'1,000 militants waiting across LoC'

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR, APRIL 14. The Inspector-General of the BSF (Jammu), Mr. U.C. Chabra, has disclosed that around 1,000 militants were waiting across the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB).

Highlighting the achievement of the BSF in past few days, Mr. Chabra said there was no let-up in the attempts from across the border to increase the militancy. However, he said the troops were alert to foil such attempts. After Gen. Musharraf took over, the scope of ISI had increased and there were renewed efforts to sustain militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

Pointing a huge catche of arms and ammunition recovered by the BSF in Rajouri district, he told presspersons in Jammu on Thursday that a 82mm recoiless gun was recovered for the first time in the State as also 71 kg of RDX. He said the intelligence inputs reveal that militants may go for a major offensive in the months of May-June in the region. He said the recoiless gun was capable of destroying vehicles and could hit a stationary object at a distance of 800 metres. Nearly 40 bombs of this gun were recovered during the past three days in Peer Kalewa area of Rajouri.

Mr. Chabra said 18 hideouts of militants were smashed by the BSF in Rajouri, Poonch and Udhampur districts during which six militants were killed. An ex-serviceman was also arrested for being a sympathiser of militants and providing them fields to dump arms. Earlier, the BSF had arrested a Lashkar-e-Taiba sympathiser who was part of the Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah's security. Mr. Chabra admitted that the militants had a strong communication network but their controlling station was yet to be located.

UNI reports:

Transmitter to be installed

A very high-powered transmitter with a range of 80 km radius would shortly be installed at Samba to help counter the vicious anti-India propaganda by the Pakistan media, the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta, said in Jammu today.

Inaugurating the 31st Vividh Bharti channel of Commercial Broadcasting Service (CBS), Radio Kashmir (Jammu), Prof. Gupta said this 14-hour entertainment channel would not only entertain listeners but also help promote products through advertisements.

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