Monthly Archives: August 2018

Army personnel take their positions in Sunjuwan area on the second day of terrorist attack in Jammu on Sunday. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh

A military tank takes its position outside family quarters in Sunjuwan, Jammu, on the second day of a terrorist strike at an army camp on Sunday. Tribune photo: Inderjeet Sing

Tribune News Service
Sunjuwan (Jammu), February 11

A shootout with some armed gunmen that began when they stormed an army camp in Jammu’s Sunjuwan in a pre-dawn strike on Saturday has left six people—five soldiers and one civilian— as well as three militants dead, a defence spokesperson said.

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

Defence spokesperson Lt Col Devender Anand confirmed three heavily armed militants—suspected to belong to Jaish-e-Mohammad— had been killed.

All three gunmen were dressed in military fatigues.

There are unconfirmed reports of two more militants being gunned down.

Among the 10 wounded are six women and a 14-year-old boy. The latter was hit in the head with a bullet and is believed to be critical.

Also among the injured is a pregnant woman who later delivered a baby. Both are believed stable.

Search operation at the camp is still ongoing. The defence spokesperson said that security forces found heavy arms and ammunition.

A group of heavily armed gunmen attacked the sprawling camp of the 36 brigade of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry early on Saturday.

Two Army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were killed on Saturday.
Lt Col Devender Anand said a number of families were still there and the Army’s aim was to ensure their safety.

“There was no firing since last night,” the officer said.

Those who were killed have been identified as Subedar Madan Lal Choudhary; Subedar Mohd Ashraf Mir; Ha. Habib-Ullah Qurashi; Naik Manzoor Ahmed; Lance Naik Mohd lqbal . A civilian, Lance Naik Iqbal’s father, also died in the operation.

Lt. Col. Rohit Solanki of 6th Mahar; Lance Naik Bahadur Singh of 1st Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry; Hay Abdul Hamid Rashid of 1st Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry; and Subedar Rajinder Singh of 6th Mahar were injured.

Six civilians were also wounded, among them a pregnant woman.

Read: Residents woken up by gunshots, grenade blastsThe latest attack on the camp took place nearly 15 months after the Jammu region was hit by a similar attack. On November 29, 2016, terrorists had stormed the Army’s Nagrota camp on the outskirts of Jammu city, killing seven Army personnel, including two officers. Three terrorists were also gunned down.

The terrorists had struck before dawn on Saturday and managed to sneak into the camp from the rear side of the base after a brief exchange of fire with the sentry on its periphery.

“The terrorists entered the family accommodation complex after which quick response teams cordoned off the area and isolated the terrorists, who are holed up in a few houses (inside the camp),” officials said.

While there was no action around the main entrance and vehicles were moving along the Jammu-Lakhanpur bypass in front of the camp, Army personnel in bullet-proof vehicles engaged in the operation to rescue people from the family quarters in the rear side of the base.

Contingents of CRPF and police were posted outside the boundary wall and were keeping curious onlookers at bay to avoid civilian casualties.

A high alert has been sounded in Jammu and security beefed up in and around the city.

Intelligence inputs had warned of an attack on an Army or security establishment by Jaish-e-Mohammed in view of the death anniversary of Afzal Guru who was hanged on February 9, 2013.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and some other senior Congress leaders visited Military Hospital to enquire after those wounded in the attack. With PTI

Majid Jahangir &

Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 6

In an audacious attack inside Srinagar’s main health care facility, a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander, a Pakistani who is believed to have met Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab at a training camp, today fled from custody, handcuffed. The attack took place at 11.38 am. Escorted by three policemen, six prisoners, including Naveed Jatt, alias Abu Hanzalla, lodged at the Srinagar Central Jail, were brought in a vehicle to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS) for a checkup. As Naveed got down, Head Constable Mushtaq Ahmad (48) and Babar Ahmad Khan (34) were shot dead.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Piecing together eyewitness accounts and CCTV footage, the police said two militants were lying in wait at the parking lot of the hospital OPD. As soon as the police vehicle drove in, a pheran-clad youth handed a pistol to Naveed, who pumped bullets into Head Constable Mushtaq Ahmad’s chest. Babar Ahmad tried to retaliate but in vain. While Mushtaq died almost immediately, the latter succumbed to his injuries hours later.The militants are believed to have escaped on a motor bike. “It seems information on Naveed’s movement was leaked out from the central jail,” state police chief Shesh Paul Vaid said. DGP, Prisons, SK Mishra has ordered an internal inquiry.Naveed, the deputy of Lashkar’s Abu Qasim, the mastermind of several deadly attacks, was arrested in Kulgam district in June 2014. A school dropout from Borevella district of Multan, he is believed to have been involved in the attack on the Army in Hyderpora, on Silver Star Hotel along the national highway outside Srinagar and three attacks on the police and CRPF camps in south Kashmir.The police wanted to shift him, along with five other prisoners, to other high-security jails outside the Valley but was disallowed by a sessions court on December 26, 2017.  (With PTI inputs)

