Army personnel take position during a search operation in Shopian and Pulwama on Thursday. Tribune Photo: Mohd Amin War

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 4

Militants attacked an Army patrol at Kellora village in Shopian today, leaving a civilian dead and three personnel injured, hours after the security forces had concluded a massive search operation in the district to flush out militants believed to be holed up inside homes.Hizbul militants opened fire on a patrol of 62 Rashtriya Rifles. “A civilian (driver) and two Army personnel were injured. The driver, Nazir Ahmed, died later in hospital,” a police official said. The militants struck when the troops were carrying out a “reverse sweep” of Chowdari Gund and Kellora villages this evening. “Reverse sweep” is a term used by the Army to describe a surprise check of a location combed earlier.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Engaging 3,000 police, Army and CRPF personnel, the forces carried out searches in 20 villages of Shopian district, including Turkwangam and Sugan, where militants have recently been seen moving around freely.“Operation Clean-up”, launched after a spate of militant attacks in the area, and perhaps the biggest in more than a decade in the troubled Kashmir valley, was launched at 3 am, with forces on the ground backed by helicopters and drones. It ended at 2 pm. Door-to-door searches, a practice stopped in the late 1990s, were conducted. Villagers were asked to assemble at a common place and their houses thoroughly searched. There were reports of locals attacking policemen with stones in Turkawangam village. Jawans retreating after the searches too were stoned at various places.“Searches were carried out in areas where militants have been sighted shooting videos to lure local youths to militancy. Recently, a video showing 30 militants armed with rifles was shot in the area,” said a security officer. Post Hizb commander Burhan Wani’s death in an encounter last year, Shopian has witnessed several  violent incidents. In February this year, militants ambushed an Army patrol, killing three soldiers and wounding five. 

Pak rejects India’s claim on beaheading, says will respond to any misadventure

Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh From Tarn Taran in Punjab and (R) BSF Head Constable Prem Sagar From Deoria in Uttar Pradesh

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 2

Army Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen AK Bhatt on Tuesday told his Pakistan counterpart Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza that mutilation of bodies of Indians warranted unequivocal response.Using the word ‘unequivocal’, which means unambiguous, was like a warning to Pakistan that India would respond. On Monday, two Indian soldiers, one from the Army and one from the BSF, had died and their bodies mutilated in a military action by Pakistan in the Krishna Ghati sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Lt Gen Bhat termed the mutilation (beheading) as a dastardly and inhuman act. “It is beyond the norms of civility and merits unequivocal condemnation and response.”Lt Gen Bhat told the Pakistan DGMO that “full fire” support was provided by Pakistan Army located in the vicinity.He rejected claims made by Pakistan Army on Monday which had said that its troops were not involved in mutilation of Indian soldiers.“Pakistan troops targeted Indian Army patrol on the Indian side of the LC (military usage for LoC) and mutilated bodies of the Indian soldiers,” Lt Gen Bhat told his counterpart in Pakistan. The Indian Army tweeted the full text of the statement.He also spoke about presence of border action team training in the vicinity of the LoC.On Monday night, local commanders’ level hotline contact was established at Rawalkot-Poonch sector on the LoC.

Pak rejects India’s claim on beheading, says will respond to any misadventure

Meanwhile Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued a statement from Rawalpindi saying, “The DGMO, Pakistan Army, Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza rejected baseless and unfounded Indian allegations of mutilation of Indian Army soldiers’ bodies by Pakistan Army.”The DGMO asked for actionable evidence and cautioned his Indian counterpart saying any misadventure from India would be appropriately responded at a place and time of its own choosing.The issue was discussed during a hotline contact between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of Pakistan and India this morning to defuse the tension.Pakistan DGMO Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza told his Indian counterpart Lt Gen A K Bhatt that neither ceasefire violations occurred in the Sector (pointed out by India in the mutilation allegation), nor crossing of the LoC by Pakistanis troops have taken place.The Pakistani statement said the DGMO, Pakistan Army, highlighted that Pakistan Army is a professional military outfit and upholds the highest standards of conduct.“Allegations of mutilation are India’s attempt to divert the attention of world from situation in the Valley,” it said.

