Maj Gen Arvind Dutta, General Officer Commanding, Victor Force, talks to mediapersons after the Pampore encounter ended on Monday. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Majid Jahangir

Srinagar, February 22

The nearly 48-hour-long encounter ended today as security forces gunned down all three highly trained foreign militants who were holed up inside a multi-storey government building on the outskirts of the city.The militants, suspected to from the Lashkar-e-Toiba, were killed by special forces of the Army after an intense gunfight on the third floor of the Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) building at Sempora, 15 km from here, on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.The General Officer Commanding of Victor Force, Maj Gen Arvind Dutta, said all three slain militants were foreigners. “They were foreign terrorists and we are yet to identify them,” said Maj Gen Arvind Dutta, General Officer Commanding of Victor Force.“A lot of arms and war-like ammunition have been recovered from them. The process of sanitising the building is under way,” he said. With the killing of three militants, the death toll in the gunfight that erupted on Saturday afternoon reached nine.Three para commandos, including Capt Pawan Kumar and Capt Tushar Mahajan, two CRPF men and a civilian were also killed in the gunfight. Over a dozen security men were injured in the gunfight, which was the first major attack in Srinagar and its outskirts in the past six years.Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar said the police were trying to establish the identity of the militants. “We are ascertaining their identity,” he told The Tribune.The Army said the militants were at an advantage and were watching the movement of security forces. “The huge building had 44 rooms, not counting smaller rooms and toilets, and an area of 10,000 square feet. The terrorists had a big opportunity to hide in the building,” Maj Gen Dutta said.Sources said the final assault was launched this morning in the machine room of the building, where the militants were cornered by para commandos.The Army had to take every inch of the building cautiously since Sunday evening after militants took shelter in it.  There was heavy exchange of fire intermittently till the gunfight ended.  The building caught fire during the gunfight and the flames later subsided.There were protests in many areas of Pampore as people tried to march towards the encounter site. There were reports of clashes in the area, in which four persons received injuries.The police said it would take time to sanitise the entire JKEDI building and they were ensuring that the militants had not laid any booby trap.

Terrorists had the advantage

Army vehicles rush to Pampore on Monday. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Tribune News Service

Udhampur/Jammu, February 22

The Pampore encounter, that concluded after more than 48 hours of intermittent but fierce gunfight, had its own peculiarities never seen before in Kashmir in the past 26 years.Three foreign terrorists were killed in the encounter, in which Capt Tushar Mahajan, Capt Pawan Kumar and Lance Naik Om Prakash also laid down their life.The encounter started at 3.30 pm on Saturday when three heavily armed terrorists stormed the four-storey Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneur Development Institute (JKEDI) building after ambushing a CRPF convoy, killing two personnel and injuring several others, with a “sinister design” to provoke forces and cause collateral damage.The Army ferried 120 civilians out of the premises in bullet-proof vehicles. Earlier, terrorists had been involved in fierce encounters either in private houses or forest areas, where they did not have much of an advantage of keeping an eye on the movement of soldiers.The JKEDI is a vast complex with a plinth area of 10,000 square feet, according to Maj Gen Arvind Dutta, General Officer Commanding of the Victor Force, headquartered at Awantipora.It is a four-storey building with a basement and restaurant on top. The structure is such that it has many corners which appear a perfect hiding place for terrorists.They were positioned at places in the 44-room building where they could see Army movement while the soldiers did not have that advantage, claimed a source in the Northern Command.The Army pressed used bullet-proof vehicles to evacuate 120 civilians. It was a successful operation, said Maj Gen Dutta. He said a huge cache of arms and ammunition and war-like stores were recovered.All three terrorists were from across the border and it was not known whether or not they had carried out any recce, the source added.The building had been constructed using modern technology and had vast space for employees and trainees who could become future entrepreneurs.

