The Tribune – Pakistan prisoner assaulted in Jammu jail; slips into coma; Jail superintendent, warden suspended; probe ordered

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria, Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 3. A day after Indian convict Sarabjit Singh died after a brutal attack by fellow inmates in a Lahore prison, a convicted Pakistani national lodged in a jail on the outskirts of Jammu was critically injured in an attack by a fellow prisoner on Friday morning. Sanaullah Ranjay slipped into coma and was airlifted to Chandigarh for treatment at the PGI. The state government has suspended the jail superintendent and warden.

The 54-year-old Pakistani prisoner, serving life term in the “high-security” Kot Bhalwal Jail for his involvement in terror related activities, was allegedly attacked by Vinod Kumar, a court-martialed soldier from Uttarakhand, who is also serving a life term.

Sources said the two were smoking in the prison lawns around 8.10 am when an altercation took place following which Vinod Kumar allegedly attacked Sanaullah with a gardening tool on the head and in the neck, sources said.

Jail authorities were tight-lipped on whether the attack was the outcome of an altercation or in retaliation to the brutal killings of Indian prisoners Sarabjit Singh and Chamel Singh in a Lahore prison. Sanaullah, a resident of Dalowali village of Sialkot in Pakistan, was involved in at least five cases – including two terror-related cases – for which he had been awarded four years imprisonment and life imprisonment,
respectively. He crossed over to India illegally with the help of another accused, Kehar, who died during trial. He has been in prison since 1999. Vinod was convicted and imprisoned under murder charges.

A doctor attending to Sanaullah at Jammu’s Government Medical College and Hospital described his condition as “very critical”. “He has sustained deep head and neck injuries that caused excessive bleeding. He remains unconscious. His Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is low and out of 15 parameters only five are normal,” she said. The GCS is used to measure level of consciousness, especially after a head injury.

Scoring is done on the basis of three factors: amount of eye opening, verbal responsiveness, and motor responsiveness.

Chief Secretary Mohammed Iqbal Khanday confirmed Sanaullah was taken for specialised treatment to PGI, Chandigarh, in an air ambulance around 4.50 pm.

The state government has ordered an inquiry and suspended Kot Bhalwal jail superintendent Rajni Sehgal and the warden pending probe. “I will probe the incident and go into the circumstances that led to it. Jail superintendent Rajni Sehgal and the warden have been suspended, pending probe,” State Home Secretary Suresh Kumar said.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130504/main2.htm

The Hindu – India-China border row; Troops still camped, but China denies LAC crossing

But New Delhi says that land where PLA put up a tent is Indian

Ananth Krishnan & Sandeep Dikshit

Beijing\New Delhi, 22 April 2013.  China on Monday rejected reports in India that People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops had set up a tented post on Indian territory in Ladakh, but reliable sources in Delhi stressed

that the place where Chinese troops had been camping for a week was Burthe.

Trying to play down the incident, the Chinese said its frontier patrols had “never trespassed” the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

In Delhi, the sources who identified the place as Burthe admitted that the Chinese were technically correct from their standpoint. But from New Delhi’s perspective, the land where the PLA came across huts which Indian security forces abandoned and put up a tent was Indian.

“This is essentially a no man’s land,” explained the sources , refuting alarmist suggestions that the Chinese troops had occupied part of the runway at the nearby Daulat Beg Oldi advanced landing ground.

“The Chinese patrols do wander here from time to time,” they added. “And this time, they found the abandoned huts to the right of Siachen Glacier and near the Partappur army base and decided to stay put.”

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid more or less upheld this view and said both sides were holding flag meetings to address the issue. “We are still in touch, and flag meetings are going on. There is more information to come. We will factor all that [in] and then take a final view,” he told journalists outside Parliament House.

Furthermore, Mr. Khurshid did not want the incident to snowball, saying both sides were against any departure from proportionality. “I do not think we should allow this to get beyond the immediate area and we should retain at that level and not allow it to escape that level,” he said.

Different perceptions

Meanwhile, Defence Minister A.K. Antony asserted that India would protect its interests and try to resolve the situation.

