The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — Residents of Batamaloo area of central Kashmir's Srinagar district here staged a protest over the acute shortage of water in the locality.

The protesters, mostly women, from Mominabad blocked the road, sat on a dharna, and raised slogans against Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department for almost an hour.

Protesting ladies sat on the road amid scorching heat in a line, forcing the commuters to halt their vehicles.

One of the protesters told the news agency KNT that the Moominabad locality has been facing acute shortage of drinking water and nobody at the helm of affairs is showing interest in addressing the issue.

The protesters said the PHE department has “taken them for a ride, thus leaving no option for them but to stage the protest.”

SRINAGAR — After an extensive three-day search, the body of Mukhtar Ahmad Sheikh, who tragically drowned in the Jhelum River in Central Kashmir's Srinagar district, was recovered on Monday afternoon.

A police official disclosed that the victim, identified as Mukhtar Ahmad Sheikh, the son of Nazir Ahmad Sheikh and a resident of SD Colony Batamaloo, lost his life in the river at Lasjan on Friday evening.

Following days of concerted efforts, authorities successfully retrieved the body from the river, and it was promptly transported to the hospital for necessary medical and legal procedures.

The incident unfolded when Mukhtar Ahmad Sheikh drowned in the Jhelum River, along with an e-rickshaw, three days prior to the recovery of his body.

SRINAGAR — In a shocking turn of events, a man was allegedly stabbed by his brother-in-law in the Batamaloo area of central Kashmir's Srinagar district on Monday. In a separate incident, a non-local resident was found dead in Rajbagh area.

According to sources and reports received by The Kashmir Pulse, Danish Mushtaq (27), a resident of Tengpora Batamaloo, was attacked by his brother-in-law late at night.

The assailant allegedly stabbed Danish in his left thigh, causing a serious injury. Danish was immediately rushed to the hospital for medical treatment.

The police have taken cognizance of the incident and initiated an investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, tragedy struck in Rajbagh as a non-local man was found unconscious. The man was taken to a hospital, but unfortunately, the doctors declared him dead.

The deceased has been identified as Arun Kumar (22) son of Late Sushil Kumar, hailing from Ranchi, Jharkhand.

Officials have commenced the necessary legal-medico formalities and other procedures pertaining to the investigation.

SRINAGAR — Srinagar Police on Wednesday said it solved a blind murder case by arresting an accused involved in stabbing a man to death in Batamaloo area of Srinagar last evening.

Addressing a press conference, Superintendent of Police (SP) South Srinagar, Gaurav Sikarwar, as per the news agency KNO, said that a teenager had stabbed a man identified as Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, as the deceased was against the relationship between the accused and his daughter.

"Soon after the killing took place last evening, a case under FIR number 67 was registered and an investigation was taken up," he said, adding that CCTV footage was analyzed and some suspects were identified.

"One of the suspects was zeroed in and he was questioned, following which he confessed to the crime, saying that he took revenge as he was in a relationship with the deceased's daughter for the last one year," SP South said.

He said the accused last evening got a chance and stabbed him with a sharp-edged weapon. "The case was cracked within hours as the accused was arrested at 2:00 AM in the night. Blood-stained shirt, trousers and the knife used in the crime were recovered," he said.

Pertinently, a 45-year-old man was stabbed to death last evening in Batamaloo area of Srinagar following which police launched a probe to arrest the accused.

Meanwhile, police in a statement said that one juvenile (name withheld) has been arrested for murder in broad daylight in Batmaloo yesterday.

"He was having a romantic interest in the daughter of the victim. As he is above 16 years and the offence is heinous, a petition will be filed in court to treat him as an adult as per section 15 of Juvenile Justice Act 2015," police said.

SRINAGAR — A man was stabbed to death in Bypass-Batamaloo area of summer capital Srinagar on Tuesday.

Some unknown persons allegedly attacked a man identified as Ajaz Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Momin-Abad at Bypass-Batmaloo near Dar Iron Traders in Srinagar on Tuesday evening, news agency KDC reported.

The man was taken to JVC Hospital Srinagar, where doctors declared him dead.

Principal JVC, Dr Irfan confirmed the death and said the man was brought dead to the hospital.