Militants had come prepared for a long fight: Eyewitnesses

Tribune News Service,Srinagar, February 22

Security agencies are yet to ascertain whether the three militants killed in the Pampore attack were part of the fidayeen group.Meanwhile, eyewitness accounts say the militants had come prepared to occupy the J&K Entrepreneurship Development Institute building after ambushing a CRPF convoy on Saturday.Eyewitnesses trapped inside the EDI complex say the militants despite having enough time to escape did not flee and chose to stay put inside the building, indicating its was a “chosen target”.The militants were on a fidayeen (suicide) mission can be gauged from the fact that they (militants) asked the EDI employees and trainee students to leave their phones behind before asking them to leave the building quickly.Even when some of the trapped people told the militants, believed to be three in number, that they could escape from the building, the militants replied that that they were not leaving and were “there to fight”.“I was sitting in a room on the ground floor when I heard gunshots. Then the window panes were shattered as bullets were fired into the room. I and my colleagues immediately lay on the ground and slowly crawled to the adjacent room,” said Atif, a trainee from Srinagar.“As we were trying to figure out what was happening, three guys holding AK rifles came inside the room and asked us to leave immediately. But when someone asked them to escape, the militants said they were not leaving the building,” he said.The eyewitness said two militants were wearing pheran while the third one was wearing a waist coat. “They spoke in Urdu. They were well armed and appeared to have come prepared for a long fight,” he said.Ishfaq Mir, a senior employee at the J&K Entrepreneurship Development Institute, was on the second floor when the first shot was fired by the militants.“As I was going down to the first floor, I saw three armed men asking people to leave the building immediately. Two gunmen were asking the employees and trainees to leave their cellphones behind before leaving the building,” Mir said, adding that the militants had come “prepared”.

New Delhi, February 17

Leading gun-maker BAE Systems today announced selection of Mahindra as its Indian partner for the around $700-million deal for the supply of 145 M777 howitzers to the Indian Army—the first new artillery guns after the Bofors scandal.The gun, with a strike range of 25 km, will form the backbone of the Mountain Strike Corps, being raised by the government for the mountainous borders with China.It is a 155mm titanium-based ultra-light howitzer (ULH) and can be airlifted by helicopters with ease to distant mountainous military posts. The gun deal will be through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS), but the “spares, maintenance and ammunition will be operated through Indian systems”, defence sources said. “BAE Systems has selected Mahindra as its business partner for the proposed in-country assembly, integration and test (AIT) facility for the M777 ultra lightweight howitzer,” BAE, a British company with a subsidiary in the US, said in a statement.The gun is owned by the US government and hence the deal has to be through an the FMS route. “India and the United States are in discussion for supply of 145 M777A2 LW155 howitzers for the Indian Army,” it said.”BAE Systems looks forward to working with Mahindra in the coming weeks to finalise details of this AIT facility and to negotiate the terms of its contractual arrangement,” the company said. Last year, BAE developed and submitted a US government-supported proposal offering a higher degree of indigenisation on the M777 weapon system. The highlight of this is the commitment to establish AIT capabilities in India in partnership with a domestic Indian firm. — PTI

LUCKNOW: Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh on Monday presented the President’s Colours to the Corps of Signals of Indian Army at Gauri Shankar Parade Ground of 1 Signal Training Centre, Jabalpur. Lieutenant General Balwant Singh Negi, Army Commander, Central Command was also present. The Colour Presentation Parade was commanded by Brigadier Kanwar Vinod Kumar, Commandant of 1 Signal Training Centre.

The Chief of the Army Staff reviewed the parade and during his address, appreciated the laudable efforts and advanced technologies used by the Corps in the field of telecommunications. He also appreciated the high standard of parade conducted at 1 Signal Training Centre.

The rare honour has been bestowed upon the Corps of Signals in due recognition of its meritorious service rendered to the nation since raising. To commemorate this historic event, the Chief of Army Staff also released a “First Day Cover”. It was a historic moment for the Corps of Signals to receive the President’s Colours on the occasion of its 106th Raising Day and 15th Reunion.

Earlier, on February 20, 1965, Corps of Signals had received the President’s Colours from then President of India Sarvpalli Radhakrishnan.

