Mohammad Saifullah

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, March 8

Lone terror suspect Mohammad Saifullah, holed up in Lucknow’s densely populated Thakurganj since last evening, was eliminated today after a 12-hour operation by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad and the state police. Described as a self-radicalised terrorist, he had no proven links to any international terrorist group.Speaking to the media, ADG (Law and Order) Daljeet Chaudhury said five terror suspects had been arrested so far for the Bhopal-Ujjain train blast. The three picked by the Madhya Pradesh Police in Pipriya were Danish Akhtar and Atif Muzaffar from Kanpur and Sayed Meer Hussain from Aligarh. The two suspects arrested in Uttar Pradesh were Faisal Khan from Kanpur and Fakhrey Alam from Etawah. They had been booked by the ATS under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.Edit: ISIS is the new spectreChaudhury said acting on a tipoff, the ATS and the UP Police yesterday reached a Haji Colony house where Saifullah and three of his friends resided.“The suspect and his accomplices were self-proclaimed members of the Khurasan module of IS. There is no evidence that they were receiving foreign funds,” said Chaudhury.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The ADG claimed they repeatedly asked Saifullah to surrender and used tear gas shells to force him out of his hiding. They also made his relatives speak to him. But he refused to surrender, saying he would rather be a “martyr.”To catch him alive, the ATS drilled a hole in the roof of his rented room and dropped a chilli bomb. The suspect  fired in retaliation, said Chaudhury. Finally, at around 3 am this morning, the ATS team broke open the door and shot him in an encounter.Inside the room, the police reportedly found eight pistols, four knives, 630 live cartridges of .32 bore, 71 empty cartridges, 45 gm gold, three cellphones, cheque books, ATM cards, PAN cards, four SIM cards, two wireless sets, pellets, two bottles of gunpowder and a banner. A motorcycle parked inside the house was impounded. Three passports issued in Lucknow were found too. A time table in English pasted on a wall described the suspects’ daily chores, from morning prayers and recitation of Quran to study hours.Chaudhury said till now there was no evidence to support that the killed or arrested youths were planning or had any intention to target anyone. “The group was active on the Internet and was visiting radical websites. They were getting indoctrinated,” he said.To a query as to why they were residing in Lucknow when they belonged to Kanpur and why had they ‘targeted’ a passenger train in Madhya Pradesh, Chaudhury said Lucknow was their “hideout”. Speaking to mediapersons in Kanpur, Saifullah’s father Sartaj Ahmad Khan and brother Khalid said they had not been in touch with him for the past more than two months.

New Delhi, March 7

India’s long serving long-range maritime reconnaissance, named the ‘Albatross’, will no more fly after the end of this month.The Soviet-era four-engine turboprop Tupelov-142 (TU-142) plane has a huge endurance of some 12,000 km or 16 hours. It will end its run in the Navy, sources confirmed. Procured in the 1980s during the cold war (1945-1991), these are potent anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platforms. India was considered in the Soviet bloc during the cold war and the plane was designed with a special sighting magnetometer intended to detect low-noise, nuclear-powered submarines. The TU-142 can carry 12 torpedoes and freefall bombs.In the Soviet scheme of the Tu-142 is the maritime reconnaissance/strike version of the Tu-95, which served as a Russian nuclear weapons capable bomber and is the fastest and highest flying turboprop aircraft in the world.  — TNS

AFTER VIRAAT, NAVY TO BID ADIEU TO ALBATROSS PATROL AIRCRAFT

Another iconic naval platform is now set for retirement after aircraft carrier INS Viraat. The Soviet-origin Tupolev-142M aircraft, which helped the force keep a hawk-eye on enemy warships and submarines in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) for almost 30 years, will be decommissioned later this month.

The world’s largest and fastest turboprop aircraft, aptly named the ‘Albatross,’ the Navy had inducted eight TU-142Ms since 1988. “They were the backbone of our long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) and anti-submarine warfare operations. But only three are fully operational now. They will now be retired at the naval air station INS Rajali in Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu at a ceremony on March 29,” said an officer.

