Naxals focusing on strengthening cadre in Bastar

Naxals have focused more on strengthening their cadres instead of consolidating base in the Bastar region comprising seven districts of Kanker, Kondagaon, Bastar, Narayanpur, Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma this year, according to experts.

Spread around 40,000 sq km, tribal-dominated Bastar has witnessed a string of deadly attacks in past 10 years that has left about 2093 people including 710 security personnel dead, but the well-planned May 25 attack on the Congress convoy reflected a new strategy of rebels who were apparently enraged over frequent visits of politicians to their stronghold.

The current phase is also marked by a conscious attempt to militarize the armed component of the party - the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA)- with a view to launch attacks on the state apparatus, they said.

Like every year in the recent past, the human loss due to Naxal-related incidents in Chhattisgarh reached close to the three digit mark in 2013.

Till November, 97 people including 41 security personnel, two assistant constables, a homeguard and 53 civilians, were killed in Naxal-related incidents, as per official statistics.

In 2012, the causalities were 108 including 41 security personnel, four assistant constables, a homeguard and 62 civilians.

On the other hand, 32 left wing guerrillas were killed in 138 encounters between security forces and Maoists this year in comparison to the previous year number of only 37.

This year began with a setback for the state police when a court on January 7 acquitted for lack of evidence, all the 10 arrested accused in the 2010 Tadmetla Maoist attack case in which 75 CRPF personnel and a police jawan were killed in Dantewada district.

Maoists also attempted to execute a major incident by unleashing a bullet attack on Indian Air Force helicopter, when it was on a casualty evacuation mission in restive Sukma forest. A wireless operator was injured in the incident.

Then April brought success in an anti-insurgency operation when the joint team of security forces from Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh gunned down ten Naxals in Sukma district.

via The Times of India

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From fake encounter to court martial: A look back at 2010 Machil encounter case

An Army court on Wednesday ordered court martial proceedings against one Colonel, one major and four others in connection with the 2010 Machil fake encounter case.

The case is about three youths from the Valley, who were killed in a fake encounter and labelled as hardcore militants in 2010.

On April 30, 2010, the Army had claimed that they had killed three infiltrators in the Machil sector along the Line of Control.

Reyaz Ahmad, Mohammad Shafi and Shahzad Ahmad - all residents of Nadihal in Baramulla district- were reportedly lured by a former SPO Bashir Ahmad Lone and his accomplices to Machil on the pretext of getting them high-paying jobs in the Army and later handed over to Army for Rs 50,000 each.

The trio was later allegedly shot dead in a staged gun-battle near the Line of Control. Dubbed as Pakistani infiltrators, they were buried as unidentified militants. The case came to light when police found discrepancies in the FIR lodged by the Army unit and launched an inquiry into the incident.

Following complaints from relatives of the victims, a Territorial Army jawan and two others were arrested by police but the incident led to unrest in the entire Kashmir Valley and widespread demonstrations in which 123 people were killed.

Eleven persons including nine army officials and two civilians were charged under Sections 302 (murder), 364 (abduction), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intent) of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).

The army personnel against whom chargesheet was filed included Colonel D K Pathania of the 4 Rajput Rifles, Major Opendra Singh, Major Maurya (Adjutant), Subedar Satbir, Hawaldar Bir Singh, Sepoy Chadra Bhan, Sepoy Nagendra Singh, Sepoy Narendra Singh and Abbas Hussain Shah of the Territorial Army.

Army had removed Colonel Pathania from the commanding of his unit while Major Opendra, who was the second officer of the unit, was suspended after an internal inquiry was launched by the force.

via Indian Express

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Chinese soldiers enter India, Indian Army denies

Around 20 Chinese soldiers last week entered Indian territory near the LAC and pitched their tents in Chepzi area in Ladakh, sources said on Sunday.

Around 20-22 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers had last week pitched around 8-10 tents in the west of Chepzi in Ladakh area, the sources said.

However, the Army headquarters insisted there was no such incident in that area.

It was not immediately known whether the Chinese troops still remained in the Indian territory or have left.

