The frequent use of these assault rifles by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, according to experts, is a consequence of the US Army leaving behind arms and ammunition while pulling out from Afghanistan in 2021 and is a cause of concern due to the more lethal nature of the steel bullets used.
The abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 paved the way for outsiders to contest polls in the Union Territory.
A Pakistani intruder was also killed in the exchange of fire, they added.
Five troopers of the Rashtriya Rifles and a special police officer were injured Tuesday night when the terrorists attacked a joint check post in the upper reaches of Chattergalla on the Bhaderwah-Pathankot road in the hilly district.
Every trick in the trade is being tried unabashedly.
In simple arithmetical terms every possible 'arrangement' is being made to deny a majority to its rivals. A split verdict would hand a vital advantage to the BJP which is adept at extracting the best out of such a situation, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
However, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra refrained from handing over the probe to the CBI and directed that the trial be fast-tracked to ensure there was no delay.
The home minister also reviewed the preparations for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage scheduled to begin on June 29.
'We cannot endanger our national security by indulging in false bravado, fake narratives and high-decibel whitewashing. As a nation, we have to collectively fight the scourge of cross-border terrorism'
The application came up for hearing on Thursday before a division bench of justices Tejinder Singh Dhindsa and Lalit Batra through video conferencing during which the counsel for Jammu and Kashmir R S Cheema requested for a new date that was granted.
The appointment has raised eye-brows. People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti called it a 'shocking violation' of the spirit of justice and alleged that it will encourage 'rape culture'.
The recent terror acts are a sign of our enemy's desperation, he said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan.
Conspirator's family expressed doubt about the credibility of the probe by the crime branch of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the chargesheets filed by the crime branch, the abduction, rape and killing of the Bakerwal girl was part of a carefully planned strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area.
'Those who genuinely seek justice do not differentiate between a victim and a victim or an accused and accused.' 'They demand justice for all,' says Utkarsh Mishra.
The judge started his order with the couplet from Ghalib's ghazal -- Pinha tha daam-e-sakht qareeb ashiyaan ke, udhne hi nahi paye the ki girftar hum hue.
The quantum of punishment will be announced later on Monday.
'Indian consciousness was raped in Unnao and then in Kathua'
The apex court directed members of the bar not to obstruct judicial proceedings in the Kathua gang rape and murder case in Jammu and Kashmir
Sanji Ram and Vishal Jangotra, who were chargesheeted by the crime branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police in the case, claimed that the police had miserably failed to conduct a "fair and effective" probe and alleged that "tainted" officers were part of special investigation team which probed the matter.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising said the case should be transferred to Chandigarh due to proximity to Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and the incidents of obstruction of police personnel by lawyers of the local court.
People, carrying "Not In My Name" placards and forming human chains, protested across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa and Kerala.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra directed the Jammu-Kashmir Police to file a supplementary chargesheet in the case within eight weeks.
A policeman was also injured in the gunfight that broke out in Bajaad village in the Gandoh area around 9:50 am.
The apex court also took note of a plea of the victim's father seeking transfer of the trial of the case from Kathua, preferably to Chandigarh and sought response of the state government.
The girl was allegedly repeatedly assaulted before being killed at a village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district in January.
The encounter took place when the troops of Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group of J&K Police launched a joint cordon and search operation at Dhari Gote Urarbagi in Desa forest belt, some 55 km from Doda town, late Monday evening, the officials said.
The casualty comes barely a week after multiple ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the LoC in north Kashmir left 11 people, including five security personnel, dead on November 13.
'India doesn't belong to these people, it's ours.' 'We need to wake up and save India right now.'
The sessions court in Pathankot had on Monday sentenced Sanji Ram, Deepak Khajuria and Parwesh Kumar to life and the three dismissed policemen -- Anand Dutta, Tikal Raj and Surinder Singh -- to five years in jail.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the family of the Kathua rape victim should get justice.
The apex court, after perusing the report, said it would not 'digress' from the main issue of ensuring a fair trial, not only for the accused but also for the victim's family.
While seven accused were presented before the district and sessions judge, the eighth is a juvenile who moved a bail application before a judicial magistrate.
Delhi high court restrained the media from revealing the identity of the victim by any means.
A massive manhunt is underway for three foreign terrorists, possibly of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for the deadly attack on pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi that resulted in the loss of nine lives, including a two-year-old, officials involved in the investigation said on Monday.
The matter was deliberately hyped, Gupta added. The case is in court, which will decide on it, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told Russian President Vladimir Putin that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed in the midst of bombs and bullets even as he flagged concerns over a missile strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv.
The grief-stricken mother wishes for death penalty for the guilty.
To demand justice for the eight-year-old girl who was gang-raped and murdered in Jammu and Kashmir and the teenager in UP's Unnao, the Congress party led a candelight vigil to India Gate in New Delhi.
'There are communal overtones in the chargesheet.' 'Hindus and Muslims live peacefully in Jammu and by highlighting such facts in the chargesheet they are committing a conspiracy against Jammu.' The reason: A Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the Kathua rape-cum-murder case (see box below) and the deportation of Rohingya immigrants. Speaking to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf, B S Salathia, Jammu Bar Association explains their call for a bandh and the communal divide it has brought about in Jammu.
As part of the heightened security arrangements in view of Modi's visit, the officials said, the BSF and the police conducted a joint two-hour-long anti-tunnelling operation in the Ramgarh sector of Samba district.
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