Indian officials did acknowledge that there were different perceptions of the LAC in that sector and said both sides were in touch to resolve the issue peacefully and avoid escalation, using the mechanism on coordination and consultation on border affairs, which was put in place last year to deal with such incidents.

While both India and China have in the past been routinely patrolling up to where they see their territorial claims end, sources said it was not common for either side to put up a tented post in a region where claims overlapped.

‘Speculation’

However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying played down the incident, describing Indian media reports as “speculation.” “Our troops are patrolling on the Chinese side of the LAC and have never trespassed.”

“Over the past few days, I have also been following Indian press coverage. Relevant Indian officials have also made statements on this issue. They have clarified the issue, and I refer you to their remarks,” she said, adding that India-China relations were in fine shape.

Last week’s reports about the strains along the disputed border come against the backdrop of warming ties, marked by a period of intense diplomatic engagements between both countries that is expected to culminate in the visit of the new Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, to India next month. In recent weeks, both countries have had consultations on counterterrorism and the first-ever dialogue on Afghanistan aimed at
boosting strategic trust.

The Chinese side has made it known that it is keen on Mr. Li’s expected visit to be the Premier’s first overseas trip after he took over in March — an indication of how the new leadership viewed relations with India as a priority.

Considering the opacity of the Chinese political and military set-up, officials and analysts say it remains unclear whether the People’s Liberation Army’s apparently more aggressive patrolling was a message from a military under new leadership; a reflection of a divergence of opinion among different sections in China on engaging with India; or merely an aberration driven by local factors.

Chinese analysts often make the point that insufficient communication between the two militaries remains a source of mistrust and a challenge for ties. Even as the two militaries grapple with strains along the border, the main channel of communication to defuse tensions is between India’s Ministry of External Affairs and the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs.

In the Chinese set-up, however, the PLA far outranks the Foreign Ministry, which has no say in how the military conducts its affairs and is widely seen by Chinese analysts as a department with far less influence.

Ms. Hua, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, stressed on Monday that “China values its relations with India” and “would like to develop sound, steady, long-term relations.” Both sides, she added, had agreed that “the boundary issue should not affect the larger interests of bilateral relations.”

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/troops-still-camped-but-china-denies-lac-crossing/article4643624.ece

BBC News – India condemns Pakistani ‘interference’ over Afzal Guru

Friday, 15 March 2013. Indian MPs have condemned what they called “Pakistani interference” over the hanging of a Kashmiri man convicted of a plot to attack India’s parliament.

Last month’s hanging of Afzal Guru sparked protests across Indian-administered Kashmir. On Thursday Pakistani lawmakers passed a resolution censuring his death.

India rejected this and cancelled a bilateral hockey series with Pakistan.

Analysts say it shows just how far relations have deteriorated recently.

The motion by Pakistan’s National Assembly, which also called for Guru’s body to be returned to his family, sparked intense anger among Indian lawmakers.

It came after a deadly militant attack on security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir on Wednesday, the first serious attack in the disputed region for five years.

The attack was blamed by India on Pakistan-based militants – a charge that Islamabad denies.

Five Indian troops and two attackers were killed. One suspect has been taken into custody.

Indian-administered Kashmir has seen an insurgency against Indian rule since 1989, but violence had declined in recent years.

‘Rejects interference’

Hockey India said that it had received a communication from the ministry of external affairs asking it to call off the series, the Press Trust of India news agency quoted officials as saying.

India and Pakistan had planned a five-match series to be played in both countries.

“The house rejects interference in the internal affairs of India and calls upon the National Assembly of Pakistan to desist from such acts of support for extremist and terrorist elements,” the Lok Sabha (lower house) resolution, read out by Speaker Meira Kumar, on Friday said.

MPs from India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded the government halt all dialogue with Pakistan in protest.

“Besides interfering in India’s internal affairs, the resolution is an official statement by the entire polity of Pakistan endorsing the terrorist attacks,” leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament) Arun Jaitley said.

India always suspected that Pakistan was behind the 2001 parliament attack, he said, and added that the “resolution seems to have confirmed our fears”.

Anger in Kashmir

Guru was hanged in Delhi’s Tihar jail in February after his final clemency plea was rejected.

He had always denied plotting the attack, which left 14 dead, including five militants.

