Current Events :
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, Feb 13
The anti-terror probe agency NIA on Saturday said it had filed a supplementary chargesheet in a special court in Jammu against Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorist Naveed Mushtaq Shah alias Naveed Babu in a case relating to the attack on the CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Banihal in March 2019.
The charges have been framed under various sections of Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), Explosive Substances Act, Jammu and Kashmir Public Property (Prevention of Damage) Act and Unlawful Activities (Pervention) Act- UAPA.
In the chargesheet it has been alleged that accused Naveed Babu, who is a former constable of Jammu and Kashmir Police, had deserted the force with arms and ammunition in 2017 when he was posted as a guard at FCI, Budgam, NIA officials said, adding that he later joined the terrorist group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and became an active terrorist.“Investigation has established that accused Naveed was actively involved in the planning and execution of the attack on the CRPF convoy in Banihal along with other terrorists Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, Rayees Ahmed Khan and Dr Saifullah Mir, who were subsequently killed in encounters with security forces.
“The deceased terrorists Sahil Abdullah Bhat, Adil Bashir Sheikh and Zubair Ahmed Wani were also actively involved in preparation of the explosives that went into the making of the IED,” said a senior NIA official
Charges have also been abated against the deceased terrorists involved in the conspiracy, the official added.
“The case relates to an attack on the CRPF convoy at Tethar, Banihal, in Ramban district of J&K by a terrorist who had exploded an explosive laden Santro car on March 30, 2019 with the intention of killing security personnel and waging war against the Government of India,” the NIA said in a statement.
In this regard, an FIR was registered at Police Station Banihal and the NIA re-registered the case on April 15, 2019 and took over the investigation of the case, it said, adding that the agency had earlier filed chargesheet against six Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists for their role in the attack.
iqbal Singh (donning a blue turban) was seen at the Red fort on February 13, in New Delhi. Tribune Photo: Mukesh Aggarwal
New Delhi, February 13
The Delhi Police Crime Branch, probing the Red Fort violence on Republic Day, took the arrested accused Deep Sidhu and Iqbal Singh to Red Fort on Saturday to recreate the crime scene.
The Crime Branch is studying the route taken by Sidhu and Iqbal to reach Red Fort when the violence broke out on January 26 during the farmers’ tractor rally. The Crime Branch is probing if it was part of a larger conspiracy.
Also read: ‘Youth arrested for R-Day violence joined farm protest only on January 28’
Forty-five-year-old Iqbal Singh hails from Ludhiana. He, along with Punjabi actor-activist Deep Sidhu and others, was part of the tractor rally that changed course and created chaos in the national capital. His videos went viral on social media where he was purportedly heard threatening cops on duty and inciting protesters to go on a rampage.
Following the violence, Delhi Police announced cash reward of Rs 1 lakh each for Deep Sidhu, Jugraj Singh, Gurjot Singh and Gurjant Singh, and Rs 50,000 each for Jagbir Singh, Buta Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Iqbal Singh for their alleged involvement in the violence that saw at least one person die and several injured, including policemen.
Sidhu and Iqbal Singh are in police remand and the Crime Branch is probing all angles to the violence and also who else aided them on January 26 and sheltered them when they were on the run. — IANS
ubramanian Swamy. PTI file
Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, February 13
Subramanian Swamy took to Twitter on Saturday to criticise the Centre’s treatment of the farmers’ agitation.
The BJP MP said the farmers agitation may soon become an international issue as human rights groups plan to approach the International Labour Organisation of the United Nations.
“The farmer agitation may soon become an international issue. Human rights groups plan to approach the International Labour Organisation, UN Body, in which India is a member, which could take it up. As Chairman of Labour Standards, I produced, in 1996, a three volume Report for Govt,” Swamy tweeted.
Also read:
Deep Sidhu, Iqbal Singh taken to Red Fort to recreate crime scene
Right to protest cannot be anytime, everywhere: Supreme Court
‘Youths arrested for R-Day violence joined farm protest only on January 28
MC MP Mahua Moitra during the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament in New Delhi on February 11, 2021. PTI file photo
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 13
Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra has claimed she is being put under “some sort of surveillance” after Border Security Force (BSF) officers were deputed outside her Delhi residence.
Mitra raised this allegation in a letter addressed to the SHO of Barakhamba police station, which was also marked to Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava, and has requested withdrawal of the security which she “neither ask nor want”.
