Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 2In what could pose a threat to several retired Army officers, gangsters in Punjab are reportedly looking to kidnap or target those who participated in Operation Bluestar in June 1984.Intelligence agencies have informed the Army that some of its officers who were part of the operation—launched to flush out armed militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar—could still be serving. In the past few years, names of several gangsters have cropped up in Punjab Police records of having links with foreign-based organisations.General AS Vaidya, who was the Army Chief during Operation Bluestar, was gunned down near his house in Pune in 1986. Lt Gen KS Brar (retd), who was then (as a Maj Gen) leading the operation, survived a knife attack by youth in London in October 2012. Four people have been convicted for the same.Another senior officer who was part of the operation, Lt Gen Ranjit Dyal, the then Chief of Staff, Western Command—died of age-related causes in January 2012. The local gurdwara in Panchkula refused to conduct his final prayers and the Army then provided a Sikh priest at his home. Gen K Sundarji, former Army Chief who was then the Western Army Commander, died in 1999.Some of the Army officers who were young Lieutenants or Captains in 1984 are still serving while a majority of officers have retired. Some of them have been provided security by the local police whereever they live. Others just maintain a low profile and don’t discuss their role in Operation Bluestar even in private.Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, during whose tenure the operation was carried out, was killed by her guards in October 1984. In December 1999, her daughter-in-law and then Congress president Sonia Gandhi visited the Golden Temple and expressed ‘deep anguish’ and regretted the 1984 happenings. Each year in June, a ‘Ghallughara (meaning massacre) week’ is observed.

Army Major Nikhil Handa (in red t-shirt), arrested, in relation to the murder of another Major’s wife, from Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut. (Photo: PTI)

The investigators also found a lot of pornographic material on Major Nikhil Handa’s cell phones.

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Thursday recovered the knife, allegedly used by Major Nikhil Handa to slit the throat of a fellow Army officer’s wife, from a spot near the Meerut-Muzaffarnagar highway.

Traces of burnt clothes were also recovered from the spot, the police said.

The investigators also found a lot of pornographic material on Major Handa’s cell phones. However, the accused had deleted his chat record and the messages exchanged with the victim, Shailza Dwivedi, the police said, adding that the phones will be sent for a forensic examination.

Shailza Dwivedi’s phone, which was broken by the accused, will also be sent for a forensic examination, though an officer said chances of data recovery were slim since its motherboard was badly damaged.

A senior officer, privy to the probe, said a CCTV grab showed that while going towards Meerut, the accused had taken a detour on the Meerut-Muzaffarnagar highway.

The accused was questioned about it and he led the police to the spot, where he had dumped the knife he had bought from Sadar Bazar, the officer added.

The police also recovered the clothes of the accused that he had burnt and will be sending those for a forensic examination, he said.

The police custody of the accused ends today and the investigators are not likely to seek an extension in the court.

The victim’s body was found with its throat slit near the Brar Square in the Delhi Cantonment area on Saturday.

Read: Army Major made 3,300 calls in 6 months to fellow officer’s wife he killed

Initially, the police were informed that a woman had died in an accident, but later, when they inspected the body, it was found that the throat was slit.

The accused had allegedly run his car over the victim’s face and body in order to make the incident appear as an accident.

Also Read: Army Major ‘obsessed’ with officer’s wife, killed her for rejecting him

The accused was arrested from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 27

Indian Navy won the men’s 500m dragon boat race on the opening day of the 7th Senior National Championship and Federation Cup at Sukhna Lake here on Wednesday. The team clocked 2.36:12s to claim the top spot.West Bengal finished second with a timing of 2.36:76s, followed by Jammu and Kashmir (2.36:79s) in third position. SSB (2.37:20s) and Manipur (2.39:02s) bagged fifth and sixth positions respectively.In the women’s 500m final race, Madhya Pradesh clocked 2.41.92s to clinch the gold medal. SSB (2.42.47s) bagged the silver, while Haryana (2.48.09s) returned with a bronze. Chandigarh girls (2.50.16s) finished fourth. Manipur (2.50.93s) stood at fifth spot and Punjab (2.52.78s) bagged the sixth position. A total of 19 teams — Uttrakhand, Delhi, Maharashtra, Indian Navy, SSB, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Chandigarh and West Bengal — are participating in the event. Earlier, the championship was inaugurated by Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki. 

Dragon Boat final

Men’s (500m): Indian Navy (2.36.12s), West Bengal (2.36.76s), Jammu & Kashmir (2.36.79s), SSB (2.37.70s), Manipur (2.39.02s), Delhi (2.40.46s)Women’s (500m): Madhya Pradesh (2.41.92s), SSB (2.42.47s), Haryana (2.48.09), Chandigarh (2.50.16s), Manipur (2.50.93s), Punjab (2.52.78s)

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 26

India has lashed out at Pakistan in the United Nations General Assembly in New York as well as the Human Rights Council in Geneva.Snubbing Pakistani Ambassador to UN Maleeha Lodhi’s reference last week to J&K in context of a recent report by the UN Human rights body, India said the report was a ‘motivated piece of disinformation’.Sandeep Kumar Bayyapu, First Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, said: “Jammu and Kashmir is an integral and inalienable part of India and no amount of empty rhetoric from Pakistan will change this reality.”India was exercising its right of reply during a general debate on responsibility to Protect and the Prevention of Genocide, War Crimes, Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes against Humanity.Pakistan earlier this month had welcomed the proposal of the UN High Commissioner Zeid for an international probe into allegations of human rights in both sides of Kashmir. Islamabad also claimed that reference of abuse in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir the report should in no way be construed to create a “false sense of equivalence” with Kashmir. Meanwhile, exercising its right of reply at the 38th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Second Secretary Animesh Choudhary said: “What is portrayed by Pakistan as a right to self-determination is actually state-sponsored cross border terrorism.”

