SRINAGAR: Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed when they attacked a car carrying senior police officers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Sunday.

PTISecurity forces keeping vigil in Pulwama district where militants attacked a police car on Sunday.

The militants who were in a car ambushed the vehicle in which Awantipora and Pulwama SPs and Awantipora ASP were returning after reviewing poll preparations with the chief electoral officer in Pulwama. “The militants came from one of the sides of the car and fired,” Awantipora SP Mohammad Zaid said.

A brief gunfight followed in which two militants were killed.

The bypolls to Lok Sabha seats of Srinagar in central Kashmir and Anantnag in south are to be held on April 9 and 12.

“After getting attacked, the police officers retaliated and we recovered bodies of two terrorists from a Maruti car. The third militant has probably managed to escape,” Kashmir IG SJM Gilani said at a media briefing in the evening. The two ultras have been identified as Shahbaz Ahmad Wani alias Rais Kachru, a resident of Pulwama, and .Farooq Ahmad Hurrah, a resident of Naizneenpora.

25 live bombs found in Tarn Taran village

ARN TARAN: Panic gripped Dhunda village near the historical Goindwal Sahib town, 20 km from here, after 25 live bombs were found on the Beas river bed on Sunday morning.

HT PHOTOCops with the bombs found near Goindwal Sahib in Tarn Taran on Sunday.

DISPOSED OF BY THE ARMY IN 1970s, ALL BOMBS DEFUSED BY MAKING CONTROLLED BLASTS ON THE SPOT

Village resident Gurdev Singh was the first to notice these bombs at around 8am, after which he informed the sarpanch.

Cops, led by Tarn Taran senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harjit Singh, rushed to the spot on getting the information. Anti-bomb squad of Punjab Armed Police (PAP) was also called from Jalandhar to defuse the bombs, which were old and rusted.

It took six hours to defuse all the bombs by making controlled blasts on the spot.

The SSP said initial assessment suggested the bombs belonged to the Indian Army. “This area was used by the army in 1970s to dispose of expired ammunition. These bombs must have been left here at that time,” he said.

Suspected ultras snatch AK-47 from cleric’s gunman in Jammu

INCIDENT COMES AHEAD OF PM MODI’S APRIL 2 VISIT TO CHENANI WHERE HE WILL INAUGURATE ASIA’S LONGEST TUNNEL

From page 01 JAMMU : Three suspected militants attacked a policeman in Jammu on Saturday night. Two of them escaped with his AK-47 rifle. This comes days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to nearby Chenani, exposing holes in the security arrangements.

NITIN KANOTRA /HTSecuritymen searching a vehicle after three motorcycle­borne youths snatched a cop’s AK­47 rifle in Jammu.

PM Modi is scheduled to visit Chenani, around 100km from here, on April 2 to inaugurate Asia’s longest bi-directional road tunnel between Chenani and Nashri on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.

The attack occurred near Mandir Masjid point at Jammu’s Dogra Chowk at around 10pm on Saturday. Mohammed Hanief, a constable deployed as personal security officer (PSO) of Delhi-based Maulana Syed Athar Dehlavi, was returning home after dropping the cleric at the Circuit House.

“At least three terrorists intercepted the cop, threw red chilies at their eyes and assaulted him with a baseball bat, before fleeing from the spot with his official weapon,” a police officer said.

While two of the attackers have been arrested, the third, Mohammed Asif, is still at large. He also possess the weapon and a magazine having 30 rounds, police said.

All the three terror suspects are from Shopian in south Kashmir. The police said they are interrogating the two arrested attackers, Marsool Ahmed Malik and Sahid.

Marsool was caught within minutes near the crime scene by locals and cops. While Sahid was arrested around 25 kilometers from Jammu at Ban Toll Plaza, Nagrota on the Jammu- Srinagar highway at around 9am on Sunday.

