Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 21

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the acquittal of an Indian Army sepoy accused of raping the doctor wife of a lieutenant colonel. The prosecutrix had claimed that she was pregnant and had returned home from a visit to a hospital when the alleged incident occurred.

“Long silence regarding the alleged occurrence of prosecutrix and her husband, both of whom were well educated, creates doubt regarding the prosecution story,” the Bench of Justice Rajan Gupta and Justice Karamjit Singh observed.

The Bench also dismissed the prosecutrix’s application for grant of leave to appeal after terming it as “devoid of merit”. An FIR in the matter was registered for rape and criminal intimidation under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC at Sujanpur police station in Pathankot against the sepoy. But Pathankot Additional Sessions Judge acquitted the accused after giving him the benefit of doubt in his judgment dated January 20, 2016.

In her complaint to the police lodged in February 2015, the prosecutrix had alleged that the incident had taken place in March 2014. She was pregnant and had gone to the hospital for medical check-up in her husband’s official vehicle driven by the accused. He followed her inside the house while carrying a bag of groceries before the incident occurred.

The Bench asserted the explanations put forth by the prosecution regarding delay in lodging the FIR did not appeal to the mind of the court.

The prosecutrix claimed she disclosed the alleged incident to her husband in January 2015. Even her husband stated the same. But the doctor treating her admitted that the husband of prosecutrix informed him about the incident in November 2014.

The Bench asserted it was not clear why the prosecutrix and her husband did not report the alleged incident dated March 4, 2014, to the police till February 2, 2015. The prosecutrix, while appearing in the witness box, admitted she kept accompanying the accused in the official vehicle to the hospital for her medical check-up during the next 15 days.

Anantnag/Srinagar, May 21

A policeman was killed and two other security personnel were injured in a militant attack in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district today.

Militants opened fire on a joint checkpoint set up by the police and the CRPF at Prichoo, Pulwama. “Two policemen and a CRPF jawan were injured in the incident. An injured policeman later succumbed to his injuries,” a senior police officer said.

The slain cop has been identified as Anoop Singh of 10 Battalion of the IRP.

Soon after the attack, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to arrest the militants. This was the second attack on the forces in less than 24 hours in Kashmir. Two BSF men were killed in an ambush near Srinagar yesterday.

Meanwhile, a day after a picture of three gun-wielding youths went viral on social media, security forces arrested them in Kupwara district. The trio, the police said, had joined the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

SSP Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar said, “After their picture went viral, we started picking up their contacts. During a search operation, we nabbed the trio and recovered weapons from them.” — TNS

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Khutra (Doda), May 17

In a breakthrough, security forces today killed a top militant, a close associate of Hizbul Mujahideen operational commander Saifullah, in a gun battle at Khutra village of Doda district. An Army jawan also lost his life in the operation.

Slain militant was behind RSS leader’s killing

• The slain HM commander was involved in killing of RSS leader & his PSO in Kishtwar and IED blast near CRPF convoy last year
• He was directed by HM to revive terrorism in Chenab region by targeting security forces and carrying out ‘sensational attacks’

The jawan has been identified as Naik Raj Singh of 10 Rashtriya Rifles belonging to Gurugram, Haryana.

The slain militant was identified as Hizb commander Tahir Ahmed Bhat of Malangpora in Kashmir’s Pulwama district. According to the police, Tahir was involved in the killing of RSS leader Chanderkant Sharma and his PSO in Kishtwar district in April last year.

The police said joint teams of Army’s RR, police and CRPF launched an operation on Saturday.

“The village was cordoned off and around 8 am, search parties came under fire, to which security personnel retaliated. The militant took shelter in a house. In the initial firing, an Army jawan was injured and he succumbed on way to hospital,” said a source.

The security forces blew up the house and later found the body of the militant. An AK-47 rifle, snatched during RSS leader’s killing, was also recovered.

New Delhi: Chinese border defence troops have made the “necessary moves” and “enhanced control measures” at the Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh, the country’s state media has reported.

The Galwan Valley is the region where Chinese soldiers clashed with the Indian Army resulting in several injuries earlier this month.

The report by Global Times, said China’s border defence troops have taken necessary measures to strengthen an on-the-spot response and control of border areas, “resolutely safeguarding China’s sovereignty and security and maintaining peace and stability in border areas”.

The confirmation by China of increased tensions at the LAC comes amidst a move by India to downplay the incident.

“Temporary and short duration face-offs between border guarding troops do occur along the LAC due to the differing perceptions of the alignment of boundaries, which are not resolved,” Army chief Gen. M.M. Naravane had said in a statement last Thursday. “There were two incidents at Eastern Ladakh and North Sikkim where aggressive behaviour by both sides resulted in minor injuries to troops, post which both sides disengaged after dialogue and interaction at local level.” Gen. Naravane had also said that face-offs happen for a number of reasons, including when a new local commander moves in. He added that there was aggression by both sides.

ThePrint had reported on 10 May that even though “official disengagement” has happened, additional troops have been pressed in.

The Chinese have set up a number of tents on their side to cater to the additional troops.

Also read: Pakistan’s 40-yr-old Gilgit-Baltistan dam project could finally be a reality, with China help

India purposely instigated conflicts: Chinese media  

The Global Times report has blamed India for the incident on the evening of 5 May when Chinese troops attacked Indian soldiers near the Galwan river in Eastern Ladakh.

Chinese troops had objected to Indian presence there claiming it was their territory, which the Army had rejected.

