"It is not a crime to be a Hindu. It is not their (Islamic) State."
A huge cache of arms and ammunition and 'war-like stores', including AK-74 rifles, Pakistani-origin hand grenades and balloons with 'I Love Pakistan' markings, were recovered along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri Sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, an Army officer said on Friday.
An Army-run school in Baramulla district has stoked a controversy by asking its staff to avoid wearing the hijab during school hours, prompting criticism from Jammu and Kashmir's mainstream political parties.
The upper reaches of Kashmir valley witnessed the first snowfall of the season. The weather department has predicted bad weather for a few days. Snowfall at hill stations like Gulmarg and Pahalgam also brings the hope of revival of tourism in the area which has been severely hit for most of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The areas of Srinagar placed under curfew include police station in the jurisdiction of Rainawari, Nowhatta, Khanyar, MR Gunj, Safakadal, Parimpora, and police division Qamarwari and Bemina, a police spokesman said. Curfew has also been imposed in Pampore town of Pulwama district in south Kashmir and Baramulla, Sopore, Kupwara and Handwara towns in north Kashmir
'If you are in a position to give employment to local people, you will find no terror attacks in your area.'
Eight operatives of various proscribed terror organisations were arrested Friday during multiple searches spread across six districts of Jammu and Kashmir in connection with a terrorism conspiracy case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said.
Additional security personnel have been deployed on the ground and drones are being used for aerial surveillance, they said.
Cold wave conditions intensified across Kashmir as the mercury slipped further below the freezing point, resulting in frozen water bodies. The weatherman said Srinagar city recorded a low of minus 3.2 degree Celsius on Monday night. He added that Gulmarg, in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, was the coldest recorded place in the valley.
"Give up arms and come for talks or our forces will hunt you down," the home minister said in election rallies in Jammu and Kashmir.
A defence spokesperson said the Indian Army retaliated 'effectively and strongly' to the ceasefire violation in Keran sector in Kupwara district this afternoon, with precision targeting of gun areas, terrorist launchpads and ammunition dump across the LoC.
Satish Kumar Singh, a Rajput, was shot by terrorists in Kakran area of the south Kashmir district at around 7.30 pm.
They said women electors and first-time voters have registered a significant increase.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday ruled out holding any dialogue with Pakistan and asserted that the Modi government will wipe out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir and make it the most peaceful place in the country.
Umer Khalid was a A++ category top ranking terrorist and carried a cash reward of nearly Rs 7 lakh.
Manzoor Ahmad Bangroo was shot at by the ultras at Goshbug in Pattan area officials said, adding he was rushed to a hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
President Droupadi Murmu conferred 26 Shaurya Chakras (seven posthumous) to personnel of the armed forces, Central Armed Police Forces and state/Union Territory Police during a defence investiture ceremony.
Army troops on Thursday foiled an infiltration bid on the Line of Control in Uri sector of north Kashmir Baramulla district eliminating five intruders.
'The cache of arms recovered comprises five AK series rifles (along with six magazines and two sealed boxes with 1,254 rounds of AK ammunition), six pistols (with nine magazines and six rounds), twenty-one grenades, two UBGL grenades and two Kenwood radio-sets with one antenna'
Jan Mohammad Kakroo was the district president of the party and office bearer of the local fruit growers association.
An encounter with militants was continuing in Baramulla.
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.
An Army trooper was killed and another seriously injured during a search operation in northern Kashmir's Baramulla district on Tuesday morning.Security forces surrounded a forest area in Tangmola, Baramulla, after receiving specific information about the presence of militants inside the forest. During the search, militants fires at security forces, and an Army trooper died on the spot. Another was critically injured and he was rushed to a hospital.
Singh, 31, and Rashid, 56, won the recent Lok Sabha elections from Khadoor Sahib in Punjab and Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, respectively, as Independents while being incarcerated.
The encounter broke out when troops confronted a group of militants trying to sneak into the valley from across the border.
Landslides triggered by overnight rains claimed two lives in Baramulla district while at least seven others were feared dead after a house collapsed in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.
The terrorists were nabbed in a joint search operation launched Friday night by the 52 Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operation Group, Baramulla.
Local residents staged protests and blocked the Srinagar-Baramulla National Highway after the 15-year old-girl alleged that an Army jawan had passed indecent remarks while she was passing by the Army camp at Haiderbeg in Pattan area, 30 km from Srinagar, the officials said.
The grenade missed the target and exploded on the roadside without causing any damage.
Three Army troops were killed and five others injured in a blast inside their vehicle at Pattan in Baramulla district of Kashmir on Thursday, official sources said.
A mob on Thursday pelted stones on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Karvan-e-Aman bus in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, the first such attack on the cross-Line of Control bus service which started in April 2005. "Abdul Aziz Ganai, a resident of Garhi Dupatta in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, received minor injuries in the attack on the bus which was on its way to Uri from Srinagar," Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla, Mansoor Untoo said.
The killing of a youth, by the army in northern Kashmir's Baramulla district, triggered protests on Saturday, even as the army claimed that the youth had forcibly entered their camp and injured a soldier.The youth, identified as 25-year old Sajad Ahmad Ganai, was asked to stop by a guard manning the main gate of an army camp in north Kashmir's Wattergam village in Baramulla.When the youth did not heed the warning, the sentry opened fire, killing him instantly, sources said.
A sarpanch was gunned down by unidentified militants in north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Sunday evening. Today's killing is yet another in a series of relentless attacks against the panches and sarpanches in the valley who have been clamouring for security by the administration.
Six militants were killed on Friday in two encounters with the security forces in Baramulla and Kupwara districts of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said.
In the wake of the fresh militant attacks on Panchayat members in Jammu and Kashmir, around 20 panches and sarpanches of the Baramulla district on Sunday tendered their resignations here citing "threats to their lives".
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.
Intense clashes between stone-pelting youth and security forces also rocked Jamia Masjid and adjoining areas in Srinagar shortly after Friday prayers.
The sources said the ultras targeted the officer's vehicle, which also suffered damages in the explosion triggering panic in the north Kashmir township.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Saturday sacked six government employees, including five policemen, for their 'deep involvement in anti-national activities', officials said.
At least twelve persons, including ten security men were injured in clashes with security forces in Ganderbal, Bandipora, Srinagar and Baramulla districts as authorities detained separatist leader Mohammad Yasin Malik during protests against the recent killing of youths in CRPF firing in Shopian of Kashmir.