Srinagar, February 14

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has submitted a Rs 9,000-crore proposal to the Centre for the construction of a road tunnel in the state that will connect strategically important Gurez town along the Line of Control to the rest of the Valley throughout the year.“We have submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for the construction of an 18-km tunnel at the Razdhan Pass to connect Gurez with rest of the Valley throughout the year,” Chief Engineer, BRO, Brigadier AK Das said.If approved, it will be longest road tunnel in the country and almost double the size of the present record holder Chenani-Nashri tunnel (9.2 km) — also in the state, which is expected to be completed later this year.Gurez, a picturesque valley in Bandipora district, is located along the LoC and remains cut off from the rest of Kashmir during winter months due to heavy snowfall.It is one of the many strategic areas of Kashmir — in terms of defence as well as energy security — as work is in progress on the Kishenganga Hydro-Electric Project there.Gurez has also been used as an infiltration route by militants coming from the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Brigadier Das said a feasibility study had already been conducted for the tunnel and, if constructed, it would be of huge help not only to defence forces but also the civilian population of the area. “It will improve connectivity leading to development of the area,” he said. The BRO official said the organisation had also submitted a proposal for three more strategically important tunnels to be constructed in the Valley.“These include a 6.5-km tunnel at Sadhna that will improve the connectivity with the Tangdhar area (along the LoC) in Kupwara district, another at Furkian (Keran sector) and a 3.5-km tunnel at Zamindar Gali (Macchil sector),” he said.Brigadier Das said feasibility studies would be conducted on these three projects after the approval from the Union Ministry.The Tangdhar, Keran and Macchil areas of Kupwara district fall along the Line of Control and also remain cut off from the rest of the state due to heavy snow during winter.All-weather road connectivity with these areas, where Army has a significant presence, can improve the security situation as well as help the state government to exploit the tourism potential of these untapped areas.Brigadier Das said there were several other projects that might be handed over to the BRO for execution. One of these projects connects Poonch in Jammu region to Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district under the Bharat Mala programme launched by the Union Government.He said the project envisaged connecting Poonch district to Uri town– both strategic towns as these fall along the LoC — while also providing connectivity to smaller village enroute.At present, travel by road between Uri and Poonch, a distance of around 650 km, takes at least two days, but a direct road connection will reduce it to around one hour.The aerial distance between these two towns is just 35 km. Brigadier Das said the maintenance of the Mughal Road was also likely to be handed over to the BRO, which would be looking after the Shopian-Peer Ki Gali stretch.“Obviously, if the Mughal Road has to be an all-weather road, we need to construct a tunnel there,” he added.The Mughal Road was opened in November 2009 for vehicular traffic after remaining closed for many decades due to security concerns. However, the road remains closed for almost five months due to heavy snowfall in the higher reaches the Pir Panjal range. — PTI 

Rs 9,000-crore proposal

• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has submitted a Rs 9,000-crore proposal to the Centre for the construction of a road tunnel in the state that will connect strategically important Gurez town along the Line of Control to the rest of the Valley throughout the year.
• “We have submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for the construction of an 18-km tunnel at the Razdhan Pass to connect Gurez with rest of the Valley throughout the year,” Chief Engineer, BRO, Brigadier AK Das said.

A picturesque valley

• Gurez, a picturesque valley in Bandipora district, is located along the LoC and remains cut off from the rest of Kashmir during winter months due to heavy snowfall. It is one of the many strategic areas of Kashmir — in terms of defence as well as energy security — as work is in progress on the Kishenganga Hydro-Electric Project there. It has also been used as an infiltration route by militants coming from the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Proposal for 3 more strategically important tunnels

• Chief Engineer, BRO, Brigadier AK Das said the organisation had also submitted a proposal for three more strategically important tunnels to be constructed in the Valley.
• “These include a 6.5-km tunnel at Sadhna that will improve the connectivity with the Tangdhar area (along the LoC) in Kupwara district, another at Furkian (Keran sector) and a 3.5-km tunnel at Zamindar Gali (Macchil sector),” he said.

 

Says tried to develop close relation with Sena member,,David Coleman Headley.

Mumbai, February 12

In more chilling testimony, Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley on Friday said al-Qaeda was in touch with him to attack Delhi’s National Defence College and unravelled the plot by LeT and ISI to target Mumbai airport, BARC and the Naval air station here.

Headley also told Special Judge GA Sanap via video-link from the US that he attempted to develop close relations with a Shiv Sena member as he thought Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based terror outfit, would be interested in future to either attack the Shiv Sena Bhavan here or assassinate its head (late Bal Thackeray).