Top defence manufacturers line up to sell their cutting-edge weapon system at a time when the govt has fine-tuned its procurement policy that lays overwhelming stress on local manufacturing. That’s easier said than done in the absence of local infrastructure and fears about secrecy

New guns coming: A soldier walks past rifles during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade. The glitch-prone Insas rifles are going to be replaced. file photos: Manas Ranjan Bhui and Agencies

The Dhanush heavy artillery gun

he Rudra attack helicopter

Ajay Banerjee in New DelhiEminent defence data analyst Global Firepower Index says the Indian military has a combined 4,207,250 active and reserve personnel in service. Various defence groups rate India’s military as one of the top five biggest in the world. India is also the world’s largest importer of weapons and military equipment, accounting for 13% of all such international imports, according to the Sweden-based think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its report. Lined up before the country are the top defence manufacturers ever since the BJP came to power in 2014 and promised to open up the sector through ‘Make in India’ route. The objective is not only to generate thousands of jobs but also replace obsolete equipment and offer the best weapons and platforms to the defence forces. That has not been simple in the absence of adequate manufacturing ecosystem, veils of secrecy in a severe bureaucratic environment and dithering among some manufacturers to part with sensitive cutting-edge technology. Nevertheless, arms manufacturing companies see it as a golden chance. Sample this: 

• Europe’s Airbus Group wants to sell its Panther helicopter. It says if it wins a contract, it would make India its global hub for the multi-purpose choppers. The company currently builds them at Marignane in France.
• Lockheed Martin says if its F-16 fighter jets are selected (it may compete with Saab for a $15 billion order) it will “support the advancement of Indian manufacturing expertise”.
• Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and France’s Naval Group want to vie for a contract of up to $10 billion to build submarines in a South Asian country.

It is clear India imports at least 90% of its defence equipment. It is banking on foreign companies to bring in new technology. The lowest bid is one key selection factor that worries some of the competitors. “We’d like to see the Indian government work with the US government to ensure that these acquisition policies don’t disadvantage US firms just because we can’t get the lowest price,” Cara Abercrombie, former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for southeast Asia, told a panel in New York.The procurement model

India’s attempt to join the nations producing world-class military equipment hinges on a new policy: ‘strategic partnership (SP) model’. Production of four crucial military items fighter jets (both for the Navy and IAF), submarines, helicopters (for all three services) and new-generation tanks are listed under this model, all cutting-edge equipment needed in a battle.The ‘SP model’ allows the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to select an Indian private company to collaborate with a foreign partner and produce military equipment in India. On paper, it looks fine, but technology transfer is tricky.In May last year — ending almost two years of discussions with industry and experts — the Modi government cleared the SP model. It was made a part of defence procurement procedure (DPP), the guiding framework of making military equipment in India.The red-tape

