A teenager was shot dead by security forces in the Kashmir Valley on Saturday during a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference against the recent killing of two youths in an army operation in Tral, prompting the authorities to register a murder case and order a magisterial probe.
He will be cremated with full military honours including a 21-gun salute in his village, Pogarwadi.
The home minister took stock of the situation and was briefed about the steps taken to maintain peace along border areas as well as in the Valley, a security official said.
A flood alert was sounded in Srinagar city on Thursday as river Jhelum was flowing four feet above the danger mark after incessant rain, while 23 villages have been inundated by floods in south Kashmir districts of Anantnag and Kulgam.
The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) swept the maiden District Development Council (DDC) polls by winning 110 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party by getting 75 seats after securing the largest vote share in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday.
'The bureaucracy in J&K feel completely disowned by the Centre.' 'The majority of officers under the scanner have not committed any irregularities and the Centre knows that.'
Here's a recap of the events from the past 24 hours.
Religious rights of every person are subject to "public order", the Supreme Court said on Monday while dismissing the plea of a man seeking to exhume the body of his son, who was dubbed a terrorist and killed in an encounter in Kashmir in November 2021, so the family could conduct his last rites in the same graveyard.
In one of the encounters in the higher reaches of Naugam, 112 kms from Srinagar, the troops cornered a group of infiltrating militants and have killed four so far.
Some people expressed apprehension that governor's rule might lead to lack of transparency and worsen the situation in the state
It was suspected that the scholar from Tikipora in Lolab area might have joined the Hizbul Mujahideen.
Raising slogans against Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and the administration, the demonstrators, mostly government employees posted in the troubled valley and their kin, demanded that they be provided adequate security or be transferred to Jammu. The employees also threatened en masse resignation from their jobs.
"My girl is just 16 years old and was alone in the police station when her statement was recorded. She was pressurised by police to give that statement," her mother claimed.
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
"Around 5 am, militants opened firing on an army camp at Langate in Kupwara district, which was retaliated by the alert jawans," an army official said.
'If the strength of foreign terrorists can be brought to negligible levels there will be few takers for militancy.' 'That is why it is important to neutralise the terrorists at their launch pads,' advises Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
With local militancy gaining ground in the Valley, S P Vaid, a highly-decorated police officer who helped tackle the recent unrest in the region, was on Wednesday appointed the new Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir.
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.
Hilal Ahmed Bandey, one of the two accused identified, was arrested from Handwara by Jammu and Kashmir police on Monday night.
Light snowfall was recorded in the famous tourist resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir and areas in the higher reaches, including places near Amarnath cave shrine overnight while other parts of the Valley witnessed a drop in minimum temperature.
The national capital, parts of which reeled under heatwave conditions for the past few days, had some relief on Wednesday with strong winds and partly cloudy skies witnessed during the day.
This is the first time the government sources have confirmed that artillery fire was indeed used by the Army to launch a massive assault against Pakistan.
Three employees of a BSNL franchise were seriously wounded in a militant attack in Kashmir's Sopore town on Monday morning.
About 10 inches of snow had accumulated on ground around Jawahar Tunnel areas, but the real problem is continuous landslides and shooting of stones triggered by incessant rains in Ramban sector which is hampering the efforts of early restoration of the highway.
Earlier in 2010, the highest number of 156 terrorists were killed between January and July that year.
Leh and Kargil towns in Ladakh region recorded the season's coldest night as the cold wave intensified in Jammu and Kashmir after a slight respite for few days.
Handing the verdict, the General Court Martial also suspended the service benefits of Col DK Pathania of the 4 Rajput regiment (the unit which was involved in the encounter), Captain Upendra Singh, Subedar Satbir Singh, Havildar Bir Singh, Sepoy Chadraban, Sepoy Nagendra Singh and Sepoy Narinder Singh.
The terrorists opened firing on a naka party of security forces in Sopore, resulting in injuries to three CRPF jawans and a civilian, the officials said.
A woman, who was injured when security forces opened fire in Handwara town of north Kashmir to quell a stone-pelting mob, succumbed at a hospital in Srinagar on Wednesday.
A group of terrorists struck the house of PDP Kishtwar district president and escaped with the service rifle of his PSO early Friday.
The number is an all time high for the state with south Kashmir emerging as one of the main hubs, providing cadres to terrorist groups.
The sources said that the terrorists were not expecting an action by the Indian Army and therefore were taken by surprise.
Large crowds thronged popular boulevards, tourist hubs and entertainment centres across India and many joined special prayers at places of worship on Sunday as people stepped out to celebrate the New Year without COVID-19 restrictions.
With the results of the Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections out, hectic lobbying among the political parties has started, with a visible sign of the People's Democratic Party and the Congress warming-up to form the government.
At least 45 persons were injured on Friday as fresh clashes broke out between stone pelting mobs and security personnel in the Valley where curfew was lifted from all places except Kupwara district following a break in the strike by separatists.
Sajjad is the younger son of Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Lone who was assassinated on May 21, 2002, by militants
Two top Army commanders on Saturday said the fresh ceasefire between India and Pakistan will have no bearing on the counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir and that the force will exercise 'maximum restraint' in the event of any violation by the neighbouring country.
'The Army must always be balanced in response.' 'Rabble rousers will demand that it be given a free hand against anti-national elements in the streets. That is exactly what the adversaries want.' 'Burning the Kashmir Valley through the summer is their desire; the Army will never contribute to enhancing their aim,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), who served as the General Officer Commanding 15 Corps in Kashmir.
Counting of votes will be held today in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand which witnessed a record turnout in the multi-cornered contests to elect their assemblies.