Continuing his deposition for the fourth day, Headley claimed he discouraged the LeT about the Naval air station and Siddhivinayak temple as targets for the attack, as they were heavily guarded.

Headley told the court here that his handlers in the Pakistan spy agency ISI and LeT wanted to target Mumbai airport and Naval air station during the terror attack in November 2008.

“Major Iqbal expressed disapproval of certain areas I had recced as targets. I felt that Major Iqbal was unhappy because Mumbai airport was not selected and included as one of the targets for the 26/11 attack,” he said.

Headley testified in detail on how al-Qaeda was also interested in carrying out attacks in India after 26/11 strike.

“After the 26/11 terror attack, I met Ilyas Kashmiri (of al-Qaeda) in February 2009 and he asked me to visit India again, as they were also interested in carrying out terrorist activities in India. He mentioned few places like the NDC (National Defence College) which was their primary target,” he said.

He also said NDC was a high-value target as it housed senior military officers, from Brigadier to General rank.

“Abdul Rehman Pasha (al-Qaeda member) said that if this attack is successful then we would be able to kill more Brigadiers and Generals than any killed in the wars between India and Pakistan in the past,” said the 55-year-old, who recently turned approver in the 26/11 terror attacks case.

He told the court that as per Kashmiri’s orders, he also visited the Chabad houses located in Pushkar, Goa and Pune as they were secondary targets of the terror outfit.

He said he had videographed BARC at Trombay in Mumbai in July 2008 and that LeT had asked him to recruit some employee of BARC who would work for ISI.

“I also visited and videographed BARC. Major Iqbal told me that in some future date I should recruit some employee of BARC who would give us classified information and would be ready to work for the ISI,” he said, adding that he had handed over the video to Sajid Mir and Major Iqbal.

Headley also testified on his interaction with a Shiv Sena member.

“I met Rajaram Rege (PRO of Uddhav Thackeray) inside the Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar. I was interested in accessing the building at that time and I attempted to develop closer relations with Rege, as I thought the LeT would be interested in future to attack the Sena Bhavan or assassinate its head,” Headley told the court.

Headley also identified the recently executed lone 26/11 convict, Ajmal Kasab, when he was shown a photograph of him.

“This is Ajmal Kasab Rehmatullah Aliah,” Headley told the court.

When he was again asked to spell out the full name of Kasab, he said, “His name is only Ajmal Kasab but Rehmatullah Aliah means god bless him or god forgive him,” and added that after Kasab was captured, Sajid Mir and everybody in the LeT were saddened.

In further disclosures, he said after he had conducted a reconnaissance of Mumbai, he had several meetings in Pakistan with LeT leader Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Sajid Mir, Abu Kahfa and Abdul Rehman Pasha and Major Iqbal.

Headley revealed that during his last visit to Mumbai in July 2008, prior to the 26/11 attacks, he had surveyed and videographed the Chabad House in south Mumbai.

“I don’t know who was staying there. Sajid Mir and Pasha asked me to survey this place and said that it was an international location as it had Jewish and Israeli people,” he said.

Headley said he discouraged the LeT about Naval air station and Siddhivinayak temple as targets for the attack.

“I discouraged them (LeT) about Naval air station and Siddhivinayak temple as targets as then all the ten attackers would have had to concentrate on one target only,” he said.

Continuing to spill beans on the brazen terror attack, he said, “For the 26/11 terror attack, LeT handler Sajid Mir and Abu Kahfa, on instructions from Zaki Sahab, decided to go with the stronghold option which means stay put in the place of the target and keep on fighting.”

“The second option that was discussed was egress option which means leave the place of target and go to India occupied Kashmir and continue fighting with the troops there,” he said.

“Kahfa told me that the egress option was discarded as if it was in the mind of the person (attacker) that he has to leave then he will not fight well,” Headley further said.

Headley further disclosed that during his last visit to Mumbai in July 2008, he had also gone to Siddhivinayak temple and made a video of it.

“I purchased the red and yellow wrist bands…I forget the name of it. I thought that the ten youths could wear it as a cover so that people would think they were Indians.

“Nobody asked me to do so. I saw a man selling it outside the temple, so the thought occurred to me. After I returned to Pakistan, I gave those wrist bands to Sajid Mir and explained to him that practising Hindus in India wear this and hence, it would be a good idea if the ten gentlemen (attackers) also wear it as it would look like they are Hindus,” he said.