His hanging led to an outpouring of anger in Kashmir where many believe that he did not get a fair trial.

The December 2001 attack was one of the most controversial incidents in recent Indian history, correspondents say.

Five rebels stormed India’s parliament in Delhi on 13 December 2001, killing a gardener and eight policemen before they were shot dead by security forces.

India blamed the attack on the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group, which it said was backed by Pakistan.

Pakistan denied involvement in the attack but relations between the two countries nosedived as their armies massed about a million troops along the border.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-21797610

The Tribune – Srinagar Fidayeen attack; Home Minister Sushilkumar ShindeKilling : Pakistan numbers in slain terrorists’ diaries

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 14. Under attack from the Opposition over the killing of five CRPF personnel in a suicide attack in Srinagar’s Bemina area yesterday, the government today said in Parliament that the two terrorists involved in the strike were of foreign origin.

Avoiding direct references to Pakistan, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in a statement in both Houses that the diaries recovered from the slain terrorists bore suspected Pakistani numbers and the skin ointment found in their kit had an Urdu name and was manufactured at 35, Dockyard, a Karachi-based facility of GSK Pakistan Limited. When pressed for clarifications in the Rajya Sabha, Shinde said, “I only said the terrorists were of foreign origin and not Pakistanis.”

After the BJP moved notices for adjournment of question hour in both Houses, Shinde said the terrorists were “fidayeens” as was evident from their “shaven” bodies. He, however, said the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen’s claim to be behind the attack was still under authentication. Shinde said six other CRPF personnel were injured in the encounter, one of them critically. Four civilians who were playing cricket in the ground also suffered injuries in the incident.

“Two unidentified armed terrorists in civilian clothes, carrying ammunition and grenades in hidden bags, entered the playground and mingled with local youth. They took out their gear, lobbed grenades and opened indiscriminate fire on the CRPF men. Armed CRPF officers retaliated,” said Shinde. Fifty CRPF personnel of the 73rd battalion had assembled in Police Public School grounds before their deployment at various places.

The BJP, however, slammed the government for going soft on Pakistan-sponsored terror and failing to prevent strikes. In the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj questioned the hospitality Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid extended recently to the Pakistan PM at Ajmer Sharif. “You are treating them to lunch and four days later this attack happens. The head of Ajmer shrine did what you could not by boycotting the Pakistan PM for beheading our soldiers,” she said.

Shinde, however, insisted the UPA was “very vigilant and was keeping an eye on POK camps”.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130315/main3.htm

The Hindu – Five CRPF men killed in fidayeen attack in Srinagar

Two militants dead, authorities suspect Pakistan based outfits

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

Srinagar, 13 March 2013. In a fidayeen attack — occurring after three years — two militants and five CRPF personnel died and ten others sustained injuries on the National Highway Bypass in Bemina area of Srinagar on Wednesday. The officiating Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Abdul Gani Mir said that two unidentified militants were gunned down after they attacked and killed the CRPF men on the playground of J&K Police Public School at Bemina around 10.45 a.m. He said six more paramilitary personnel and four civilians sustained injuries in the suicide attack, unprecedented in the State’s history of militancy in 23 years.

Mr. Mir, who is currently IGP Crime in J&K and had arrived in Srinagar minutes before the shootout, said that the Police school had been already closed for Wednesday due to the separatists-sponsored call for shutdown. “Had the school been open, the toll would have been higher”, he told The Hindu. He was not sure about the number of the militants who carried out the attack at the ‘F’ company headquarters of CRPF 73 battalion but said that none other than the two militants was found dead or alive during the following cordon-and-search operation in the locality.

“Both the militants at the playground were killed and we have seized two of their AK-56 rifles besides some hand grenades along with their bodies. The area is now cleared for traffic”, Mr. Mir said. According to him, two young men wearing sports outfits and each carrying a sports bag had appeared at the playground and engaged the CRPF men in a ‘friendly cricket match’. A number of youth from the nearby localities were watching and playing the game when the two strangers suddenly took out their automatic rifles and attacked the unarmed paramilitary personnel.

