Fence along the Line of Control (LoC) to be relocated and fortified; Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants killed in an encounter in Sopore; Centre’s silence on Interlocutors report disappoint interlocutors; One of the accused in Delhi blast killed in Kishtwar
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    • DECEMBER 17-23

    According to reports, while stage is being set for permanent fencing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir to curb infiltration, proposal has been moved to relocate the fence at various places and not evacuate the villages near the LoC. According to an MHA official an expert team of engineers from Army and civilian organizations is visiting the state in the last week of December or first week of January to chalk out a plan for permanent and all weather fencing along the LoC. 1

    In another development, according to reports, five Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) militants were killed in an encounter with police and Army in Sopore Tehsil of Baramulla district in north Kashmir on December 18. Director General of Police Ashok Prasad and Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, SM Sahai, termed it a big success and said the militant group was eyeing to carry out attacks in Srinagar city. The encounter began early December 18 morning at village Saidpora on Sopore- Bandipora highway after soldiers of Army’s 22 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and Special Operation Group (SOG) of J&K Police cordoned off the village on a tip-off about presence of five to seven militants. 2

    According to reports, more than a year after submitting their report to Government of India, one of the former interlocutors on Kashmir, Prof Radha Kumar on December 19 expressed dismay over the Centre’s silence on their recommendations. Kumar, who was part of the three member group of interlocutors on Kashmir appointed by the Centre in the wake of 2010 unrest, said they would raise the issue of lack of follow-up action on the report with the government of India after the ongoing Parliament session. Pertinently, the report was submitted by the group comprising journalist Dilip Padgaonkar, former bureaucrat MM Ansari and Kumar to then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in October 2011. Three months back, Padgaonkar and Kumar after undertaking fresh visit of the state submitted feedback report to Ministry of Home Affairs. Kumar asserted that their report is not being ignored and some of the Confidence Building Measures (CBM) suggested by them were in the process of implementation. 3

    In other developments, according to reports, police on December 20 claimed that it killed one of the prime accused in Delhi High Court blast case, Chota Hafiz, in an encounter in Kishtwar district. The encounter took place in Kadrana area of Marwah tehsil, where a joint party of police, army and NIA had launched searches to trace three accused in Delhi blast case. The National Investigating Agency (NIA) and the J&K Police had launched several operations in Kishtwar hills, particularly in Marwah, Dachhan area, to track down three Hizb militants—Amir Ali Kamal alias Amir alias Akram, Junaid Akram Malik alias Juni alias Umair and Shakir Hussain Sheikh alias Chota Hafiz alias Adil accused in the Delhi High Court blast. 4

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