Why should MoD select and nominate an Indian partner for foreign companies some of whom are in the Fortune 500 list? It is a question often asked in industry circles. For the Indian companies, this clause could create a monopoly. The ideal situation should be to allow a foreign company to select its own partner from a bunch of Indian companies cleared by the MoD. It has seen some success and also failures. The Rs-32,000 crore ‘Make in India’ project to build 12 advanced minesweepers for the Navy with a South Korean firm was cancelled in January this year. An artillery programme for specialized artillery guns, the K-9 Vajra, has moved forward. The plan to include new rifles for the Army has been on the drawing board for long. Several rounds of talks later, 72,400 rifles have been cleared and the remaining 6.5 lakh will be purchased from eligible Indian vendors in tie-up with foreign manufacturer. Bullet-proof jackets are being made in India. On Jan 16, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman allowed direct proposals from builders instead of the existing system of the MoD sending out a request for information. The industry, start-ups or individuals can suggest their projects, as per a list put out by the armed forces. The industry can also have a foreign tie-up to the tune of 49% foreign holding. Ready for a long haulSeveral big-tickets items are listed to be ‘made in India. In reality it could take years for them to fructify. It’d also reflect if India can shed the position of being a leading arms importer or continues to be dependent on others for technology. The SP-model can help in building a military industrial complex and a failure could leave India still struggling with technology. Whatever decisions Sitharaman takes will decide timelines of new inductions and the quantum of transfer of technology offered by foreign partners to their Indian counterparts.Since the new policy was announced, the MoD has invited and studied proposals for the ‘Make in India’ six stealth submarines costing Rs 75,000 crore. Four major global players — Naval Group-DCNS (France), ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (Germany), Rosoboronexport Design Bureau (Russia) and Saab Kockums (Sweden) are vying to bag contracts running into thousands of crores. The MoD has asked global helicopter makers to send in their bids to make a total of 234 copters for the Indian Navy. These copters will be of two types, 123 naval multi-role helicopters (NMRH) with anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities, and another 111 armed light naval utility helicopters (NUH). The two contracts are estimated to cost nearly $10 billion (Rs 65,000 crore). Overall, 1,000 copters are needed; some 400 are being built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under two separate projects, one with the Russians and another of its own.The next big buys

• In Nov 2017, the Army sent out a global bid for 1,770 Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV) — a fancy name for a tank
• India is looking for some 200 single-engine jets for which talks have been conducted under the ‘SP-model’
• The ministry has placed an order for 114 pieces of Dhanush, a variation of the Bofors design and transfer of technology. The Army is carrying out exploitation-trials
• The desi-made Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System, jointly developed by DRDO and the private sector, has completed winter trials
• Army’s Field Artillery Rationalization Plan aims to acquire 2,800-3,000 155 mm/52-calibre guns of all kinds and 155 mm/39-calibre lightweight howitzers by 2027

The big ‘if’ in FDI 

• On July 25, 2017 the ministry said there been a mere Rs 1.13 lakh crore FDI in the defence sector in the past three years
• In Sept, secretary of defence (production) Ashok Gupta (now retired) speaking at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum said: “The government would be open to consider 100% FDI in defence, should a company be willing to provide full technology transfer”
• 100% FDI is allowed in defence sector, out of which up to 49% is under automatic route. FDI above 49% is permitted through govt route on a case-to-case basis

The collaborations

• Single-engine fighter jet Tejas is powered by US-produced General Electric engines
• The Arjun tank runs on German engines and over 30% of it has German parentage
• The latest version of Dhruv helicopter, now tasked for Siachen ops, flies on Snemca engines from France
• The Shivalik-class warships are designed in India, but are powered by French Pielstick engines. These warships used steel produced by Steel Authority of India
• Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri helped in design but used Indian steel for Vikrant, the under-construction sea-borne aircraft carrier. The engines are from General Electric, US
• N-powered submarines Arihant & Arighat are first such vessels constructed outside the five permanent members of the UNSC. While Russia helped in design, the main hull was built by India’s L&T
• The Scorpene Submarine is classic example of a joint venture with France
• Russian equipment such as Sukhoi 30MKI fighter jets and T-90 tanks are licence-produced in India

Security personnel take position around the army family quarters at Sunjuwan Military Station during the terrorist attack, in Jammu on Sunday. PTI