The force as per her was deputed outside her house late on Friday night and it was done after a visit from SHO of Barakhamba Police Station visited her the same evening.The Krishnanagar MP has alleged the officers were noting all the movements coming in and going out of her residence.
“The conduct of these armed officers indicates that they are making notes of movements to and fro from my residence, it appears to me that I am under some sort of surveillance. I wish to remind you that Right of Privacy is a Fundamental Right, guaranteed to me, as a citizen of this country, under the Constitution of India, 1950,” Mitra wrote in her letter.
“Upon making inquiries, I was informed that the armed officers from Police Station Barakhamba Road for my protection, however, I being an ordinary citizen of this country, did neither ask or want any such protection. Therefore, you are kindly requested to withdraw these officers,” she added.
Gurbax Rawat speech during a public Meeting at sector 68 Mohali Smt. Gurbax Rawat Councillor & Former Deputy Mayor Chandigarh addressing public at sector 68 Mohali during a public meeting for MC Election Mohali in presence of S. Balbir Singh Sidhu (MLA Mohali, Punjab)
Lieutenant General NS Raja Subramani (left) takes over General Officer Commanding of the Ambala-based Kharga Corps from Lt Gen SS Mahal. Tribune photo
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 12
Lieutenant General NS Raja Subramani has been appointed as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Ambala-based Kharga Corps, one of the Army’s three-strike formations.
He takes over from Lt Gen SS Mahal. On change of guard today, both the commanders paid tributes to martyrs at the Vijay Samark War memorial in Ambala Cantonment.
Commissioned into the Gharwal Rifles, Lt Gen Subramani has vast operational experience and has held important command and staff appointments in peace, field’ and active counter-insurgency environment and possesses. This includes GOC of the Black Cat Division in the north-east and GOC Uttar Bharat Area.
Meanwhile, Lt Gen PS Minhas took over as the GOC of Konark Corps headquartered at Jodhpur, from Lt General Anil Puri. Prior to this, Lt Gen Mihnas, an Armoured Corps officer, was the GOC, Madhya Bharat Area, and had earlier commanded the White Tiger Division.
Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 12
The Armed Forces Tribunal has ruled that the next of kin of a soldier who dies while on duty combating natural calamities is entitled to higher pensionary benefits than those applicable to death during routine service.
Closing the case of the widow of a soldier, who lost his life while extinguishing a forest fire on the Indo-China border, the tribunal has directed the Centre to grant her Liberalised Family Pension rather than Special Family Pension that she was getting.
Liberalised Family Pension is equivalent to the last drawn emoluments of the deceased, and is applicable in case where death occurs during operations or other specified field circumstances, whereas Special Family Pension is 60 per cent of the last drawn pay.
Champa Devi’s husband, late Naik Surinder Kumar of the Punjab Regiment, was deployed near the China border in the northeast when he died after he was called to assist in extinguishing a forest fire. He died after a tree fell on him.
Though the Army had declared the death a “battle casualty” as per applicable provisions, the office of the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) at Allahabad had rejected her papers saying the death fell in the category of rules which dealt with organised sports and recreation.
Setting aside the rejection order of the accounts branch, the tribunal’s Bench comprising Justice Mohammad Tahir and Vice Admiral HCS Bisht held that the death fell in the category of the rules that dealt with deaths arising out of duty during natural calamities, which entitled a widow to Liberalised Family Pension.
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 12
Even as a debate is raging about the implications of Indian Army tanks vacating the strategic heights south of the Pangong Tso in eastern Ladakh, the ground reality is that these tanks would be located at their home base, less than 20 km from the site being vacated now.
In August 2020, the Army had captured the Rinchen La and Rezang La heights overlooking the Moldo Garrison of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The area comes under the Kailash range, and its ridgeline is considered as the alignment of the LAC. In October-November 1962, India and China had fought a pitched battle at the base of Rezang La.
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Now as part of the disengagement agreement between India and China, the Indian Army and the PLA will vacate the positions occupied in the past nine months from the south and north bank of the Pangong Tso — a 135-km glacial lake.
Back to Chushul
- Prior to April 2020, Indian tanks were positioned in Chushul, which is less than 20 km from the vacated sites at Rezang La
- With Chushul site being a plateau, redeployment will not be an issue in case of any PLA misadventure
- US welcomes India, China efforts to de-escalate situation in Ladakh
The target is to eventually return to the pre-April 2020 positions. In case of India, tanks were positioned in Chushul before April, sources confirmed to The Tribune. The spot is less than 20 km from the Rezang La heights and since it’s a plateau, redeployment would not be an issue in case of a misadventure by the PLA.