Meanwhile, police have taken cognizance of the incident and an investigation has been set into motion.

SRINAGAR — A non-local and a resident from north Kashmir’s Baramulla district were found dead in mysterious circumstances in Bemina and Batamaloo area of summer capital Srinagar on Tuesday morning.

An unnamed official was quoted by the news agency KDC as having said that a non-local labourer identified as Babu Ali (65) son of Hussain, a resident of Jalalpur area of Uttar Pradesh state, was found dead in a rented accommodation at SD Colony here. Ali’s body was shifted to SMHS Hospital for further medico-legal formalities.

In another incident, the body of local resident identified as Naseer Ahmad Lone, son of Habibullah, a resident of Baramulla, was found in a vehicle (Tata Mobile) bearing registration number JK13G-0150 near Tengpora area of Batamaloo by CRPF jawans of 73 Battalion this morning.

Meanwhile, police have taken cognizance of both incidents and further investigations are going on.

NEW DELHI — Court has released a Kashmiri photojournalist, terming the charges against him by National Investigation Agency (NIA) as ‘mere assumptions’.

Muhammad Manan Dar, a resident of Batamaloo Srinagar, was released from the Tihar Jail after spending over a year in jail. Dar was arrested by NIA along with 12 others in October 2022, days after the killing of a few non-locals.

NIA had said that the conspiracy to “execute spree of target killings in the valley in October 2021” was hatched by Pakistan-based Syed Salahuddin, the head of United Jihad Council, an umbrella organization of militant outfits operating in Kashmir, Bashir Ahmed Pir and Imtiyaz Kundoo, residents of Kashmir who are believed to be living in Pakistan, and unidentified commanders of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Al-Badr and other unidentified terror outfits.

The agency filed a case (RC No.29/2021/NIA/DLI) under sections 120B, 121A, 122, and 123 of IPC and sections 18, 18A, 18B, 30, 30, and 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 in 2021, and a chargesheet was filed in the NIA court last year.

Notably, militants shot dead at least nine civilians, mostly non-locals, in October 2021. These include a civilian Abdul Rehman Guroo from Galwanteng Chatabal who was killed by suspected militants in Karan Nagar area of Srinagar; another civilian, who was a PDD employee, identified as Shafi Dar was shot dead at SD Colony Batamaloo.

Militants also shot dead three civilians — Bindro Medicate owner Makhan Lal near Iabal Park Srinagar, Virendra Paswan from Bhagalpur Bihar at Lal Bazar, and Sumo president Muhammad Shafi alias Sonu in Shahgund Hajin area of Bandipora.

Militants shot dead two teachers Sapendar Kour and Deepak Chand in Idgah Srinagar. A non-local vendor Arvind Kumar of Bihar was shot dead by militants in Eidgah area of Srinagar. Another non-local carpenter Sageer Ahmed from Saharanpur UP shot dead by militants in Litter Pulwama.

Family sources confirmed the release of Dar, saying the jail authorities handed him over to the family in presence of his lawyer. The court had observed the charges against Dar are insufficient and ‘mere assumptions’.

In its chargesheet, the agency, citing witnesses and data recovered from Manan’s phone, claimed that the 23-year-old, who was selected to join the 2022 cohort of Integrated Journalism and Mass Communication course at Cluster University, Srinagar before his arrest, was working “under the cover of a photojournalist” to “share details” about security forces and their deployment in Kashmir with terrorist outfits.

SRINAGAR — Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested a man for allegedly stabbing his mother-in-law in Kashmir's capital city, Srinagar.

Sources said that a man Jasir Ahmed Gadda from Batamaloo Srinagar has been arrested by Police Station Saddar after he allegedly stabbed his mother-in-law in Ram Bagh area of Srinagar. The lady has been shifted to SMHS Hospital for treatment in critical condition.

A police official, while confirming the incident, said that an FIR vide number 64/2022 under section 307 has been registered in this regard and the accused is behind the bars.

Meanwhile, Srinagar Police in a tweet said, ”Accused namely Jasir Ahmad Gada of Batmaloo arrested for stabbing his mother-in-law in Ram Bagh area. Case registered under sections of attempt to murder in Sadar Police Station. Victim lady is grievously injured and is battling for life in SMHS Hospital."