Security forces are using drones and helicopters for surveillance of the dense forest area where terrorists are believed to be holed up since Wednesday after killing two Army officers and a deputy superintendent of police in the initial exchange of fire, the officials said.
Late Jammu and Kashmir Police deputy superintendent Humayun Bhat, who died in a 2023 encounter with terrorists, was posthumously awarded the President's Police Medal for Gallantry for his courageous actions during a 2021 gunfight. Bhat was earlier honored with the Kirti Chakra, the nation's second-highest peacetime gallantry award, for his role in neutralizing a top local commander of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and a Pakistani terrorist.
A terrorist belonging to the Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK) outfit, who was involved in the killing of a police officer, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag, police said on Sunday.
Jammu and Kashmir is facing a severe water crisis this year due to a massive rainfall deficit. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed concern about the situation and called for a proactive approach towards water management and conservation. The state has witnessed an 80% deficit in rainfall this year, raising the possibility of drought in the valley this summer. Several water bodies are flowing below the zero level mark, and some springs in south Kashmir have dried up completely. The water level in Jhelum and other major streams is alarmingly low.
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Sirhama area of Anantnag following inputs about the presence of militants there, a police official said.
The nomination papers of 35 candidates including that of jailed separatist Sarjan Barkati were on Wednesday rejected during scrutiny for the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving 244 contestants in the fray.
A turnout of about 59 percent -- the highest in the past seven elections -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said, adding polling passed off peacefully.
So far 14 Kashmiri Pandits have filed nominations to contest from the valley for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, aiming to ensure the return and rehabilitation of their fellow community members, whose number run up to 3 lakh.
A top Pakistani commander of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who was active in the Valley for several years was killed and four security personnel were injured in an encounter in the Khanyar area of Srinagar on Saturday, officials said.
Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla.
'Me contesting elections from two seats is not a proof of weakness, it is a proof of the strength of the National Conference.'
The first batch of pilgrims reached Kashmir on Friday for the annual Amarnath Yatra, beginning Saturday, with J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagging off 4,603 yatris in the morning from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas base camp in Jammu under a tight security cover.
On May 18, 2024 night, terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir killing a former sarpanch, Aijaz Sheikh in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag.
'Whether she is in power or not, she always makes it a point to visit us. This is her best quality as a leader.'
Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Anantnag -Rajouri constituency, his party Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) said.
The puja, attended by Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha at the premises of the Archaeological Survey of India-protected Martand Sun temple in Anantnag, was in violation of rules and the issue has been raised with the UT administration, ASI officials said on Monday.
'Who are Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti to issue certificates?'
Col Singh was a combat veteran and was awarded Sena Medal during his tenure as second-in-command of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles.
Ghulam Nabi Azad remarked that the figures are not high enough to know whether the people are happy or angry with the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, Mehbooba Mufti said it is a message that the people have not accepted the Centre's decisions.
Terrorists on Saturday shot dead a policeman in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said, evoking condemnations from mainstream political parties in the Valley.
"The identity of the terrorists are yet to be ascertained. While no collateral damage has been registered," police added.
Tral, the former hotbed of terrorism, rocks to the music of democracy.
An encounter took place between security forces and terrorists in a remote forest in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar early on Sunday, officials said.
The Congress was fighting the elections in a pre-poll alliance with National Conference and had fielded 32 candidates, mostly in Jammu region, compared to 51 by the regional party.
The Indian Army and the CRPF rush to the rescue...
In a video circulated on social media, Doval can be heard enquiring about the price, weight and diet of the cattle -- mostly sheep on sale at the market.
In a remarkable display of resilience and commitment to democracy, the residents of villages that had long been deprived of polling due to terrorist threats and separatist-sponsored boycott calls turned out in large numbers to cast ballots in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
Mehbooba said the parliamentary board of the party, which met earlier on Saturday, decided not to field any candidates from the two Lok Sabha seats in Jammu region.
'The Congress backstabbed us and the BJP frontstabbed us.' 'This is the only difference between the two parties.'
The Congress and the National Conference on Monday announced they will fight the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, in alliance, with both parties contesting three seats each.
More than 4.5 lakh pilgrims paid their obeisance at the natural ice Shiva Lingam formation inside the cave shrine last year.
One of the slain terrorists was pursuing Bachelor of Physiotherapy.
The bypoll, earlier slated to be held on April 12, was postponed for May 25 due to poor law and order situation.
The EC said polling percentage in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat in Jammu and Kashmir is the highest in 40 years.
Omar Abdullah lost by 204,142 votes; Mehbooba Mufti by 281, 794 votes.
Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ravinder Raina is going to miss voting for his party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as the party has not fielded any candidate from his home town which falls in Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency.
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
The Election Commission on Monday said the voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir this time was the highest in a Lok Sabha election in the last 35 years with the Kashmir Valley witnessing a 'massive' 30 percentage point jump in poll participation compared to 2019.
More than 40 per cent of the 908 candidates contesting the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are Independents, leading to claims that a large number of them have been propped up by the Bharatiya Janata Party to divide votes.
The EC notification said the state administration apprehends that "violent attempts" can be made by miscreants to thwart the poll process.
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