Head of religious institute in J&K held on rape charges
Tuesday, May 21, 2013, Srinagar: A head of a religious institute was arrested in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir following alleged complaints of rape against him by girl students of the institute, police said.
Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, who is running the institute in Khansahib area, was arrested after police received joint complaints from four minor girls, alleging that he has been sexually exploiting them over a period of time, police said.
A case has been registered in Khansahib police station and the investigations are in progress, they said.
The statements of the victims have been recorded before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Budgam which corroborate the complaint, police said.
The victims, who hail from different districts of the Valley, have been medically examined and the report is awaited.
The investigation reveals that the institute was running for several years and the boarding and lodging is being provided to the students by the head, they added.
J&K govt is a combination of misgovernance, corruption: Mufti
Tuesday, May 21, 2013, Jammu: Terming the Omar Abdullah-led state government as synonymous with mis-governance and corruption, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday said the present regime has a dubious record of eroding anti-corruption institutions.
"The present regime has a dubious record of eroding existing anti-corruption institutions in various ways to virtually make them defunct, it is a combination of mis-governance and corruption," PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said while addressing a public gathering in Ramban district.
The PDP-Congress regime had constituted the State Accountability Commission (SAC) to eradicate corruption, but the NC-Congress government has made this anti-graft panel defunct to shield its corrupt ministers, Sayeed said.
"The manner in which the present government has made the SAC virtually defunct, betrays its total lack of concern for eradicating corruption," he said.
"While serious allegations of corruption and misuse of office are being made against ministers in the present regime, the state government is not only shielding them, but has made the anti-graft institutions non-functional," he added.
J&K: More separatist leaders put under house arrest
Tuesday, May 21, 2013, Srinagar: Authorities Tuesday foiled the plans of separatists to hold a rally at Eidgah in old city by placing more senior Hurriyat leaders under house arrest and deploying large number of security forces in the area.
While the Hurriyat chairman is under house arrest since Saturday, the authorities imposed restrictions on movement of other leaders of the amalgam this morning, a spokesman of the Hurriyat Conference said.
Maulana Abbas Ansari, Zaffar Akbar Bhat and Shahidul Islam were among the leaders placed under house arrest this morning, the spokesman said.
Moderate Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had planned a rally at Eidgah to pay tributes to Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq and senior separatist leader Abdul Gani Lone on their death anniversary.
Farooq, the present Hurriyat Chairman?s father, was shot dead by militants on May 21, 1990, and Lone fell to the bullets of ultras during a commemoration rally for the former on this day in 2002.
Although separatists used to hold a rally every year on May 21 at Eidgah, the authorities imposed curbs on these rallies following the 2010 summer unrest. Official sources said heavy deployment of police and paramilitary CRPF has been made at the venue of the rally and roads leading to it.
They said the deployment is a preventive measure so that law and order is not disturbed.
District Magistrate Srinagar Farooq Ahmad Shah and SSP Srinagar S A H Bukhari had yesterday informed Mirwaiz that the proposed rally will not be allowed.
Meanwhile, normal life across Srinagar city and other parts of Kashmir was affected as shops, schools and other business establishments remained closed.
The moderate Hurriyat had called for a general strike.
Attendance in government offices was also thin as public transport remained off roads in most parts of the valley.
J&K nod to creation of medical supplies corporation
Srinagar, May 21: Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday decided to set up a medical supplies corporation for purchase of drugs and medical equipment at State health care institutions.
According to an official spokesman, a meeting of the State Cabinet here chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah okayed “the establishment of Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation (JKMSC) for purchasing drugs, instruments and disposables and other equipment required in health care institutions”.
The Cabinet had approved creation of 22 posts under different categories for the new corporation, he said.
The corporation will achieve the objective of economising on purchases, facilitate procurement of quality and standard drugs and put in place a foolproof drug testing mechanism, the spokesman said.
The State Government’s move comes in the wake of a fake drugs case being unearthed in the State when laboratory analysis of an anti-biotic showed that there was no trace of amoxycillin in it against the claim of the manufacturer that it contained 500mg of amoxycillin.
A probe is on in that scam with calls by activists for registration of a case against the then State health minister Sham Lal Sharma and members of a purchasing committee for allegedly procuring the fake drugs for Government hospitals.