Bakrah (Kathua), February 11

He faced a group of heavily-armed desperate terrorists with bare hands, took scores of bullets on his chest and arms, yet ensured that the assailants could not inflict much harm on his family.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Subedar Madan Lal Choudhary, 50, eventually fell to the AK 47 bullets fired by the terrorists, who attacked his quarter at Sunjuwan Army station in Jammu, but still foiled their plan to cause maximum damage.A pall of gloom descended on this non-descript hamlet after the news of Madan Lal Choudhary’s death reached here.Yet, the people of the border belt of Hiranagar in Kathua district are proud of the brave son of soil who took on armed intruders with bare hands and saved his family and kin.Madan Lal Choudhary’s family had come to his quarter in the Military Station, Sunjuwan, as they need to shop for the wedding of a relative.”He mustered a lot of courage and saved the life of other family members very tactically by not allowing the terrorists to enter his quarter,” his brother Surinder Choudhary said.Surinder Choudhary said his his brother managed to facilitate the exit of family members from the back as he blocked the entry of terrorists.However, Madan Lal Choudhary’s 20-year-old daughter Neha received a bullet injury in the leg while his sister-in-law Paramjeet also received minor injuries. But all of them managed to survive.”I am proud of my younger brother who braved bullets, fought heavily-armed militants with bare hands to save family members and kin. Had he failed to save them, the entire family would have been wiped out. He foiled the militants’ plan to cause maximum causalities,” Surinder Choudhary said.Madan Lal Choudhary, who rose to the post of a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) — a Subedar — belonged to a family of defence force personnel.His elder brother Shamsher Singh is an ex-serviceman, his son Ankush a Captain in the Indian Army, and his nephew Sandeep is in the Indian Air Force.He is survived by father Inder Chand and mother Banti Devi besides three brothers.The elderly parents father and mother were unaware about their loss till last evening even as the people and relatives thronged their residence.It was only when Madan Lal Choudhary’s wife Karamjeet and his elder brother Shamsher reached home, that they were told the news of his death.People of the village, who witnessed the terror of partition in 1947 and are refugees from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), were proud of Madan Lal Choudhary’s sacrifice.”We are proud of him. He has fought armed terrorists with bare hands and save all of the family members and some kin. He should be awarded,” Dhyan Chand, a villager, said.Family members, however, lament that at a time they were preparing for the marriage of his nephew Sandeep in April, they are forced to come to grips with this painful reality.Five Army men, including two JCOs, and a father of another personnel died and 11 injured in a attack by JeM terrorists on the Army camp in Sunjwan in Jammu city. — PTI 

The father of Army Major Aditya Kumar had moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the FIR against his son.

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 12

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed all proceedings in connection with an FIR registered by the Jammu and Kashmir Police naming Major Aditya Kumar as an accused with regard to Shopian firing incident.

A three-judge Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India — which had on February 9 agreed to hear the matter — also directed that no coercive measures shall be taken against Major Aditya Kumar.

The Bench issued notice to the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir Government and asked the petitioner — Major Aditya Kumar’s father Lt Colonel Karamveer Singh to serve a copy of his petition to the office of the Attorney General to enable him represent the Union of India.

The order came on a petition filed by Major Aditya Kumar’s father seeking quashing of the January 27 FIR against his son.

The petitioner was represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi while Attorney General appeared for the Centre.

Besides quashing of the FIR, Petitioner Lt Colonel Karamveer Singh has sought guidelines to protect soldiers’ rights and adequate compensation for them. Two civilians were killed when Army personnel fired at a stone-pelting mob in Ganovpora village in Shopian, prompting the chief minister to order an inquiry into the incident.

The FIR was registered against the personnel of 10, Garhwal unit of the Army, including Major Kumar, under the Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Ranbir Penal Code.

The Army had on February 1 presented its version of events contradicting the police FIR. It reiterated that soldiers opened fire on protesters in “self-defence” to prevent imminent lynching of an officer, snatching of weapons by villagers and burning of the Army vehicles.

The petitioner contended that FIR had been illegally filed against Major Aditya Kumar.

In his petition, Lt Colonel Karamveer Singh has contended his son had been “wrongly and arbitrarily” named in the FIR as the February 27 incident related to an Army convoy on bona fide military duty in an area under the AFSPA, which was isolated by an “unruly and deranged” mob pelting stones causing damage to military vehicles.

“The petitioner is constrained to file the present writ petition for quashing of FIR, directly before this court in view of the extremely hostile situation on the ground, whereby an FIR has been registered by local police against the son of the petitioner, who is a service Army officer and was performing bona fide duties as directed by the Union of India,” read his petition. He urged the top court to lay down guidelines to protect rights of soldiers and adequate compensation so that no Army personnel is harassed by initiation of criminal proceedings for bonafide actions in exercise of their duties. He also demanded registration of FIR against those involved in terrorist activities which caused damage to government property.

The petitioner said the intention of his son — a Major in the 10 Garhwal Rifles — was to save Army personnel and property and the fire was inflicted “only to impair and provide a safe escape from a savage and violent mob engaged in terrorist activity”.

The unruly mob was asked to disperse and not to obstruct military in performing their duties and not to damage government property but when the situation reached beyond control, a warning was issued to disperse, the plea said.

As the unruly behaviour of the “unlawful assembly” reached peak and when they got hold of a Junior Commissioned Officer and were in the process of lynching him to death, warning shots were fired fire to disperse the violent mob and protect public property, the petitioner submitted.