Capt Amarinder Singh, Punjab Chief Minister

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 30

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today claimed his government’s anti-drug task force was “close to major results and has broken the back of drug cartels in the state”. He was answering queries as to why he had not been able to root out the drug menace within a month of assuming power, as promised by the Congress.“Since we came to power, 1,400 peddlers have been arrested. We need to reach the sharks. Our team says we are close to major results. I cannot say today if there is a political nexus in Punjab’s drug trade. The law will take its course. I have ordered there should be no vendetta. Heroin prices are already up 60 per cent, which means markets have been compressed. We have broken the back of Punjab’s drug cartels,” he said.

Meanwhile, dismissing predictions of Congress’ doom, the CM said the party must declare CM candidates in all poll-bound states — Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka — and must groom regional leaders. Speaking with The Tribune, he said he favoured a consensus on the name of Congress president as “consensus binds the party together”.Asserting that Rahul Gandhi was ready to take over the party reins, he said: “I have dealt with him for two years. I think he is up to it… One must not write him off. He is perceptive and wants to know about everything.”

Raipur, May 30

Naxals torched a bus after asking passengers to alight in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district while seven rebels were arrested today following a face-off with the police in a nearby area, an official said today.When the private bus was on its way to Orchha from Narayanpur, a group of Naxals, some of them armed, stopped the vehicle last night near Jhorigaon village, around 300 km from the state capital, SP Santosh Singh said. “The rebels asked the passengers to de-board and then set the bus ablaze. The exact number of passengers is not known but all of them are reported safe,” he said.Security personnel rushed to the spot soon after receiving an alert. A combing operation has been launched in the region to nab the attackers, he said. According to Singh, the Naxals are frustrated with the road construction work in the region and, therefore, are committing such acts.“The ultras have been opposing road construction from Narayanpur to Orchha in Abujhmaad, considered as a Maoist den,” Singh said.Meanwhile, seven Naxals were today arrested in a nearby village in Narayanpur. They were nabbed after an exchange of fire between the ultras and security personnel near Tekanar village on Sunday on suspicion that they were involved in the skirmish, Singh said. — PTI

Arson in Bastar

• Suspected Naxals on Tuesday torched battery room of a mobile tower of BSNL in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar
• The tower was not damaged and is operational
• The police also found pamphlets left by Naxals protesting killing of rebel leader ‘Vilas’ in an encounter in Burgum area on May 14

Illustration by Sandeep Joshi

New Delhi, May 26

KPS Gill, the supercop credited with rooting out terrorism in Punjab with an iron hand, passed away today, succumbing to a kidney ailment at the age of 82.The IPS officer, who served as the Director General of Punjab Police twice during the peak of militancy, was considered an authority on dealing with security issues and even after his retirement, his services were utilised by the governments of Chhattisgarh and Gujarat.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)He had also served as the DGP in Assam and after his retirement, the benefit of his expertise was availed of even by Sri Lanka in 2000 during its fight against LTTE.The towering personality breathed his last at 2.55 pm at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, where he was admitted on May 18. The cremation will take place at 4 pm here on Sunday.An outspoken and daring officer who led from the front, Gill headed Punjab Police from 1988 to 1990 and then again from 1991 until his retirement in 1995.Related: 

• Super, and controversial, top cop
• He stood by his men, say former colleagues
• Modi recalls Gill’s service to nation
• An exceptional leader
• He cared little for means, but still deserves credit

A major feather in his crown was commanding Operation Black Thunder in 1988 to flush out militants from Golden Temple. The operation was a huge success as little damage was caused to the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, compared to Operation Bluestar in 1984 carried out by the Army.During the fight against terrorism under Gill, the Punjab Police faced a number of allegations of human rights violations. After the 2002 Gujarat riots, he was appointed security adviser to the then CM Narendra Modi. Gill requested deployment of 1,000 riot police from Punjab.Gill also headed the Indian Hockey Federation for several years, which too was surrounded often by controversies. His career was tainted by charges of sexual harassment at a party in 1988 for which he was convicted in 1996. — PTI