Srinagar, June 24

Two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants, including the terror outfit’s self-styled divisional commander Shakoor Dar, were killed in an encounter with security forces, while another surrendered, in Kulgam district of south Kashmir on Sunday, police said.The police said that a tip-off had been received about the presence of some militants at Cheddar village in Qaimoh of Kulgam district this afternoon, after which a crack team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, along with the Army and the CRPF, cordoned off the suspect house.Appeals were made to the terrorists to surrender but they opened fire at the security forces, triggering a gunfight, the police said.Shakoor Dar, a self-styled divisional commander of the LeT, was killed in the encounter along with another militant. The identity of the second militant killed in the encounter was yet to be ascertained. He is believed to be a Pakistani national, according to the police.The third militant surrendered before the forces, along with arms and ammunition.”We followed the standard operating procedure during which two terrorists were killed and one, who had joined militancy recently, surrendered. He has been taken into custody,” Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Range) Swayam Prakash Pani said here.The identity of the surrendered militant was not revealed.As the encounter was on, clashes between groups of youths and security forces were reported from the area, a police official said, adding the security forces had to use force to quell the protests.Security forces have been carrying out operations to sanitise the Jammu-Srinagar national highway ahead of the annual Amarnath pilgrimage, beginning June 28, a senior police official said. – PTI 

Amit Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 13

The Border Security Force on Wednesday accused Pakistan of not honouring the agreement made between Directors-General of Military Operations of the two countries on May 29 to fully implement the 2003 ceasefire pact on the International Border.Kamal Nath Choubey, Additional Director General, Jammu Frontier, BSF, talking to the media after the wreath-laying of the martyred soldiers, said: “Ceasefire is always a bilateral decision, we have always maintained the sanctity of the ceasefire, but Pakistan has always violated it. The decision was meant to be honoured, but Pakistan didn’t.”He said Pakistan was violating the ceasefire along the Line of Control repeatedly, but India had never done so.“Due to the experience with Pakistan, the BSF is always prepared for retaliation. There is no let-up in border surveillance, neither during ceasefire nor other times,” the ADG said.“Every instrument required to protect the territorial integrity of the border is maintained,” he added.Earlier, the wreath-laying ceremony was organised at Frontier Headquarters of the BSF at Jammu to pay tributes to the four personnel. The cremation of the martyrs will be done at their respective hometowns. The ADG said the nation would remain indebted to the brave border men for their supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty.The wreath-laying was attended by legislators Bali Bhagat, Chander Prakash Ganga and Gagan Bhagat, DGP SP Vaid and other senior officers of the BSF, police and the administration.BJP making forces ‘sitting ducks’: CongJammu: The killing of four BSF soldiers on the border evoked a strong reaction from opposition parties, which are accusing the ruling BJP of making security personnel “sitting ducks” to reap political benefits. “Pakistan’s repeated treacherous acts during Ramzan shows that it is taking advantage of the fact that the Narendra Modi-led government lacks a clear policy to deal with it effectively and silence it in an appropriate manner to maintain peace on borders,”a J&K Pradesh Congress Committee statement said.  Mehbooba pays tributes to martyrs, calls for peaceSrinagar: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has expressed deep anguish and grief over the death of four BSF personnel, including an officer, in Pakistani shelling in the Ramgarh sector of Samba district on Wednesday. Paying tributes to the slain personnel, the CM reiterated her demand for cessation of hostilities along the borders to protect lives and properties of border people. She said the suspension of operations elsewhere in the state had given the people a sigh of relief and hoped the same would be extended to the borders and an atmosphere of peace would return to these areas. The CM extended her sympathies to the bereaved families while praying for peace to the departed souls. 

As children, many of us have dreamt of following our father’s footsteps once we grow up. On the night of June 12, 1999, Hitesh Kumar was only six-years-old when his father, a lance naik in the 2nd Battalion of Rajputana Rifles was killed in Tololing, in Kargil. Upon hearing the news of his father’s demise, a young Hitesh decided that he would grow up and join the Indian Army.

Today, after 19 odd years, Hitesh has achieved what he had dreamt as a child. After successfully passing out from the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, he has been commissioned in the Indian Army as a lieutenant.

To add to it, Hitesh will also be serving in the same battalion as his father. Times Of India reported that right after the passing out parade, Hitesh paid tribute to his father, Bachan Singh, at the memorial built in lance naik Bachan Singh’s memory in the Civil Lines area of Muzaffarnagar.

A Tough Childhood

Life was very difficult for the family ever since Bachan Singh was martyred. However, his wife Kamesh Bala soldiered on, dedicating her life to the task of raising two sons.

Talking to Times Of India, the mother said, “It has been a difficult life since Bachan was martyred. I dedicated my life to raising my two sons. Today I am proud that Hitesh was commissioned into the Army. His younger brother, Hemant, is also preparing to join the Army. There is nothing more I could ask for.”

Hitesh told the daily, “For 19 years, I dreamt of joining the Army. It became my mother’s dream too. Now I want to serve my country with pride and honesty.”

The 2nd Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles, one of the senior-most rifle regiments in the Indian Army, won Tololing, marking India’s first success at Kargil.

Bachan Singh was shot in the head and died on the battlefield at Tololing. On the very same day 17 others also died fighting, said Rishipal Singh, who was in Bachan’s battalion, to Times of India.

According to official Indian government figures, the three-week-long Kargil war killed 527 Indian Army Soldiers and left many injured.