After record rains wreaked havoc in Jammu and Kashmir over the past two days, the death toll in related incidents rose to 41, most of them victims of the landslide on a Vaishno Devi pilgrimage route, while there was some let-up in the showers on Wednesday, allowing relief efforts to pick up pace.
Sinha said the inauguration of the Kashmir rail service has connected the hearts of the people of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country and will pave the way for the economic prosperity of the region.
Authorities in Kashmir have launched a massive crackdown on terrorists and their sympathisers in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, razing homes of the ultras, raiding their safe havens and detaining hundreds of overground workers for questioning, officials said on Saturday.
The Medal for Gallantry recipients also included Humayun Bhat, a deputy superintendent of police who was one of four officers to lay down their lives during an encounter with terrorists in south Kashmir's Kokernag in September 2023.
The raids in the twin capitals of Srinagar and Jammu along with Budgam in central and Kulgam and Anantnag in south Kashmir led to the seizure of incriminating documents and digital devices connected with the activities of JeI and its related Trusts and more than Rs 20 lakh, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.
The DGP said the conspiracy was hatched by one Pakistan-based terrorist Arjumand alias Hamza Burhan who got in touch with a local mastermind Danish Ahmad Malla to carry out the attack.
The Union home ministry said the Muslim Conference Jammu and Kashmir - Sumji faction, chaired by Ghulam Nabi Sumji, is known for its anti-India and pro-Pakistan propaganda and its members have been involved in supporting terrorist activities and providing logistical support to terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
Police said he was involved in the killing of a civilian, Mohammad Shafi Dar -- an employee of Power Development Department, on October 2.
A large number of people assembled at their home in Chadbugh locality and bid a tearful adieu to the brothers.
The terrorist killed in Srinagar was a relative of one of the accused in the February 2019 suicide attack in Pulwama's Lethpora, in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel lost their lives.
In the first suicide attack in Kashmir in three years, terrorists stormed a Central Reserve Paramilitary Force camp in Bemina area of the city, killing five jawans and injuring seven others. The two militants, who carried out the attack, were also killed.
Five Central Reserve Police Force troopers and two suicide attackers were among seven persons killed and nine others wounded in a fidayeen attack in the Bemina locality of the Srinagar on Wednesday morning. Those injured included seven CRPF troopers and two civilians. All the injured have been evacuated to hospital for treatment.
A diary recovered from the slain militants in the Bemina suicide attack has led to the arrest of a man, who had allegedly acted as a guide for the Pakistani militants to enter the city to carry out the attack.
Seven persons were injured in security force firing at Bemina in the curfew bound summer capital Srinagar on Friday evening. The injured who included Showkat Bakshi, vice president of pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and four women were immediately evacuated to Soura medical institute for treatment.
Six hundred and thirty COVID-19 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the recovery rate to 25.19 per cent in the country, said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, ministry of health and family welfare, on Thursday.
Security forces on Saturday afternoon rounded up 35 alleged stone-pelters from the Bemina locality of Srinagar on Saturday. Heavy contingents of police and the Central Reserve Police Force put up a cordon around Nundrishi colony in the uptown Bemina locality on Saturday afternoon and asked the residents to come out of their homes. They later picked up 35 persons from the locality and shifted them to the police station.
Many Kashmiris have been left with no option but to flag down the odd private vehicle passing by in the Valley.
The terrorists opened fire on the convoy near SKIMS Hospital Bemina at around 1.15 pm.
The Jammu and Kashmir police on Tuesday said it has found out the identity of the masterminds behind the fidayeen attack in Srinagar on March 13. Five Central Reserve Police Force troopers and two militants were killed in the attack.
Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday said the CRPF men rushing for blood donation to their injured colleagues came under attack by the group of stone pelters and opened fire in which one youth was killed.
A Pakistani terrorist, suspected to be involved in the suicide attack on a Central Reserve Police Force camp in Srinagar, has been arrested from Chattabal area in the city.
Life in Kashmir has come to a grinding halt following imposition of an indefinite curfew in the wake of the death of a 28-year-old in firing by the paramilitary central reserve police force in the old city.
The two militants who on Wednesday carried out a fidayeen attack on a Central Reserve Police Force camp in Bemina area of Srinagar were probably from Pakistan, Home Secretary R K Singh has said.
Shah said "three families" are answerable to the people for their failure to develop Jammu and Kashmir over the past seven decades.
Budgam resident show loopholes in exam admission process.
Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Sajid Ahmad Gilkar was killed in an encounter on Wednesday.
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
Suspected militants late on Wednesday night shot at and critically wounded a police officer in the Bemina locality of the summer capital Srinagar.
"Areas under the jurisdiction of police stations of district Srinagar -- Batamloo, Bemina, Qamarwari, Kralkhud, Nowhatta, Khanyar, M.R. Gunj, Safakadal, Maisuma, Shaheedgunj and Abi-guzar area of police station, Kothibagh will remain under curfew from 6 am till further orders," District Magistrate, Srinagar, Mehraj Ahmad Kakroo said.
Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir imposed curfew in most parts of the Valley on Saturday, following which, all the shops closed down and streets were left deserted.
Curfew remained clamped in parts of Srinagar, Kupwara and Kralpora towns and restrictions were imposed on the movement of people in Hyderpora and Budgam towns on Monday in view of a shutdown call by separatists across Kashmir Valley.In Srinagar, curfew was imposed in seven police station areas of Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, Safakadal, M R Gunj, Bemina and Qammerwari, said the police.They said curfew will remain in force in Kupwara and Kralpora towns of north Kashmir.
Curfew was clamped in parts of Srinagar, Kupwara and Kralpora towns and restrictions were imposed on people's movement in Hyderpora and Budgam towns on Sunday in view of a shutdown call by separatists across the Kashmir Valley.
The Jammu and Kashmir police on Friday arrested a person, alleged to be the kingpin of stone-pelters in Kashmir valley, and claimed to have found documents which suggest this had fast turned into a lucrative 'business' for unemployed youths offering their 'service' for a price.
The security forces had then described the arrest of Gazi as a major success in their anti-insurgency operations in the state. He was presented in the district court at Anantnag on Thursday where his detention under the Public Safety Act was set aside by the court. The judge released Gazi and he was handed over to his lawyer.
Officials said on condition of anonymity that the situation could be slipping out of their hands.
The bus carrying personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police came under fire from the terrorists in the evening. The vehicle was going from Bemina to Zewan, a police official said.
A total of 77 deaths were reported since Thursday evening of which 27 fatalities were reported from Maharashtra, 17 from Gujarat, 11 from West Bengal, seven each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, three from Delhi, two from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and one from Karnataka.
Normal life remained paralysed for the 37th consecutive day due to curfew, restrictions and separatist sponsored strike.
Intense clashes between stone-pelting youth and security forces also rocked Jamia Masjid and adjoining areas in Srinagar shortly after Friday prayers.