It is learnt that during the interrogation, Sahid revealed that after the incident, he and Mohammed Asif fled separately from the spot. As per sources his(Asif’s) location too has been traced from his call details.

Speaking to HT, inspector general of police Jammu zone, SD Singh Jamwal said, “The assault on the cop has been carried out by three persons. All of them are originally from Shopian, Kashmir. Police has managed to arrest two of them, while the third with an AK-47 rifle is still at large. However, we have launched a massive manhunt to nab the him.”

Answering queries on whether the two have been arrested on terror-related charges, Jamwal said, “They have been arrested for assaulting a cop and snatching his weapon. Moreover, other sections can be added subsequently during the course of investigation.”

He added, “At this point our main emphasis is to nab the third one.”

The injured constable was admitted to the government medical college and hospital where he received 18 stitches on the head.

The attack has created panic as pilgrims from across the country are thronging Jammu and nearby Katra ahead of the Navratra festival.

A police officer said a red alert has been sounded in Jammu city and raids are being conducted to nab the absconding attacker

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 25

A two-day national conference on ‘Advances in Science and Technology: A Step Towards Make in India in Defence Sector’ concluded at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) here today.Indian Military Academy Commandant Lt Gen SK Upadhya, who delivered the presidential address of the conference, deliberated upon the importance of technology for the Army in times to come. “Indian Army is rapidly transforming into a modern, high technology force capable of meeting complex future challenges and be a formidable pillar of national security,” he said.The Army, aligning itself with Make in India initiative, has given impetus to achieving modernisation through indigenisation. “In the present era of high technology, warfare research and development in defence sector holds the key for indigenisation and independence from other countries for weapons and equipment,” he added.Lt Gen JP Singh (retd), former Deputy Chief of Army Staff & Adviser to DRDO, spoke on the CISR as a weapon on a networked battlefield. He appealed to scientists to support the Make in India initiative of the government.Issues pertaining to physical, chemical, mathematical, material, life, environmental, forest, medical and space sciences with special reference to Make in India in the defence sector were discussed in the conference.The objective of the conference was to bring eminent scientists, defence personnel and policy makers on a common platform so that they brainstorm and deliberate about research, development and applications of science and technology in defence. Delegates from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, IITs, NITs, DRDO, ISRO and various other reputed institutions attended the same.

KHATKARKALAN(SBSNAGAR): Targeting the previous government over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, power and irrigation minister Rana Gurjit Singh on Thursday alleged the Akalis had not prepared the case properly, which had now brought Punjab to the brink of severe water crisis.

PARDEEP PANDIT/HTCabinet minister Rana Gurjit Singh paying tributes to Bhagat Singh at the martyr’s native village Khatkar Kalan.

He was addressing a gathering at Khatkar Kalan village on the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh. The cabinet minister accused Akalis of making hollow claims of making sacrifices for the river waters but failed to raise the state’s concerns before the apex court.

“I have talked with chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his team is already in New Delhi to chalk out a strategy to present the issue strongly in the court,” he said, adding the government is trying to bring the case before a tribunal.

Slamming the SAD-BJP government of ignoring the Doaba region, Rana Gurjit said the Congress government will strengthen irrigation facilities in the region by setting up an advanced system of channelising water from rivers to farms through pipes.

Remembering the great sacrifices of freedom fighters and martyrs, he said Bhagat Singh, who had dreamed of a free and democratic nation, had never thought that the future generation will fall prey to drugs. He said the Congress government’s priority was to fulfil Capt’s commitment of making Punjab a drug-free state.