“They lobbed grenades and sprayed bullets, killing five CRPF men. Even after others at the camp took positions and the young players ran for life, both the militants kept on firing in all directions. They were soon gunned down”, Mr. Mir said. He said that the militants were unidentified but the police had seized certain documents and other evidence from their belongings that could lead to their identification.

In New Delhi, Home Secretary R.K. Singh said: “Prima facie, the terrorists appear to be from across the border and were Pakistani nationals”.

A caller who said his name was Baleeg-ud-din and claimed to be a Hizbul Mujahideen spokesman told a local news gathering agency that two militants of his organisation had carried out the attack. He reportedly warned that such attacks would continue in the future.

Senior officials, however, insisted that this could be an attempt to mislead the police and security forces as Hizbul Mujahideen in the past had publicly disapproved suicide attacks as “un-Islamic”. They said that only a few Pakistan-based jihadist outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad had carried out such strikes in J&K for over a decade of the prime of militancy before 2010. LeT, they said, was the first suspect. A suicide-type attack had left two employees of a hotel on the highway bypass dead in October 2012. The last of the 80 or so suicide strikes in the
State had occurred at a hotel at the business nerve centre of Lalchowk in Srinagar in January 2010. Two militants and some policemen and civilians had died in the two-day-long operation.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/five-crpf-men-killed-in-fidayeen-attack-in-srinagar/article4504066.ece

The Hindu – Revoke Armed Forces Special Powers Act, says Omar, after youth is shot dead in Baramulla

Army denies its troops killed him, says they fired in air in self defence

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

Jammu, 5 March 2013.  While a tense situation prevailed in the Baramulla district after a youth was shot dead allegedly by the Army, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah made a strong case for the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 with his emotional speech in the Legislative Assembly and directed the police to book officers of the Rashtriya Rifles for murder.

The Deputy Commissioner of Baramulla, Ghulam Ahmad Khwaja, told The Hindu that the police have registered a murder case against the officers of Rashtriya Rifles 46th battalion, who had earlier on Tuesday evening opened fire on a group of youth, killing a 25-year-old Tahir Ahmad Sofi of Kakkar Hamam. Another civilian escaped with gunshot wounds.

The Army has however denied the allegation and said the troops fired in air in self defence “to extricate themselves” and claimed someone else shot dead Mr. Sofi “with a view to trigger large scale violence.”

Quoting official reports, Mr. Khwaja said two Army vehicles drove across the Jhelum river in downtown Baramulla at a time when a shutdown sponsored by the separatists was in place, but there was no reports of violence.

Quoting eyewitnesses, Mr. Khwaja said some youngsters pelted the Army vehicles with stones as a result of which the soldiers came down and chased them away. “I have reasons to believe that the firing was unprovoked and unwarranted. Unfortunately, one 25-year-old Tahir Ahmad Sofi died and another got injured. As there was no law and order problem and the Army’s action does not appear to be justified in any manner. The police have registered a murder case on my direction against the officers responsible foe the shoot-out,” Mr. Khwaja, who is also the District Magistrate, added.

Mr. Sofi is the second youth to have fallen to the Army’s bullets in the aftermath of Afzal Guru’s execution. Last month, two protesters drowned to death while fleeing from a clash with the security forces near Sumbal in north Kashmir. Mr. Sofi’s family said he had completed post-graduation in Social Welfare and the other day had got admission forms for the Master of Education course in Kashmir University.

Sources said that a crowd of over 4,000 residents carried Mr. Sofi’s body to the DC’s office-cum-residence while shouting pro-Azadi and anti-India slogans and demanded action against the Army. The DC pacified the angry crowds with the news of FIR against the Army and assured them law would take its course. Officials said that some restrictions were put in place, but a formal curfew would be imposed only in the morning on Wednesday. The plan to impose curfew was not due to Tuesday’s firing alone, they said, and added there were law and order concerns due to
the separatists call asking residents of Bandipore and Baramulla districts to march to Afzal’s Guru’s residence on Wednesday.

In the evening, sources said, people in about a dozen neighbourhoods in Baramulla down staged demonstrations and used the public address systems of the community mosques to express their anger and protest against the death of Mr. Sofi, whose funeral was performed late on Tuesday. .