Singh also referred to last year’s incident of a mob lynching of DSP Mohd Ayub Pandith to highlight the situation in the troubled state and the condition in which Army officials were working to control violent mobs in Kashmir.

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh during his visit at the Jang-e-Azadi memorial at Kartarpur in Jalandhar on Saturday. A Tribune Photograph

Tribune News Service

Kartarpur (Jalandhar), February 10

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh will dedicate the second phase of the Jang-e-Azadi memorial to the nation on March 6.A decision to this effect was taken by the Chief Minister at a meeting held at the memorial with Barjinder Singh Hamdard, chairman of the Jang-e-Azadi Foundation and Managing Editor, Ajit Group of Newspapers, along with other officials.The meeting came a day after the Punjab Government released Rs 5 crore for the project, with the remaining sum of Rs 9 crore set to be released soon. The Chief Minister had sanctioned the final instalment of Rs 15 crore for the completion of the second phase of the memorial last year.The first phase of the project was completed in June 2017. The Chief Minister was updated about the work on the second phase of the memorial during the meeting.He said once inaugurated, the state-of-the-art memorial would give a major fillip to the tourism sector in the state and lead to Kartarpur’s emergence on the world tourist map. Earlier, Dr Barjinder Singh Hamdard, president of the executive committee of the Jang-E-Azaadi Foundation, welcomed the Chief Minister to the memorial and apprised him of the progress of the project being managed by Jang-e-Azadi Foundation.The project, spread across 25 acres, was sanctioned in July 2012 at a cost of Rs 315 crore.Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Media Advisor to Chief Minister Raveen Thukral, OSD to Chief Minister Gurpreet Singh Sonu Dhesi, Lok Sabha Chaudhary Santokh Singh, MLAs Pargat Singh, Sushil Kumar Rinku, Chaudhary Surinder Singh and Bawa Henry, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma, Inspector General of Police Arpit Shukla, Commissioner of Police Praveen Kumar Sinha, Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, Congress leader Tejinder Singh Bittu, Director Land Records Vinay Bublani and Deputy Mayor Jalandhar Harsimranjit Singh Bunty were present during the meeting.

New Delhi, February 5

The Delhi High Court today asked how the Army could object to the recruitment of married women in its legal branch JAG after the display by women fighter pilots and the BSF all-women bikers’ contingent on Republic Day.A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said the Army should take a “legal stand” against the objections instead of filing a response to the affidavit.“After the Republic Day display by the women (the fighter pilots and the BSF bikers), how can you (Army) still maintain these objections (to recruitment of married women in the Judge Advocate General),” it said and listed the matter for further hearing on March 19.The observation by the court came during the hearing of a PIL by a lawyer claiming that there was “institutionalised discrimination” against married women by not inducting them in the JAG service, the legal branch of the Army.Advocate Charu Wali Khanna, appearing for petitioner Kush Kalra, told the Bench that earlier there was a bar on recruitment of married women, but this prohibition was extended to married men after filing of the PIL. — PTI

Punjab is possibly the only state to follow the system of government paying taxes for all ministers and MLAs.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 5

In view of the severe financial constraints faced by the government, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday suggested that all elected representatives in the state, including ministers and MLAs, should pay their own income taxes.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Currently being paid by the government, these taxes are draining the exchequer of the much needed funds, the Chief Minister pointed out, mooting the proposal for self-payment of taxes by all elected representatives, including himself.Punjab was possibly the only state in the country to follow the system of the government paying taxes for all ministers and MLAs, Captain Amarinder pointed out, adding that the income tax being paid by the Punjab government on this account stood at Rs 11.08 crore.While the bulk of Rs 10.72 crore was for payment of income tax of MLAs, the remaining was for the ministers, disclosed an official spokesperson after a meeting of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Fiscal Management, where the proposal was mooted by the Chief Minister.The suggestion, if implemented, would lead to a saving of this entire amount, which the state could then use for various important development works and implementation of welfare schemes, many of which are facing serious hurdles due to paucity of funds.In a bid to boost savings for the state government, the Chief Minister also reiterated his appeal to party colleagues and rich farmers to give up free power subsidy. Captain Amarinder had first made this appeal during the Vidhan Sabha session in June last year, when he personally set an example by giving up his own subsidy. 

The Union Budget 2018-19 evoked a mixed response. Tribune reporter Ramkrishan Upadhyay speaks to a cross section of people