During the pre-April deployment, Ladakh had some four regiments of tanks stationed across the terrain. Each regiment has 46 tanks.
As reported in these columns yesterday, Depsang will be crucial and will be addressed in the next phase. On Friday, the Ministry of Defence issued a statement to counter instances of what it termed as “wrongly understood information”.
“India has not ceded any territory as a result of this agreement,” said the ministry as it detailed the future of the disengagement process. “Outstanding problems (are) to be addressed, including those at Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang. The outstanding issues are to be taken up within 48 hours of the completion of the Pangong Tso disengagement,” it said.
The LAC, as per the Indian perception, is at Finger 8, not at Finger 4 (mountain spurs descending onto the north bank of the Pangong are identified as fingers). “India has persistently maintained the right to patrol up to Finger 8 and has included it in the current understanding with China,” it said.
The Dhan Singh Thapa post at Finger 3 is India’s permanent base while the PLA permanent base is east of Finger 8.
“The assertion that the Indian territory is up to Finger 4 is categorically false. The territory of India as depicted by its map includes more than 43,000 sq km which is under illegal occupation of China since 1962,” the Defence Ministry said.
He underlined that the regional security environment is characterised by Chinese belligerence in the Indo-Pacific, its hostility towards weaker nations and relentless drive to create regional dependencies through initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“The resultant Sino-US rivalry has created regional imbalances and instability,” he said, addressing a seminar at United Services Institute, a think-tank. “The rising footprints of China in India’s neighbourhood and its attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo along our disputed borders have created an environment of confrontation and mutual distrust.”
Noting that India’s traditional long-term partner Nepal has witnessed heavy Chinese investment and is going through a period of political volatility, he said while Bhutan has been cautious in its approach, India has seen an upswing in its relations with Bangladesh.
The ongoing dynamics in these neighbouring countries directly impacts the security environment in India’s Northeast, he said, adding that a large number of initiatives are already under way to leverage military diplomacy with Eastern Command playing the spring-board for fostering stronger bilateral relations.
“Regional and internal connectivity is acutely linked to security. It is central to unleashing the potential of the Northeast and balancing the influence of China,” Gen Naravane said. “With failure to deliver on promises, delivery deficit has plagued our efforts at improving regional connectivity. The Kaladan Multimodal Transport Project and the Trilateral Highway have both seen cost and time overruns.”
He said the impact of the pandemic and the ongoing security dynamics across our borders have brought about significant changes in the geo-strategic construct. “It is in this evolving environment that a review and renewed focus on India’s Northeast is in order,” he said.
Calling for an apex body to coordinate multi-agency efforts, Gen Naravane said on the internal front too, infrastructure development has been marred by numerous challenges.
“Multiple agency involvement and varied sources of funds coupled with environmental factors remain major stumbling blocks,” he said.
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The general said a realignment of the counter insurgency (CI) or counter terrorism (CT) strategy has been under way in the Northeast.
He said force calibration with gradual disengagement from CI and CT operations has resulted in greater focus towards the northern borders and the India-Myanmar border.
“The force calibration has already resulted in disengagement of 14 Infantry Battalions. Two division headquarters, earlier part of the CI grid, are now solely focusing on their operational role along the northern borders,” he said. “This has been a significant achievement. The operational responsibility of these areas has now been taken over by the Assam Rifles.”
The Army chief said a common thread that runs along the Northeast states is a lack of coordination among various agencies.
“The policy disconnect is further accentuated by the feeling that affairs of NER (Northeast region) are being run from Delhi. Most of the CAPF and central agencies are headquartered at Delhi,” he said. “National priorities, political compulsions of the states and local aspirations are seldom aligned, creating dissonance in execution.”
Pointing out that another distinctive factor that reinforces the feeling of alienation among the people in the Northeast is the “dismissive, sometimes indifferent and often contemptuous approach”.
“You would often hear the need to integrate the NE with mainland India. The perception that India is the mainland and the Northeast must align itself to the ways of the mainland, in itself is flawed and contemptuous,” he said. “Another everyday example is when the newsreader during the weather forecast usually dismisses the entire region of nine states by a cursory ‘aaj poorvotar rajyon mein adhiktam taapmaan…rahega’.”
Also read: How India stood its ground and forced China to end Pangong Tso aggression