Here in the Legislative Assembly, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party staged a massive protest and walkout, holding the Omar Abdullah government responsible for Mr. Sofi’s death and failure to prevent Guru’s execution.

An emotional Omar Abdullah admitted his responsibility as the head of the government, but pleaded that the civil government was faced with handicaps due to the AFSPA that gave extraordinary powers to the armed forces. He said the anguish and pain that he felt due to such deaths of young men were much more than any other politician or human being in the State.

For about a minute, he stood mute and speechless, but recovered soon. “This is why I am vehemently raising the issue of partial revocation of AFSPA so that the erring forces personnel do not go scot-free”, Mr Abdullah said. He argued it was unfair to hold him and his government responsible for everything from Guru’s hanging to Mr. Sofi’s death.

In self-defence: Army

An Army spokesperson said: “The Army patrol was soon outnumbered, some of them were injured. A person out of the mob assaulted the Army personnel with an iron rod creating a life-threatening situation.” He said the troops fired in air in self defence and welcomed an investigation by police.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/revoke-afspa-says-omar-after-youth-is-shot-dead-in-baramulla/article4478925.ece

The Tribune – Jammu & Kashmir Assembly to discuss return of Afzal Guru’s body

Dinesh Manhotra & Arteev Sharma, Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 1. Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will debate the issue of return of mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru to the Valley and the situation arising out in the wake of his execution. Guru was executed and buried in Tihar Jail on February 9.

The issue rocked the House and after repeated disruptions it was ultimately adjourned for the day as Opposition parties demanded that Guru’s remains must be handed over to his family.

Cutting across party lines, a total of three adjournment motions were moved by the ruling National Conference, principal Opposition PDP and the CPM in the Assembly to bring back Guru’s mortal remains.

Speaker Mubarak Gul said he has decided to entertain all adjournment motions. “I have conveyed to the members of the House that I am ready to hold discussions on the issue,” Gul said.

“I wanted that discussions should be held after completion of the normal business but the Opposition was adamant on suspending the business of the House”, he said, adding that discussion on the issue would be held on March 4.

Earlier, amid unprecedented din and repeated disruptions, the Assembly was adjourned for the day as the PDP relentlessly raised its demand for suspending normal business of the House to discuss the issue.

The trouble erupted soon after the House proceedings began with PDP legislators pleading the Speaker to accept their adjournment motion and suspend the question hour. CPM’s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami also stood up from his seat and said he had also moved the motion for holding a discussion on the issue.

Later, Tarigami and PDP’s Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, who also demanded a discussion on the issue, staged a walkout from the House.

Senior NC legislator Nasir Aslam Wani surprised many when he said that five MLAs of the party had also moved an adjournment motion to suspend the business of the House to discuss Afzal issue.

Five NC members, who moved the motion, include Wani, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehndi, Javed Ahmad Dar, Peer Afaq Ahmad and Mohammad Ashraf Ganie.

The Speaker, however, said he had received their adjournment motion and he had reserved the decision on it. It led to pandemonium in the House with the PDP legislators shouting slogans. Amid uproar, the Speaker adjourned the House for half-an-hour. As soon as the House reassembled, PDP members again trooped into the Well raising slogans.

Independent MLA from Langate, Engineer Abdul Rashid, also joined them and raised slogans against the government for its “failure to protect Guru, a J-K resident, and depriving him of his legal rights”. He also tried to snatch the mike and hurl the chair at the Speaker but the watch and ward staff prevented him from doing so. The Speaker again adjourned the House and later it was adjourned for the day.

Omar meets NC leaders

After holding a meeting with party leaders, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah flew to Srinagar on Friday evening. “The meeting decided that the adjournment motion moved by the NC should be discussed on the floor of the Lower House on Monday (March 4),” said party sources.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130302/main4.htm

The Tribune – Curfew lifted, but Valley tense

Azhar Qadri, Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 16. Curfew was lifted from Kashmir Valley on Saturday, a week after restrictions were imposed following hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Normal life, however, remained affected in the wake of bandh called by hardline Hurriyat Conference and fresh protests that broke out after restrictions were lifted.

The heavy deployment of police was removed from roads and streets. Internet services were also restored last evening.