The TU-142Ms are being replaced by the 12 Poseidon-8I long-range patrol aircraft- eight have already been inducted- acquired from the US for $3.2 billion. Packed with radars and armed with deadly Harpoon Block-II missiles, MK-54 lightweight torpedoes, rockets and depth charges to destroy enemy submarines, the Navy also operates the P-8Is from INS Rajali.

The fuel-guzzling TU-142M aircraft were the first true LRMR of the Indian Navy. With a 50-metre wing-span and a combat radius of 6,500-km, the TU-142M has a speed of around 850 kmph. “They also have the highest flying altitude among turboprops, with an operational ceiling of over 13,000 meter,” said an officer.

With a 10-member crew, the TU-142Ms can also carry at least five torpedoes as well as free-fall bombs and depth charges. “But the sensors and weapon systems of TU-142Ms have become outdated with age, apart from requiring heavy maintenance and costly spare parts,” said an officer.

“If the TU-142Ms were hawk-eyes, the P-8Is are far more potent intelligent hawk-eyes,” he added. This comes in the backdrop of Chinese submarines, both conventional as well as nuclear, making forays into the IOR on a regular basis now, with an operational turnaround at Karachi, as was earlier reported by TOI.

Much like the TU-142Ms earlier, the P-8Is now work in conjunction with medium-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft like the IL-38s and Israeli Searcher-II and Heron UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to establish a three-tier surveillance grid in IOR.

Apart from the need to take care of its primary area of strategic interest stretching from Persian Gulf to Malacca Strait, India also has a vast 5,422-km coastline, 1,197 islands and 2.01 million sq km of Exclusive Economic Zone to guard against all threats.

IHAVE watched the media coverage on LSR English Honours student Gurmehar Kaur’s ethical stand on violence with great dismay and concern. We seem so determined to slot people into various categories that we tend to go overboard in making denunciations or get blue-in-the-face defending the indefensible. This is why it is important to give an unbiased opinion on some aspects of this unseemly conundrum. Firstly, Gurmehar is just a kid. All of 20, she’s studying at an elite college. She has seerat and soorat which isn’t unusual. Many of her peers are in the same category. She’s an Army brat and that’s pretty routine too.Secondly, her father, Capt Mandeep Singh, an Air Defence officer seconded to 4 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), died in combat in Kashmir, soon after the Kargil War ended in July 1999. He was entitled to wear the war medal authorised to all those deployed for Operation Vijay. Loosely called the Kargil War medal, it covered inter-service troops wherever their deployment was ordered. So does that make the girl a liar? Clearly, this is irresponsible branding.Thirdly, he died in a terrorist strike on his company camp at Natnoosa, Kupwara. The official report on his death states that the terrorist attack came in at 1.15 am on August 6, 1999. He received a splinter injury on the left infra-clavicular region and died instantaneously. Mandeep was thus a martyr as much as the Kargil War heroes were and, yes, he was killed by Pakistani/Pak-inspired terrorists. Is the young lady lying? I should think not. Have sections of media, ‘defence experts’, some itinerant cricketers and opinionated actors gone somewhat berserk? Take a call.Fourthly, I have some idea what I am talking about, instead of making breathless assessments on the basis of irresponsible reportage on social media or elsewhere. One of the units under my command as an RR Sector Commander in 1998-1999 was 4 RR, then located at Bij Biara, a few kilometres from my Khanabal HQ. I visited the unit often as operational commanders must. I knew its operating ethos, its officers and visited their company posts. Mandeep had about seven-year service and while I don’t recall him in particular, I do remember that 4 RR was efficient and had quality rapport with both locals and ‘intezamia’ (civil administration). The unit was shortly thereafter relocated to 7 Sector RR and went through a trying time which isn’t part of this narrative. This is when young Mandeep lost his life.Lastly, deprived of Daddy very early, Gurmehar was brought up by her wise Mum not to grow up with hatred in her DNA. Was that wrong of Mum? I certainly don’t think so. Reaching adulthood in that cocooned, ethical context if a 20-year-old kid says war claimed Daddy, is she showing political affiliation? The fact that the terrorist attack was Pakistan conducted/sponsored is not as important as a Mum and child’s survival strategy of growing up without hatred and revenge corroding her mind.Let the bright girl be. May she grow up to be a world-class pacifist. No harm there either. In the meanwhile, let you and I handle Pakistan and others in the way we are trained and educated for and without apology. Take a call.