Traffic police personnel gather at the Police Lines in Ludhiana on Wednesday after the Commissioner of Police gave premature compulsory retirement to two ASIs and one Head Constable. Tribune Photo: Himanashu Mahajan

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 22

Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, Commissioner of Police, who took stiff action of giving premature compulsory retirement to three traffic police personnel, two ASIs Davinder Singh and Kulwinder Singh, and one Head Constable (a clerk at traffic thana) Neelkanth, said he had planned a complete overhauling of Ludhiana Commissionerate.“As per my internal intelligence, there are some corrupt police officials who are resorting to corrupt practices in the Police Department. I will take action against them with evidence. There is no space for corruption in policing,” the CP said.Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh had assumed charge in Ludhiana on March 16. Immediately after taking over, he announced delimitation of all 28 police stations. He had also announced that no challans would be issued for a month as a goodwill gesture.“I have planned a complete overhauling of Commissionerate. The entire staff of the city police, including the traffic staff, are going to be reshuffled. They will be assigned duties as per their core strength, age factor, and other capabilities. The purpose is to utilise the force in a better way,” he revealed.When asked why three traffic police personnel were given premature retirement, he said, ASIs Davinder and Kulwnider set up a naka at Ghumar Mandi to challan traffic offenders, and this was despite his clear instructions that no challaning would be done for a month. Head Constable Neelkanth was resorting to corrupt practices in the Police Department due to which he also faced action. “They challaned a Sikh girl which the traffic police cannot do as the instruction of the court say so. They also told the girl that the CP (me) had instructed them to not spare Sikhs and challan them. They all did this in connivance with an IG rank officer, who wanted to replace me as Ludhiana CP. The matter was given a religious colour,” he said, quipping that he wrote a book on Sant Kabir and he had been posted in Amritsar, the holy city. He could not disrespect any religion, he added.Traffic police personnel express resentmentTraffic policeman expressed resentment over premature retirement given to three police personnel. They alleged it was a harsh punishment. They said the police personnel could have been suspended but they should not have been given compulsory retirement.

An Army personnel with the rescued tourists.

AjayBanerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 19

The Indian Army has rescued 127 tourists trapped in a snow blizzard across the Sela pass near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.A massive blizzard struck yesterday around 2.45 pm between Sela and Tawang in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.

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After reports of tourists and transients stuck in the blizzard were received, the Army swung into action and a rescue operation was launched within less than an hour. With darkness setting in by 5 pm, the entire operation was conducted in the dark and continued till all 127 tourists, including five foreign nationals from Japan, New Zealand and Bulgaria, were rescued, spokesperson of the Army’s Kolkata-based Eastern Command, Wing Commander SS Birdi said on Sunday.A Bulgarian woman slipped and fell down the steep gorge while she was trying to move on her own and died. Her body was recovered around midnight.The rescued persons were accommodated at Army transit camps and provided with medical assistance and comforts. The road had about 2-3 feet of snow and was opened for traffic today by the Border Roads Organisation. All vehicles were recovered and the tourists left for their respective destinations.

Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu with his wife Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu and other Congress leaders in Chandigarh on Friday. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 17

Navjot Singh Sidhu today assumed the office of the Minister for Local Bodies, putting the controversy over the post of Deputy Chief Minister to rest.Addressing the media, the former cricketer said: “Captain is like my father. I will take up any role assigned to me. I am happy with anything Captain saab deems fit for me. I have come here for serving Punjab, not for any personal benefits.”Sidhu arrived in his office accompanied by wife Dr Navjot Kaur and party MLAs Rana Gurjit Singh, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Kuljit Nagra and Pargat Singh.When asked as to how he would balance his TV assignments with his ministerial responsibilities, Sidhu said: “Janata ki awaaz mein parmatma ki awaaj hai. Jab janata ko koi itraaz nahin to aapko kyon. I will work in office till 3 pm before taking a flight to Mumbai. I will shoot till 3 am and be back in Chandigarh before you people are out of bed. Had people objected to my TV assignments, they would have not elected me by a huge margin of 43,000 votes.”Sidhu said: “I am just a soldier in the Captain’s army. There were rumours about the posts the Congress would offer me. I am above all this. The BJP had offered me to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Kurukshetra, Chandigarh or West Delhi. Later, I was accommodated in the Rajya Sabha, but my heart lies in Punjab.”He said he had given Rs2 crore from his own pocket to the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner to plant saplings. “I have won six elections in the past 12 years. I dared to call the Badals corrupt.”Sidhu said: “Had Captain asked me to be just an MLA, I would have gladly done that. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had offered me a lucrative post. AAP thought it could win just by trolling on social media. The Congress is a tried and tested party. My father was an Advocate General associated with the party for 26 years.”The former Amritsar MP said: “The Local Bodies Department has a lot of potential for public welfare, but vested interests have not allowed it to be achieved. It won’t happen now.”Talking about vendetta politics, he said: “Two wrongs do not make a right. We have to rise above vendetta politics and serve people to the best of our capabilities. Law will take care of the corrupt.”Sidhu praised Pargat Singh saying “he has character”. He slammed former Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and former Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia.He said for the first time in his life he was feeling the weight of public expectations and wondered if he would live up to those. About challenges facing their government, the minister said: “The only thing that comes in life without trying is dandruff. One has to try for everything else.”

