NEWS

A top Hizbul Mujahideen commander was killed in an overnight encounter in Usgam Pathri of Rajpora hamlet, in Pulwama district, officials said on Wednesday. A police officer said the slain terrorist was identified as Feroz Ahmad Dar.

Feroz was a Hizb district commander who had joined the outfit in 2017 and was the lone surviving terrorist in Shopian's Zainapora hamlet, known as a hotbed of militancy.

Late Tuesday night an official had said a joint team comprising personnel from the police and the Army had launched a cordon-and-search operation on specific information about the presence of militants in the area. He said the security forces were fired upon as they approached the site where they suspected the terrorists were hiding, setting off an encounter.

Parliament Tuesday passed two Bills to extend the tenure of the chiefs of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate to a maximum of five years from the earlier minimum period of two years.

Rajya Sabha approved the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021, by voice vote in the absence of the Opposition, which walked out earlier in the day to protest the suspension of 12 members.

The two laws now replace the Ordinances promulgated by the Ministry of Law and Justice last month.

The J&K police arrested on Wednesday two special police officers (SPOs) who had fled on Sunday night with their service rifles. The police had announced a Rs 5 lakh reward for information leading to their capture.

Notably, one of the SPOs, Saqib Ahmad Tantry, was deputed as the personal security officer (PSO) of BJP leader Abdul Rashid Zargar, housed in a PWD guesthouse for security reasons. However, Tantry fled with his service rifle and picked up his colleague, PSO Arif Mir, from Mir’s home in Bonipora in Kupwara where he had gone on leave. Both are residents of the same village.

IGP (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar confirmed that both SPOs had been arrested. Saqib’s colleague Arif had deserted the police force at the same time, the IGP said.

To provide constructed houses to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) of the society across the state, the Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday approved invitation of applications for allotment of 25,000 EWS houses to be constructed by various urban development authorities.

The applications for these houses along with necessary documents would be invited from the eligible applicants as per approved policy. The dwelling units would have carpet area of approx 30 sq.m.

This pro-poor scheme would be instrumental in benefitting nearly 25,000 EWS families of the state. A decision in this regard was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by CM Charanjit Singh Channi here at Punjab Bhawan on Tuesday.