Roy Mathew

Thiruvananthapuram, March 4

A fresh autopsy was on Saturday ordered on the body of a jawan from Kerala, found dead after a sting video on the “abuse” of buddy system in the army, after his family insisted on it, raising doubts over his demise.The fresh post-mortem of Roy Mathew (33), a native of Karuvelil in Ezhukon in Kollam district, was underway at the Government Medical College Hospital here, hours after the body was brought to the city on Saturday morning by a flight, a senior police official said.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Mathew was found hanging from the ceiling of a room in an abandoned barrack in Deolali cantonment in Maharashtra’s Nashik on Thursday.Alleging that there were marks of beating on his feet and blood had clotted in some parts, his relatives, including wife Finy, refused to accept the body until a fresh post-mortem was conducted in Kerala.Finy has filed a complaint with Kollam District Collector and the police raising suspicions over her husband’s death, SP (Kollam Rural) S Surendran, told PTI.After receiving her complaint, the post-mortem was ordered and it is going on, he said, adding that the Revenue Divisional Officer was also present.A sobbing Finy, who was at the airport, said, “I need to get justice. I want to know how it happened. I want to see him.”The relatives have also alleged that disrespect was shown to the body when it was brought here. It was left unattended in a trolley for nearly half an hour after it landed at the airport, they charged.Mathew had gone missing on February 25 after he purportedly figured in an expose by a news portal on the “abuse” in the orderly system in the army.Army has said it had not questioned Mathew after the video surfaced, which showed soldiers, working as sahayaks, walking dogs of senior army officials or taking their children to school.Mathew had joined the army 13 years ago and was working as artillery gunner with the Rocket Regiment 214 in Nashik camp for the last one year.He had contacted his wife on February 25 after which he went missing. PTI

CM Telengana awd Rs 2 lakh grant to each of the 29 cadets selected for trg at NDA K’vasl

 

NEW DELHI: BSF trooper Tej Bahadur Yadav is back with a fresh video.

Yadav, whose self-shot videos about bad quality food served to jawans went viral, has now appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for support, saying he is being mentally tortured as he exposed corruption in the force.

“The new video started circulating on WhatsApp around five days ago. Now, it has found its way to social media. The video was shot when his wife went to meet him in Jammu, following a petition in this regard in the Delhi high court. The curtains shown in the video are the ones put on the windows of the Jammu guesthouse where the meeting took place in the second week of February,” said a senior Border Security Force (BSF) official.

The Union home ministry has taken serious note of the fresh video put out by Yadav, with a senior official terming it “gross indiscipline”.

In the new video, the BSF trooper alleges that his phone was taken away on January 10 and may have been tampered with to show that he has contacts in Pakistan.

“Please don’t trust these rumours and believe only when I put out a video,” he says. He also complained that his voluntary retirement application has been cancelled.

However, the BSF official said Yadav’s phone was taken away as part of the court of inquiry proceedings because it is material evidence.

“When his wife went to meet him, she presented him a new phone that he is using. No work has been assigned to him and there are no restrictions on his movement also. There is due process of inquiry and his voluntary retirement application cannot be processed now due to pending inquiry against him,” said the official.

The video appears to be edited and captioned, indicating a professional effort behind it.