In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ordered way of doing things, Manohar Parrikar was ordained to accomplish several radical makeovers in the Defence Ministry. Plucked from the obscurity of the politically lightweight state of Goa, the IIT graduate was brought to Delhi to wipe off the sloth and sleaze that had supposedly accumulated in the Defence Ministry during AK Antony’s stewardship. There was the question of uplifting the soldier’s morale that had been dented because of the UPA Government’s pusillanimity; speeding up purchases held up because of Antony’s indecisiveness; rearranging the higher defence management; and of course ensuring that all major weapon systems are manufactured in India. It seemed that all Parrikar had to do was to come up with approach papers and in Modi’s linear world of instant solutions, implementation could start straight away.Now that Parrikar has returned to the more familiar world of Goa, were his two years in the Defence Ministry well spent? Parrikar did accomplish the larger political purpose of equating the armed forces with the BJP’s concept of nationalism. So the Army’s surgical strike was tom-tommed all over the country, especially in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, as the ruling party’s Brahmastra to violence emanating from unresolved political questions. Any grievance against public policy was shouted down by comparing the soldier’s perseverance and sense of loyalty against all odds with the citizen’s inability to take an inconvenience in his stride.But in his Ministry, Parrikar will earn a C grade with the remarks, “showed sincerity but needed to apply himself to the job.” Indeed murmurs from the Defence Ministry all through his tenure were about Parrikar readily forsaking the perseverance required for the job for the joys of settling petty political squabbles in Goa. Was it any wonder that all through his tenure, the Ministry fell short in purchasing equipment? The suicide rate is again in the worrying range and a radical rearranging of defence management awaits another minister. Modi might have won a resounding victory in UP, but a mid-term evaluation of the Defence Ministry would indicate it has been all sound and very little actual work.

New Delhi: Manohar Parrikar’s 27-month tenure as Defence Minister has been eventful with several achievements under his belt, including the new Defence Procurement Policy (DPP), hiking compensation for widows and families of soldiers who died while fighting for the country and dealing sternly with Pakistan’s misadventures.

In fact, Parrikar was hand-picked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2014 as Defence Minister for his clean image and proven administrative abilities to relieve Arun Jaitley — who was then also holding the crucial charge of Finance Ministry — at a time when the six-month-old NDA government was still trying to find its bearings. Through his efforts, Parrikar tried to break the middlemen-arms agents-officials nexus in the defence sector and usher in transparency, ease of doing business and expedite the decision-making process.

As a Minister, Parrikar controlled the world’s third-largest military.

On the administrative front, Parrikar’s most conspicuous achievement could be the DPP 2016, in consonance with Modi’s ‘Make in India’ vision, that lays the road map of how India, currently the world’s largest arms importer, will acquire equipment in future.

The new policy created a new procurement category, called the Indian Designed, Developed, and Manufactured (IDDM) category, to be the most preferred category for buying equipment.

