The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday raided a dozen places in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with two cases, one related to the recovery of an IED and another about the recruitment of youth by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba terror outfit, an official said.
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.
"It is not a crime to be a Hindu. It is not their (Islamic) State."
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.
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.
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.
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.
Umer Khalid was a A++ category top ranking terrorist and carried a cash reward of nearly Rs 7 lakh.
A cold wave has gripped many parts of north and east India, with Srinagar recording a minimum temperature of minus 5.3 degrees Celsius. Other areas experiencing below-freezing temperatures include Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Konibal, Qazigund, Kupwara, and Kokernag in Kashmir. Himachal Pradesh has issued an orange warning for severe cold wave conditions in several districts. Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 5.9 degrees Celsius, while Faridkot in Punjab was the coldest in the region at 0 degrees Celsius. Extreme cold conditions also continued in parts of Rajasthan and Jharkhand. The Met office has forecast mainly dry weather until December 26, with the possibility of light snowfall in the higher reaches of Kashmir on the intervening night of December 21-22.
Army troops on Thursday foiled an infiltration bid on the Line of Control in Uri sector of north Kashmir Baramulla district eliminating five intruders.
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.
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.
The encounter broke out when troops confronted a group of militants trying to sneak into the valley from across the border.
Additional security personnel have been deployed on the ground and drones are being used for aerial surveillance, they said.
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 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'
Satish Kumar Singh, a Rajput, was shot by terrorists in Kakran area of the south Kashmir district at around 7.30 pm.
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.
In April this year, Umar's mother also issued an appeal to him to surrender before the forces.
The terrorists were nabbed in a joint search operation launched Friday night by the 52 Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operation Group, Baramulla.
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.
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.
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.
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.
'If, as happened in Baramulla during the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the youth in the Valley get triggered enough to jump into the wider fray, the end result would be difficult to predict, especially as the state's post-August 5, 2019 political format remains substantially fragmented and foggy,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
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.
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".
The sources said the ultras targeted the officer's vehicle, which also suffered damages in the explosion triggering panic in the north Kashmir township.
Intense clashes between stone-pelting youth and security forces also rocked Jamia Masjid and adjoining areas in Srinagar shortly after Friday prayers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the decision to transform Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory is 'temporary' and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government will restore the statehood to the region.
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.
Despite assurances by the Jammu and Kashmir government, over 100 more terror-stricken panches and sarpanches announced their resignations through paid advertisements in the valley.
There was no movement of security forces at the time of the incident, the sources said.
A teacher and a student were among three persons killed while 50 others injured when a school bus carrying students on a picnic trip plunged into a gorge near Gulmarg tourist resort in Kashmir's Baramulla district on Wednesday.
Eid festivities were on Monday marred in Kashmir Valley as clashes broke out between protesting youths and police soon after the congregational prayers concluded in Anantnag and Sopore, said the police. Clashes broke out in Anantnag, 50 km from Srinagar, when the police tried to prevent a large group of teenage boys from taking out a protest rally after the congregational Eid-ul-Adha prayers, they said.
In one of the biggest such seizures in recent times, security forces unearthed a huge arms haul, including 60 kg of RDX, nine assault rifles and 11 pistols, at a house in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, police said.