DISGRUNTLED JAWAN’S CASE

Our Correspondent

KANGRA, March 1

The Indo-Oman joint Army exercise Al Nagah-II 2017 will be conducted from March 6 to 19 in the Dhauladhar ranges at Bakloh in Chamba district.This is the second joint military exercise. The first one was held in Oman in January 2015.Disclosing this today, Lt Col Manish Mehta, a Defence spokesperson, said the troops had been drawn from one Infantry battalion each from the Indian Army and the Royal Army of Oman. Approximately 60 troops from both countries would participate in the exercise, he added.Lt Col Mehta said the aim of the exercise was to build and promote bilateral military relations and enhance inter-operability while exchanging skills and experiences between the Army and the Royal Army of Oman. He said an added aim of the exercise was to qualitatively enhance the knowledge of each other’s military procedures, thus increasing the scope for inter-operability and better responsiveness to a common threat.He said the Indian troops had undergone extensive training on rock craft, slithering, counter-terrorism or low-intensity conflict operations in addition to tactical drills of close cordon and house intervention drills to fulfil the mandate of the joint exercise.He said the 14-day exercise with the Royal Army of Oman was scheduled to be conducted in multiple modules in order to achieve complete integration between the two contingents at every stage. The vast experience and expertise gained by the Indian troops in counter insurgency operations held special importance to the Oman Army. The joint exercise would, therefore, set the stage for greater defence cooperation between the two nations, he disclosed.

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BJP leader Ishfaq-ur-Rehman Poswal meets Army Chief General Bipin Rawat in New Delhi on Monday. Tribune Photo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 27

BJP leader Ishfaq-ur-Rehman Poswal met Army Chief General Bipin Rawat in New Delhi today and urged him to organise a special recruitment drive for Gujjar and Bakerwal youths in the country and raise a ‘Gujjar regiment’ to fight Pakistan-backed militants and anti-India extremist forces, particularly in J&K.“In absence of jobs, these youths who are living close to the border are vulnerable to traps of militants who have been luring and engaging them as their over-ground workers (OGWs) to create disturbance, drug trafficking or narco-terrorism in the country,” Poswal said in a letter written to the Army Chief.“Last month, the police established Pakistan’s role in spreading ‘narco-terrorism’ in the strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir after six persons were caught transporting drugs valued at millions of rupees from across the border in Kupwara district,” he said. Powal urged the Army Chief to organise a special recruitment drive in the Army for Gujjar youths for a ‘Gujjar regiment’ so that youths of this ignored community could be offered a chance to fight militants and anti-India forces.The BJP leader said a large population of people living in remote areas had not participated in any violent activity, such as stone-throwing or anti-India protests, in the two decades of turmoil in the state.“However, most of these people do not have any permanent source of income and also lack other means of sustenance. In such a scenario, I submit to you that a general recruitment drive in the Army should be organised in these specified areas to engage a large number of educated but jobless youths in the Army so that their youthful energy can be utilised in a positive way,” he said.Poswal, who is national executive member of party’s ST Morcha, said the educational qualification for ST youths in the Army recruitment should be middle pass and for the general category, it should be matriculation.“A large number of Gujjar and Bakerwal youths in Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts should be offered an opportunity to try their luck in armed forces, particularly the Army,” he said.

A group of runners from Rajasthan take part in a run at the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post in Amritsar on Sunday. A tribune photograph

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 26

A group of seven runners today concluded their nearly 360-km run at the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post (JCP) after running in main cities of Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.An initiative by the Rajasthan Police, the group was led by Inspector Sunil Sharma.He said the objective of the run was to pay regards to martyrs who were sacrificing their lives while guarding frontiers with Pakistan and to create awareness against terrorism among the masses.Sharma said it was named ‘Hunkar Dhod’. He said the run had begun from Amar Jawan Jyoti in Jaipur on February 19 and concluded today at the Attari border.Nearly 360-km distance was covered by Sunil Sharma, Anil Parnami, Manoj Soni, Virnder Soni, Ashwin, Bhanwar Singh and Mohnish.Sunil Sharma said they ran from Jaipurto Delhi.Subsequently, they ran in popular cities like Karnal, Panipat, Ambala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar.With an aim to spread a message against terrorism among all members of society and pay tributes to marytrs of the Indian forces who were died guarding the borders, it took them eight days to conclude the run.