“I don’t want to buy from a company that pays bribes. If you want to pay a bribe, put it on the table for the government and reduce the price,” Parrikar was quoted as saying at that time.

Notably, defense exports have risen from Rs 1,153 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 2,059 crore in 2015-16. This despite two-thirds of items being removed from the military goods list.

It was under Parrikar’s tenure that the government tried to address the long pending One Rank One Pension (OROP) policy.

In November last year, Parrikar also doubled the compensation for widows and families of soldiers dying while fighting for the country in five categories.

For soldiers dying in action during border skirmishes or fighting against militants, the compensation was revised to Rs 35 lakh from the existing Rs 15 lakh.

For deaths occurring during enemy action in war or war-like engagements, in a war-torn zone in the foreign country, the compensation was increased from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 45 lakh.

Under Parrikar, the Indian forces dealt with Pakistan quite sternly whenever the neighboring country showed any aggression, including the surgical strikes across the LoC in September last year.

He is also said to be quite popular among the Generals and forces with his unassuming manners and no-nonsense approach.

Despite being the Defence Minister, Parikkar was known to take a lot of interest in Goa politics and made frequent trips to the coastal state, so much so that an MLA accused him of “selling fish” in Goa when the Rafale deal was being signed with France in New Delhi.

Interestingly, the same detractors have now insisted on Parrikar being made the Chief Minister of the state, with some non-BJP groups extending support on this condition only.

In perhaps an indication of his impending return to Goa, Parrikar, when asked on polling day, February 4, whether he was set to return as Chief Minister, had told reporters: “I have lost four kilograms in Delhi because of the food. I like Goan food. You can interpret this the way you want.”

Who won which seat, against whom, and what was the margin

Ex-taxi driver defeats SAD minister Cheema

CHANDIGARH: The driving skills of a former taxi driver got the better of the lessons of the education minister in Punjab’s Akali DalBharatiya Janta Party (BJP) lead government as the Punjab assembly election results came out on Saturday.

Former taxi driver and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Amarjit Singh Sandoa trounced education minister Daljit Singh Cheema for the Rupnagar assembly seat.

Sandao won the seat with a margin of 23,707 votes over his nearest rival, Brinder Singh Dhillon of the Congress.

Cheema, who was a prominent minister in the outgoing Parkash Singh Badal government, finished on third.

Amarjit, who used to be a taxi driver in Delhi earlier, now runs a small transport company in the national capital.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal thanks the voters at his residence in Badal village on Saturday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Badal, March 11

SAD patron and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday after the election results started coming in said he accepts the verdict and would resign tomorrow by meeting the Governor in Chandigarh.In an interaction with media persons here, Badal said, “I accept the verdict. I will congratulate the winners from all political parties and tell the losers to work hard next time. I have never challenged anyone in the past neither I will do in future. These are cheap tactics.”He however did not speak about wishing his estranged cousin Manpreet Singh Badal who won from Bathinda Urban.On whether it was his last election, Badal maintained, “I never said it was my last election. The party is supreme for me. Whatever the party will decide I will go by that.”On the reasons of SAD’s defeat, Badal said, “The media is one of the main reasons. You people highlighted some unwanted issues but I am still grateful to you.”Asked whether the drugs issue was to be blamed for the poll defeat, he said, “You people belong to Bathinda and Muktsar districts. How many addicts or drug-dealers you have seen in these districts. The issue was highlighted out of proportion.”Badal however refused to speak on the SAD having support of Dera Sacha Sauda.“I will hold thanksgiving tour soon in my constituency and remain between the people all the time,” said Badal.He further said the SAD would continue fighting on the SYL canal issue.“Water is basic necessity of everyone. The SAD is the only party which can properly highlight the issue. The Congress can only do manipulation and nothing else,” he said.  About how many seats were expected by the SAD, Badal said, “All political parties want to form government. But tell me had you thought that we would get even these much seats?”