Punjab CM condoles former DGP KPS Gill’s death

Former Punjab DGP KPS Gill. File photo

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 26

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday offered his condolence on the death of former state DGP KPS Gill, recalling his invaluable contribution to bringing peace back to the state from the grip of militancy.The chief minister said Gill’s role in restoring peace and stability to Punjab cannot be undermined or forgotten, and he continues to be emulated by police and security personnel around the country, as an example of how the most complex of problems can be resolved with grit and determination.Expressing his heartfelt sympathies for the bereaved family, the chief minister said his thoughts and prayers were with them in their hour of grief.State Health Minister Brahm Mohindra also expressed profound grief and sorrow over the sad demise of KPS Gill.In a condolence message, Mohindra said KPS Gill was a committed and decorated police officer who served twice as the Director General of Police in Punjab. He termed KPS Gill as an honest, brave, highly efficient and upright officer.

Gill rules out terror revival in state

Former DGP says Rajiv brought in Bhindranwale to counter Akalis

Former DGP KPS Gill and Sadhavi Khosla, co-authors of a book on Punjab, in Delhi on Thursday. Tribune Photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 2

Former Punjab DGP KPS Gill said here today that Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had been brought in by Rajiv Gandhi to counter the Akalis, even as he ruled out the revival of terrorism in the state.Gill, who served as the DGP from 1988 to 1990 and then from 1991 till his retirement in 1995, spoke to The Tribune on the eve of the release of his book, ‘Punjab: The Enemies Within’, co-authored with Sadhavi Khosla.The 1957-batch Assam-cadre IPS officer said the seeds of terrorism in the state had also been sown by the linguistic movement of the 1950s and 1960s, when efforts were made to promote Hindi as the dominant language by suppressing other languages.Commenting on former President General Pervez Musharraf’s assertion that Pakistan could revive the Khalistan movement, Gill said: “Musharrraf will be proven wrong, just as he was mistaken in his assessment before the Kargil War (1999).” He also dismissed speculation that drug addicts in Punjab could be used as fidayeen (suicide bombers).Khosla, who hails from Patiala, said the book also addressed contemporary issues such as drugs, low farm productivity and lack of jobs. “Let’s sort the problems collectively,” said the author, who has made a documentary on Punjab’s drug menace.

Indira was wrongly advised on Bluestar: KPS Gill
Blames PMO, but takes no names in his biography Gives clean chit to Army
Ajay Banerjee/TNS

New Delhi, October 31
More than 29 years after the controversial Operation Bluestar in June of 1984, Punjab’s former Director General of Police Kanwar Pal Singh Gill has claimed that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi would not have allowed the operation, but was wrongly advised to do so as it was presented as the only option by her advisors.

The operation – much criticised and scrutinised over nearly three decades — was to storm the Amritsar’s Golden Temple with tanks of the Indian Army to flush out Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his band of armed supporters.

The official biography of the supercop titled ‘KPS Gill The Paramount Cop’ released here tonight, also the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi, talks candidly of the role played by the 1957-batch Assam cadre IPS officer in tackling militancy in Punjab. Authored by Rahul Chandan, the 244-page book presents Gill’s opinion of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narsimha Rao and has passing references to VP Singh and Chandrashekhar, all Prime Ministers during the dark days of militancy in Punjab.

On Operation Bluestar, the author quotes Gill as having said: “(It) was conducted in a hasty manner and without thinking what impact it would have on the hearts and minds of Sikhs.” The book says Gill told his fellow officers: “Don’t understand how Mrs Gandhi can order such an operation.”

In what could be seen as a sort of clean-chit to Indira’s decision to order the operation, Gill is quoted as having said: “As far as Operation Bluestar is concerned, I know as being a witness to the secular credentials of Mrs Gandhi, she would have never have let that happen had she been advised properly. Advisors of Mrs Gandhi were not guiding her properly and the problem at hand they told her was a mountain whereas it was only a small hill.”

Gill, who was posted as IG BSF at Jammu in January 1984 and later posted as IG Punjab Armed Police in September that year, says Operation Bluestar can never be justified and blames the Prime Minister’s Office for it, but stops short of naming anyone in the Indira-led PMO. “The Army, however, is not to blame for this botched-up operation; it was acting on the specific direction of the PMO and had been given little time to prepare.”

The book says Operation Bluestar and the November 1984 Sikh massacres were the two most significant happenings for the cause of ‘Khalistan’ inflicted upon the nation by its own government. These two events in combination, gave a new lease of life to a movement, which could have easily been contained in 1984 itself, it says.