Headley told the court that Sajid Mir had got the ten attackers Indian cellphones, so that they could guide them during the terror attack.

“I tested one of the phones. Sajid Mir asked me to go to the Wagah border if the signal was working in the phone. I did so and informed Sajid Mir that the signals were working,” he said.

When asked about the control room in Karachi from where the LeT handlers were giving instructions to the ten attackers during the terror attack, he said he “never visited the control room and did not meet any other handler, apart from Sajid Mir, Abu Kahfa and Abu-al-Kama”.

He told the court that he had finalised Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade as a landing site for the ten attackers, as the area is covered with shanties and hutments from the main road, and hence he thought it would give tactical advantage to the terrorists.

Headley said that LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman wanted to finalise Gateway of India as the landing site for the 10 terrorists as it was very close to the Taj hotel.

“I, however, said it was not a good idea as the attackers would be required to go through Gateway of India by crossing naval installation and they could be detected. Zaki Sahab and others agreed to my suggestion,” he said. — PTI

Sirsa, February 5

In view of the recent terrorist attack at Pathankot, a mock drill was conducted today at the Police Lines by a team of jawans of the district police and the Sirsa Air Force Station.“Following directions of SP Satender Kumar Gupta, teams of the Rapid Action Force and commandos of the district police conducted a mock drill at the Police Lines to meet any type of eventuality in future,” said a spokesperson of the district police.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari arrives at Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. PTI

Dinesh Kumar in Bandar Seri BegawanVice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, who arrived here on Monday on a first-ever bilateral visit by a high-level Indian dignitary to oil-rich Brunei since diplomatic relations were established 32 years ago, will for the first time be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on defence in addition to agreements on health and sports.Ansari’s current two-nation visit to this former British protectorate located on the South China Sea, followed by Thailand on Wednesday, is in keeping with India’s consciously developed “Act East” policy that has replaced the “Look East” policy conceived in 1993 during former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao’s tenure.“It is a concerted policy developed over time which has now attained depth and content,” Ansari told mediapersons on board the aircraft. “India, as a result, has now developed good economic and defence relations with the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) both as a grouping and individually,” he added.The MoU on defence, in particular, assumes significance considering that Islamic country of Brunei, a kingdom headed by one of the world’s richest man, is seeking to balance bigger nations in its neighbourhood, particularly China with which it has disputes in the South China Sea, notably over the Spratly Islands that is zealously claimed by Beijing.As of now, the MoU on defence will focus on primary issues such as training, sale of equipment and joint exercises. Brunei, which has a tiny defence force, continues to host a Gorkha battalion of Britain’s Royal Army that both guards the Sultan’s palace and is also located in the oil-rich sub-district of Seri, ever since it got independence from the United Kingdom in 1984. With Britain expressing an interest to withdraw its Gorkha battalion, only time will reveal whether an Indian Infantry battalion could fill that void. “It is for Brunei to decide”, said a senior official speaking on the condition of anonymity.Describing relations with Brunei, which is an important source of oil import for India, as excellent, Ansari acknowledged that “for some odd reason” no top-level dignitary had ever visited Brunei although the Sultan of Brunei has thrice visited India since 1992. Two of these have been bilateral visits. An Indian Prime Minister has visited Brunei only once and that too on a multilateral Asean-India and East Asia Summit in 2013. “But this does not reflect on our relations which are very friendly,” said Ansari. “Brunei has been the country coordinator for three years for Asean and it has been a positive experience,” he explained.On the future of trade relations with Brunei, Ansari said these were limited considering Brunei was a “one-product country” (oil) and had a limited population. The potential for growth with Thailand with which India had “more substantive relations”, he said, was far greater.India is currently the third largest destination for exports from Brunei and makes up for 10 per cent of Brunei’s exports. Brunei’s major markets are Japan and South Korea. Although Brunei produces nine per cent of the world’s liquid petroleum gas, it is unable to sell any to India since it has contracted sale of LPG to other countries. But we are exploring the possibility of purchasing gas for a locally set up chemical plant which will produce urea for export to India, he said.