Giving its version of events, the Global Times, citing sources, said that since early May, India has been crossing the boundary line in the Galwan Valley region and entering Chinese territory.

“The Indian side built defence fortifications and obstacles to disrupt Chinese border defense troops’ normal patrol activities, purposefully instigated conflicts and attempted to unilaterally change the current border control situation,” it said.

It added that the Galwan Valley region is Chinese territory, and the local border control situation was very clear.

“The actions by the Indian side have seriously violated China and India’s agreements on border issues, violated China’s territorial sovereignty and harmed military relations between the two countries,” it said.

The Indian Army has been reached for reaction on the Chinese media report and the copy will be updated as and when it comes.

Citing the same source, the Chinese report said the border troops of China and India will keep in touch with each other on the current situation through meetings and representations.

ThePrint had reported on 14 May that Indian and Chinese armies are working out the dates for the next formal discussions between “higher” military authorities in the Ladakh sector to sort out the tensions arising out of the face off.

Jammu, May 19

The Pakistan Army on Tuesday shelled forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army, a defence spokesperson said.

This is second ceasefire violation by the Pakistan Army in the last 12 hours along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts.

“At about 0730 hours today, Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by small arm firing and mortar shelling along LoC in Sunderbani sector”, the spokesperson said, adding the Indian Army retaliated befittingly.

The cross-border shelling between the two sides was going on when last reports were received, the spokesperson said.

There was no immediate report of any casualty during the Pakistani shelling.

Pakistan had on Monday night opened fire and shelled mortars along the LoC in Gulpur sector of Poonch. —PTI

Sanjay Bumbroo
Tribune News Service
Mohali, May 17

Ex-DGP Punjab Sumedh Singh Saini on Sunday appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in a case registered against him and other policemen in abduction and disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani in Mataur police station.

Senior Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Singh Chahal said the former DGP had arrived at 4 pm before the SIT and the questioning continued till 5.30 pm. He said the SIT had questioned him about the case, the details of which cannot be revealed.

The roads leading to the office of the SSP had been sealed by the police till ex-DGP Saini appeared before the SIT.

According to sources, the police had cordoned off the area after Saini had requested the police for the same as he did not wish to meet anyone else except the SIT.

Pertinently ex-DGP Saini was summoned by SIT after the local court on May 11 had granted him anticipatory bail.

The court had ordered Saini to join investigation within a week and also submit the passport to the police. The court had further restricted him not to come out of his house till the lockdown period in view of the coronavirus was over.

Following the directions of the court, Saini had submitted his passport and gave undertaking that he was ready to join the investigations and was residing at the said address.

Earlier the Mohali police had constituted the SIT headed by Superintendent of Police Harmandep Singh Hans (Investigation) along with Deputy Superintendent of Police Bikramjit Singh Brar and Inspector Rajiv Kumar SHO Mataur police station to probe the case.

Palwinder Singh Multani, brother of victim Balwant Singh, had filed a complaint against the former DGP in Mohali on May 6 and the case was registered under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abduction in order to murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 344 (wrongful confinement), 330 (voluntarily causing hurt to exhort confession) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy).

ribune News Service

New Delhi, May 21

Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar on Thursday said ways were being found to reduce the wage and pension bill at the Ministry of Defence. Addressing a wider strategic issue, he said the Indian Ocean Region was becoming “a threat” like the South China Sea (SCS).

The latter was the obvious unstated reference to China’s recent activities in the Indian Ocean, including building artificial islands near Maldives and the ongoing tussle in the contested hydrocarbon rich waters of the SCS.

He delivered a talk on “Covid-19, Resource Crunch and Defence modernization” and later answered questions at a web-seminar conducted by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) here.

On the Indian Ocean, he answered questions on “blue economy” euphuism for marine, fishing, minerals and energy, when he said security needs in Indian Ocean will have to be addressed, adding that the means of doing it are best left to experts.

On pensions, he said expenses rose from Rs 32,000 crore few years back to Rs 1,33,000 crore. “We have to look at ways to reduce pension and wage bill to free money for capital and modernisation,” he said. Possible extension of service (for jawans) which will reduce pension bill and long-term pension liabilities,” Dr Kumar said.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 17

A senior Himachal Pradesh Police officer has revealed that Chinese helicopters intruded several km iide Indian airspace in the state on two occasions last month.

Rajesh Dharmani, Superintendent of Police, Lahaul-Spiti district which shares the international border with China, told a section of the media that a Chinese helicopter had entered 12-15 km into India in the Sumdo area on April 11. Then, on April 20 another Chinese helicopter intruded into the same area.

The area in question lies to the south of Demchok in Ladakh, a region that sees significant Chinese activity and incursions. Earlier this month, there were reports of a face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh and Sikkim.

A senior officer at Headquarters Western Command, Chandimandir, under whose jurisdiction the area falls, however, declined to comment on the matter, saying that only the central government would respond to reports of any such cross border incident.

He added that all activities along the border are monitored by different agencies regularly and any untoward or unusual incident is reported and shared amongst them as per established protocols. The peacetime management of the border is with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Forces that maintains posts on the zero line.

There have been reported instances of Chinese helicopters violating Indian airspace in Himachal Pradesh earlier. Apart from Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur is the other district in the state that shares borders with China. The Western Command’s formation, 26 Infantry Brigade that is responsible for this area, is headquartered in Pooh, which is about 11 km from the border as the crow flies.

A limited cross-border trade amongst locals on both sides is also conducted through the Sipki La pass along the Sutlej river during summers.