Many shops in the uptown Srinagar and its outskirts opened after a long gap as cars and small passenger cabs returned to roads.

The main markets around the city, including the Lal Chowk, its adjoining commercial centres, however, remained close in response to Hurriyat’s bandh call.

Syed Ali Geelani-led group has called for a two-day shutdown till Sunday to protest against the hanging of Guru. The shutdown was more prominent in north Kashmir, including Baramulla, which is Guru’s home-district.

Kashmir has been on the edge and under stringent restrictions for the past one week since Guru was hanged.

Protests also erupted in downtown Srinagar. Several hundred slogan-shouting youth were intercepted by the police and paramilitary forces near Kawdara which triggered stone-pelting, said eyewitnesses. Demonstrations were witnessed in Maisuma and Koker Bazaar areas in central Srinagar, Bemina and the adjoining Budgam district.

In south Kashmir, protests broke out at several locations in Anantnag and Pulwama districts. In north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, a group of protesters hurled stones at police vehicles near Tehsil Point, local residents said.

A police spokesman said incidents of stone throwing were witnessed in Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla, Sopore and Vilgam village near Handwara in Kupwara district.

53 trouble-mongers held: Police

As many as 53 protesters have been arrested from across the Valley, said a police spokesman. “The police has arrested 53 stone-pelters, miscreants and trouble-mongers from various districts of the Valley,” the spokesman said.

While 13 are from Srinagar, 15 from Sopore, eight each from Baramulla and Anantnag, six from Budgam and three from Pulwama, said the spokesman.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130217/main2.htm

The Hindu – UN chief urges India, Pakistan to exercise restraint

United Nations, 16 February 2013. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and resolve issues peacefully after a Pakistani soldier who intruded into the Indian territory was killed by the Indian Army along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr. Ban’s spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters on Friday that the UN Chief was aware of the latest incident on February 14 at the LoC in which the Pakistani soldier, after intruding into Indian territory in a fresh incident of ceasefire violation, was killed by the Indian troops.

“The Secretary-General has repeatedly called on all concerned to exercise restraint and solve issues peacefully,” Mr. Nesirky said when asked if Mr. Ban had a comment on the fresh incident along the Indian-Pakistan border.

The incident comes over a month after tensions erupted between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after Pakistani troops entered Indian territory and killed two Indian soldiers, beheading one of them.

In the latest ceasefire violation, the Pakistani soldier opened indiscriminate fire injuring two jawans after he was challenged by a patrol party.

In the ensuing encounter the soldier was killed and one AK-56 rifle and some ammunition were recovered from him.

Indian authorities have handed over the body of the Pakistani soldier to its army with military honours.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/un-chief-urges-india-pak-to-exercise-restraint/article4421657.ece?homepage=true

The Tribune – Pakistan troops violate ceasefire in Poonch

Jammu, February 14. In a fresh ceasefire violation, Pakistani troops tonight fired at Indian posts along the LoC in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir, but there was no casualty. Pakistani troopers resorted to small and medium weapon firing in Balnoi forward area at 8.05 pm. Indian troops retaliated resulting in exchange of fire which continued till 10.50 pm. There was no loss of life, a defence spokesperson said.

Militant killed

Rajouri: An Army jawan was critically injured in a militant strike on the Pila forward post in the Lam sector (Nowshera sub-sector) of Rajouri district this evening. A suspected militant was gunned down in the retaliatory fire.

Two unidentified persons were reportedly seen approaching the Indian post around 2.30 pm. A fierce gun battle ensued after they were challenged by the Army jawans. The gun battle went on for about two hours, defence spokesman SN Acharya said.

While one militant was killed, another managed to escape, the spokesman said. Sepoy Major Singh received serious injuries in the gun battle. He was later airlifted to the Udhampur Army hospital for treatment. The person killed in the gun battle could be a Pakistan army regular in the guise of a militant, sources said.

According to another report, a person in combat dress tried to enter the Pila post in the Lam sector. However, a timely action by alert soldiers foiled his attempt and engaged him in fire fighting. The person took shelter behind a tree and continued to target the post for about two hour. He was later killed by the Army.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130215/main5.htm