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Uri-Wagoora grid blast plunges Valley into darkness

ISLAMABAD: In occupied Kashmir, the 400 kv Uri-Wagoora grid station was blasted late on Saturday night, plunging the entire Valley into darkness including vital installations of the army and security forces in the area.

According to Kashmir Media Service, two bomb blasts occurred at the grid station at 10.40 pm. The KMS, quoting experts in Srinagar, says even if the work of restoring the grid is carried out on war-footing it will take at least one month to repair it.

A special electric power supply tower had been blasted earlier on the night falling between Thursday and Friday last, about four kilometres from Qazigund. This tower carried 220 killowatt power supply to Udhampur-Pompore lines which were damaged and the electric supply was snapped. Following blasting of the tower, the Valley depended mainly on the 150 megawatts supply from Ganderbal-Uri power station against its minimum requirement of 300 megawatts.

Meanwhile, Indian armed forces have been alerted across the occupied Kashmir, particularly in Srinagar and Jammu cities, ahead of the Indian Republic Day on January 26 for fear of possible Mujahideen attacks.

In Srinagar, extraordinary precautionary measures have been taken around Bakhshi Stadium, venue of the official function. Areas around it are subjected to daily crackdowns while checking of vehicles plying in these areas has been further tightened.

Head-counts have been started in Srinagar where the military personnel visit houses and note names of house inmates. They are threatened that if any person other than those registered was found in any house before January 26, strict action will be taken against them.

More than a dozen innocent persons were arrested during crackdowns in Batmaloo, Tangpura and Marajpura, in Srinagar. A BSF officer said crackdowns in the city would continue till January 26. A monitoring cell has been set up in Shergarh police station, adjacent to Bakhshi Stadium to keep round-the-clock vigilance. Residents of Batmaloo, Maisuma, Rainawari and Khanyer localities have been ordered to remain confined to their houses after sunset. Restrictions on movement have been imposed on Bagat Burzala-Rawalpura road from 4.00 pm. Movement is already banned on Sonawari-Panthra Chowk sector of Srinagar-Jammu highway.

In Jammu, heavy guards have been posted around Maulana Azad Stadium where Republic Day parade will be held. All movements stand banned around the stadium. Crackdowns, particularly in suburban areas, have become the order of the day.

Dust to dawn curfew has been imposed in many towns. Notice boards have been displayed prominently in Kangan, Baramula, Kupwara markets asking people to remain indoors during the curfew hours. Crackdowns, siege and searches and patrolling have been intensified.

Meanwhile, the illegal detention of four more APHC leaders has been extended by two years under the draconian Public Safety Act. These include Dr Ghulam Mohammad Hubbi, confined in Udhampur jail and Agha Syed Hasan Mausavi, Bashir Ahmad Tota and Shahidul Islam. They were arrested in October last year and initially their period of detention was to be three months under Public Safety Act.

Detention of senior APHC leaders Syed Ali Shah Gilani, Mohammad Yaseen Malik, Prof Abdul Ghani Butt and Maulvi Abbas Ansari who are behind bars in the notorious Jodhpur jail has already been extended by two years.

The APHC spokesman has said that at Lalpura, in Lolab, the troops disembark women from buses and take them to military camps. At Beerva in Budgam, young men are forced to daily report at military camps where they are made to undergo forced labour. A delegation from Lasipura, in Pulwama, informed APHC that Maghrib and Isha prayers are not allowed in mosques, and women are being harassed.

The delegation from Langait-Qaziabad said that people are taken to military camps and subjected to physical torture. Reign of terror has been let loose in Dever and Dardpura, in Lolab area.

The APHC spokesman appealed to world human rights organisations to take urgent notice of custodial killings of youth which had become a daily routine.

At Malangpura, in Pulwama, a prominent worker of pro-Indian National Conference, his son and nephew were gunned down. An Indian agent was shot dead at Gundi Jahangir, in Sonawari area. A dead body was banded over by troops at police station in Chaodora. A young man was shot dead by troops at Hayatpura, in the same area.

The Mujahideen clashed with troops at Mahoot, in Udhampur area, killing and injuring a number of them.

In a statement in New Delhi, the President of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Party, Pandit Bhoshan Bazaz, strongly condemning the Pattan blaze described it as a vindictive action by troops. He urged India to adopt realistic policy about the Kashmir issue and give up its intransigence.ÑAPP