Security forces eliminate militants in Burhan Wani’s hometown after 18­hr gunfight as CRPF men fend off stone­pelters

A policeman and two militants were killed on Sunday in a fierce 18-hour gunfight in south Kashmir’s Tral, as people from neighbouring villages threw stones at security personnel to disrupt the counter-insurgency operation.

PTICRPF jawans stand guard at Nigeen Pora during an encounter in Tral on Sunday. A police constable was killed in the operation.

The overnight exchange in the hometown of militant Burhan Wani, whose killing triggered five months of unrest in the Kashmir Valley last year, left a local militant, Aqib Maulvi, and a Pakistani dead, director general of police SP Vaid said.

Maulvi was a top commander of the Hizbul Mujahedeen, the state’s police chief said.

The identity of the Pakistani militant was being ascertained, sources said. Police constable Manzoor Ahmed Naik of Uri was also killed in the operation that began at 7pm Saturday.

As security forces took on the militants holed up in the house of a carpenter in Hafoo area, hundreds of people from nearby 10 villages gathered closed to site and started to protest, eyewitnesses said. Some of them resorted to stone pelting, forcing security forces to use teargas and fire in the air, sources said.

Some miscreants also snatched the rifle of a Central Reserve Police Force man. Police downplayed the incident saying it was “minor” and situation was “well under control”. Army chief general Bipin Rawat recently warned civilians against preventing forces from carrying out antiterror operations or searches.

Patiala

Col PK Mohanty from Bathinda has been sentenced to three years in jail and a fine of Rs 15,000 imposed on him after he was found guilty of accepting a bribe by the court of Special CBI Judge Harjit Singh. The Central Bureau of Investigation had laid a trap and arrested Col Mohanty from the Bathinda cantonment in April 2009 for accepting a bribe of Rs 60,000 from a contractor for clearing bills of a road contractor. Mohanty was posted in Military Engineering Services (MES) at that point. TNS

Patiala CBI court holds serving colonel guilty in corruption case

CBI had nabbed the officer in 2009 while taking a bribe of ₹5,000 when he was the Commander Works Engineer in Bathinda

A CONTRACTOR HAD APPROACHED THE CBI ALLEGING THAT THE COL MOHANTY, WHO IS CURRENTLY POSTED IN KARGIL, AND ANOTHER OFFICIAL RAJIV TRIVEDI WERE DEMANDING A BRIBE FOR CLEARING PAYMENTS OF HIS PREVIOUS WORKS AND AWARDING NEW TENDERS

The special CBI court here has convicted a serving army colonel in a 2009 corruption case. The verdict was pronounced on Friday.

Colonel PK Mohanty, who is currently posted in Kargil, was sent to Patiala Jail after the court pronounced a sentence of three years and imposed a fine of ₹15,000. The CBI had nabbed the officer while taking a bribe of ₹5,000 when he was the Commander Works Engineer (CWE) in Bathinda.

In 2009, a contractor Parveen Kumar had approached the CBI alleging that the Col Mohanty and another official Rajiv Trivedi, were demanding a bribe for clearing payments of his previous works and awarding new tenders. As per complaint, the CWE was demanding 2.5% share in each work carried out by the contractor. The probe agency laid a trap on April 20, 2009, and gave marked currency to the complainant. As per the plan, the complainant handed over the amount to the colonel, but when the CBI raided the place they failed to recover the amount. However, when the officers hands were dipped in water, they turned red, indicating that he had taken the notes coated with potassium permanganate.

When the accused was grilled on the spot, he confessed to have hid the money in his bathroom. The CBI found the money in a pillar tap with a special hollow base. Apart from the bribe money, the CBI recovered Rs 55,000 which the accused allegedly took from some other person. The CBI videographed the recovery and presented a challan in the court.

During the trial, Col Mohanty’s lawyer argued that the money was placed by the complainant in the bathroom. He also argued that there was no evidence that the accused had demanded bribe.

However, the CBI produced an audio recording between the complainant and the accused following which special CBI judge Harjeet Singh said prosecution has produced witnesses, evidences and arguments which are cogent, convincing and worthy of reliance to prove that the colonel was guilty.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 4

The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea filed by the Army seeking review of the apex court’s earlier ruling wherein it had held that a Summary Court Martial (SCM) must be held only rarely and in exceptional circumstances, with reasons recorded in writing.In one of its most important rulings on military law, the SC had declared in July 2016 that the Army’s system of convening Summary Court Martials was an exceptional provision and not the rule. The SC had upheld the view of the Delhi High Court that the SCM is an exception and before conducting it, the immediacy of action must be shown with recorded reasons.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)There are four types of courts martial in the Army and the SCM accounts for the highest number amongst them. Convened and held by the commanding officer of a unit, these one-man courts used extensively for enforcing discipline and can award any punishment, including dismissal from service, but not the death sentence or imprisonment beyond a period of an year.The HC had held that the origin of the SCM could be traced back to the 1857 mutiny for “prompt and swift award of punishment to indisciplined sepoy malefactors.” It had held that the SCM was meant for extraordinary situations and routine recourse would result in taking away “livelihood without affording normal procedural protections of law.”The SC had also endorsed the view of a Committee of Experts constituted by the Defence Minister to look into the litigation. The committee had opined that the SCM was an exceptional provision not meant for regular recourse and it was desirable to replace it with a more robust system meeting constitutional norms.The panel had observed that there was not even a concept of a “judgment or detailed reasons” in the SCM which did not meet the basic fundamentals of a trial or objectivity as laid down by the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and there was no availability of even a legally trained Judge Advocate to advise the officer conducting the trial.

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 1

The Vajra Corps celebrated its 68th Raising Day today.To mark the occasion Lt-Gen BS Sahrawat, General Officer Commanding, Vajra Corps, laid a wreath and paid homage to martyrs of the Vajra Corps at the Vajra Shaurya Sthal. The ceremony were attended by serving and veteran officers.Vajra Corps was the first Corps raised in the country after the Independence in 1950 by Lt-Gen Kulwant Singh in Ambala.The Vajra Corps Headquarters was relocated to Jalandhar in 1951 and it proved its mettle on the strategic Western Front in various wars and achieved its objectives with elan and vigour.The Corps witnessed some of the fiercest battles in the history during the 1965 War. From the graveyard of Patton Nagar to the ruins of Barki and Dograi, numerous acts of individual and collective bravery, gallant sacrifices and inspiring leadership ensured that Vajra Corps played a pivotal role in shaping the history of the nation.The Vajra Corps is bestowed with the ‘Theatre Honour of Punjab’ and ‘Battle Honours of Sehjra’ and ‘Dera Baba Nanak’ and is proudly identified as the ‘Defenders of Punjab’.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 26

A Lieutenant Colonel in the Army has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging failure on the part of bureaucrats in the Ministry of Defence to implement orders of the Defence Minister to rationalise the system of granting maintenance allowance to estranged wives of serving personnel.Stating that he had been issued orders to give maintenance allowance to his wife through a non-speaking order, the officer has contended that despite the lapse of six months, MoD officials had failed to give effect to directions of the Defence Minister, thereby, not only jeopardising his rights and property but also undermining the authority of the highest political executive.Under provisions of the Army Act, penal deductions from salaries can be made for paying maintenance to wives if they apply for the same. The officer has averred that the stipulation was not repealed even after inception of maintenance provisions in the Hindu Marriage Act, since the pay and allowances of defence personnel were immune from attachment by courts, thereby, necessitating an enabling provision to give effect to maintenance orders by civil courts.