day at the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu. Her body was preserved by GMC Jammu at the request of her son.

Her corpse, however, became yet another issue for the squabbling Singh clan, who have been battling over the party leadership. After Mala died, it was Vilakshan Singh who took her body to Sidhra as another of Singh’s relatives, Harsh Dev Singh, a former minister, demanded an autopsy. Going by the media reports, it was a tussle over control of the party, with Slathia’s brother Vilakshan Singh on one side and Harsh Dev Singh on the other. Within minutes after Harsh Dev sought a post-mortem, Slthia and her brother returned the body to GMC where it was preserved. After the government permitted Ankit to fly in, the body was cremated at Devika in Udhampur. Bhim Singh died on May 31, 2022.

After Singh’s death, Panthers Party split into two groups. Vilakshan was elected president at a meeting chaired by Jay Mala, but a separate faction that claimed to include all executive members of the party elected P K Ganjoo as its president. Both factions approached the Election Commission to stake claim to the party symbol, but later came together again, with Vilakshan continuing as president and Ganjoo taking over as working president. The problem started when Harsh Dev, who had resigned from the JKNPP and joined the Aam Aadmi Party, claimed to have returned to the JKNPP after Bhim Singh’s death, and said he had been elected party president. Both Vilakshan and Ganjoo contested this claim.

Jammu’s 21 state-run schools will get have 286 ICT-enabled classrooms by the end of August.

KAK SARAI

In an unprecedented bizarre incident, a young woman stabbed her fiancé, Adil Kaloo, a scrap dealer, in broad daylight and was arrested. Identified as Asifa Bashir, a resident of Parimpora, the lady lost her cool when the two were in a car.

The man was injured and bled profusely while the woman fled from the spot. The incident invited media attention because Asifa was running a Facebook page and claiming to be a journalist. Apart from clicking photographs with some officers, she was even flaunting her award by some Maharashtra groups. The two had been engaged a year ago and the nikah was an outcome of a love affair. Now, she is resting in jail and he is recovering in a hospital. Will they fall in love again? Nobody knows.

In Baramulla, 156 drug peddlers were arrested – 9 booked under PSA, in 2023, so far

POONCH

A novel bank robbery was attempted by a dismissed bank employee in Poonch. Mohammad Abrar, a resident of Ari (Mendhar), was caught while trying to transfer money from the bank in the dead of the night. With the intention to hack the bank’s security system, Abrar entered the bank during working hours and spent the entire night hiding in its false ceiling. The robbery plan got exposed as Abrar’s attempt to hack the bank’s security system alerted the officials. He is in police custody.

Jammu and Kashmir collected a GST of Rs 917.85 Crore in April 2023.

KASHMIR

Security is on high alert in the wake of the fast-approaching G20’s Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting on May 22-24. Reports suggest the authorities will involve Marcos, the marine commandos, and NSG apart from the existing security set-up.  Lt Governor Manoj Sinha presided over a high-level meeting in which the security was reviewed. Earlier, the police said they arrested Farooq Ahmad Wani, a resident of Wagoob Hygam, Baramulla, who was a driver in a 5-star hotel. Sensing the gravity of the threat after the Poonch attack, elite Marine Commandos (MARCOS) and National Security Guards (NGS) are being placed for the G20 event’s security.

Lt Governor Manoj Sinha announced ownership rights for the refugee families for 46666 kanals of land allotted to them on May 7, 1954, after they emigrated from Pakistan in 1947. The land was allotted in Pargwal island in Akhnoor, RS Pura and Bishnah tehsils in Jammu, and parts of Samba and Hiranagar in Kathua district.

JAMMU

In order to prevent the use of women for drug peddling and other issues, the government has started deploying women constables at various vital checkpoints in Jammu City during night hours. This is happening for the first time. At checkpoints, they keep tabs on the movement of women residents. So far 50-60 women constables have been deployed on night duty around exit and entry points in the temple city.

The government is encouraging pea cultivation (PB 89 variety) in Uri’s 102 villages and it fetches better prices in Delhi’s Azadpur Market.

TEETWAL

Weeks after the revival and reconstruction of the Sharda temple, a Sikh Gurudwara reopened in Teetwal. Its reconstruction was funded by

Save Sharda Committee that reconstructed the temple destroyed in the partition. The spot on which the twin religious spaces existed was protected ad preserved by the native Muslims even though not a single Hindu or Sikh resides in Teetwal. The revnue records have 5 marlas of land recorded as Ahl-e-Singha and 18 marlas as Ahl-e-Hanood. The land was demarcated and Bhumi Pujan was done on December 2, 2021, paving the way for the installation of Guru Granth Sahib inside the Gurudwara amidst chants.

The National Investigation Agency raided 16 locations in Baramulla and Kishtwar districts, mostly on the residences of banned Jamaat-e-Islami activists

JAMMU

The Jammu and Kashmir administration will be allotting 336 low-income group flats to non-local labourers under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) mission in Jammu’s Sunjwan area. The Jammu and Kashmir Housing Board has invited online applications from people, who have migrated to Jammu temporarily or permanently for employment or education or long-term tourist visit, for its 336 economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Low Income Group (LIG) flats. The flats are located at Sunjwan, in the vicinity of major Industrial estates Gangyal and Bari Brahmna. Initially, they will have an allotment for three years, which is extendable for five years. Housing Board said the allotment of 96 units will take place in the first phase followed by 112 units in the second phase by June 30 and allotment of the rest of the 128 units will be made in the third phase by October 31 this year.