Giving reasons for militancy in Punjab, the book says: “One of the factors of militancy in Punjab was the high-level of complicity of New Delhi. Eager to consolidate its political hold over the state, the ruling party at the Centre (Congress) was prepared to ignore political violence.”

Gill goes on to speak about Rajiv Gandhi and the conduct of Operation Black Thunder in 1988: “(Rajiv) He had a very good grasp of what was happening and how it should be tackled. He was personally very honest… If any of his decisions didn’t go well, the fault lay with people who surrounded him.”

The supercop also narrates how PV Narimsha Rao (1991-1996) gave him a “free hand” and how Punjab Chief Minister late Beant Singh was keen to tackle militancy.

The book also reveals the genesis of Gill’s friendship with internal security ex-minister late Rajesh Pilot. Both were together in Shillong when Gill was a young IPS officer and Pilot was serving the Air Force as a fighter pilot. Pilot died in a road accident in 2000 and Gill retired from the IPS in 1995. 

L TO R–Late S. Albel SIngh Grewal,Media advisor to CM,KPS Gill,CM Beant Singh

A Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet of the Indian Air Force. File photo

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 23

A Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet of the Indian Air Force is missing since 11 am on Tuesday. Two pilots are in the jet which had taken off from Tezpur in Assam.The aircraft had got airborne from Tezpur around 10:30 am on a routine training mission. It lost radar and radio contact approximately 60 Km north of Tezpur towards Arunachal Pradesh.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)“The aircraft is overdue and actions have been initiated,”   IAF sources said.The Sukhoi, a twin-engined aircraft, is of Russian origin and is considered a stable aircraft.

This is the second major cordon-and-search operation in Shopian in south Kashmir in the last 15 days and the first after the killing of a young Kashmiri army officer Ummer Fayaz.

This is the second major cordon-and-search operation in Shopian in the last 15 days. (File)
SRINAGAR: A massive search operation involving around 1,000 security personnel was launched in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian in the early hours today after reports of terrorists in a village.

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The anti-terror ops that began at 3 am in Heff Shirmal village have ended. The army, police and Central Reserve Police Force or CRPF launched a joint operation after information that terrorists were hiding in the village believed to be a hotbed of militancy.

“Over 500 houses were searched. It was already planned that cordon-and-search operation will be completed before 10 am,” the police said.

This is the second major cordon-and-search operation in Shopian in south Kashmir in the last 15 days and the first after the killing of a young Kashmiri army officer Ummer Fayaz. Lieutenant Fayaz was kidnapped from a family wedding last week and killed. His body was found in Shopian.

lieutenant ummer fayaz
Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz was kidnapped from a family wedding last week and killed.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley is to travel to the Kashmir Valley today to review the security situation.

Earlier this month, after a series of attacks and videos showing large groups of terrorists moving freely in the area, a massive security operation was launched.

More than 3,000 personnel of the Army, Central Reserve Police Force and Jammu and Kashmir police were involved in the operation to search over two dozen villages, orchards and forest areas.

A number of videos have surfaced showing large groups of heavily-armed terrorists marching in the orchards of Shopian.

Around 100 local young men are suspected to have joined militancy after the unrest triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani in July last year.

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The family of Colonel Manu Tondon bid a tearful adieu to him in Karnal on Wednesday. Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Karnal, May 17

Colonel Manu Tondon, who was a doctor in the Army Medical Corps (AMC), died in Leh yesterday. He was cremated at the Model Town cremation ground with full state honours here today.The reason for his death has not been disclosed so far. He is survived by his father Hari Krishan Tondon, wife Dr Geetanjali and daughters Barkha and Ishra.His father, a retired NDRI scientist, said Colonel Tondon had been serving the Army for the last 23 years and was posted in Leh six months back.He added that he had talked to his son two or three days back, when he said he would come home during the vacation in June. Local residents thronged his residence to pay tributes.SDM Yogesh Kumar, DSP Shakuntala, tehsildar Shyam Lal, Zila Sainik Board secretary Colonel Ravinder Singh and Capt Nitish Kumar from the AMC paid tributes to Colonel Tondon.