The Army had held a flag meeting with the Chinese side yesterday.

Chepzi is close to Chumar area, which has been witness to a large number of incursions by the Chinese side in the last one year.

In April, Chinese troops had entered 19 km inside Indian territory in the Daulat Beg Oldi sector and left the place only after long negotiations and a series of flag meetings between the two sides.

The reports about the Chinese camp in the area have come soon after PLA troops apprehended five Indian nationals in the Chumar area and took them to their camp across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in an apparent bid to stake their claim on the area.

After the two countries signed the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) in Beijing, they have agreed to resolve their issues under the mechanisms provided by the new pact aiming to prevent flare-ups between their troops.

Defence Minister AK Antony had recently warned that the new border pact does not guarantee that nothing will happen in these areas in future.

Chumar has been one of the most active areas on the LAC in terms of transgressions by the Chinese troops.

Located 300 km from Leh, it has always been an area of discomfort for the Chinese troops as this is the only place along the Sino-Indian border where they do not have any direct access to the LAC.

via Zee News

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Boat sinks after colliding with Naval Ship

The recent spate of accidents that have hit the Navy and have thrown a shadow over its preparedness levels continue with a front line frigate colliding with a fishing vessel off the Maharashtra coast on Monday night, sinking the boat and resulting in injuries to several people.

The INS Talwar, which is the leading ship of its class, collided with a fishing vessel late at night, barely 10 miles off the coast. As many as 27 people who were on board the fishing vessel had to be rescued after it sunk under the impact of the collision.

It is still unclear how the collision occurred, given that the area is known for its high traffic density and the fact that the vessel was of a significant tonnage as far as fishing boats go. The Navy has blamed the fishing craft for the collision with officials claiming that it was operating without any lights at night.

It is learnt that the frigate has not been damaged in the accident and that it went ahead on its patrol after the incident took place. A formal board of inquiry has been ordered by the Navy into the accident, sources said.

Even though Navy Chief Admiral D K Joshi had said on December 3 that the Navy's safety record is "not all that bad", this year has been particularly tough for the force with multiple accidents even prompting Defence Minister A K Antony to direct top commanders to enforce training to personnel to ensure that national resources are not "frittered away".

The INS Talwar incident is the second accident this month. A day after Joshi made the statement on the Navy's track record, the Navy's leading minesweeper, the INS Konkan that was undergoing repair work in Vizag, caught fire suffered major damage.

Besides the loss of the INS Sindhurakshak submarine to still unexplained explosions at the Mumbai harbour earlier this year in which 18 sailors lost their lives, several major platforms, including the INS Vindhyagiri have been lost to accidents.

via Indian Express

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Army indicts 6 soldiers in Machil fake encounter

Shabir Ibn Yusuf. 

Army has ordered Court Martial of six soldiers, including two officers, involved in the killing of three youth of Nadihal Baramulla in a fake encounter at LoC at Machil in Kupwara district of north Kashmir on April 30 in 2010. The action comes after three years of investigations.

Shahzad Ahmad Khan, Riyaz Ahmad Lone and Muhammad Shafi Lone of Nadihal Baramulla were killed in the fake encounter by the accused soldiers and passed off as infiltrating militants to get promotions and awards.

The police investigation found that they were killed by soldiers of 4 Rajput Regiment in a fake encounter in Machil. In July 2010, Police charge-sheeted an Army Colonel and two Majors among 11 people in connection with the fake encounter. The accused were Col D K Pathania, Major Maurya, Major Upinder, Subedar Satbir, Hawaldar Bir Singh, Sepoys Chandra Bhan, Nagendra Singh and Narendra Singh and Abbas Hussain Shah of the Territorial Army (TA) besides two civilians Basharat Lone and Abdul Hamid Bhat.

Highly-placed Army sources revealed to Greater Kashmir that the Court Martial was ordered last week. “The Court Martial was ordered after the court of inquiry submitted its final report,” they said adding the Court Martial proceedings will go against six people that include two officers.

Sources said the action was ordered after court of inquiry covered all the allegations based on the police report. The court of inquiry was headed by the then commander of 68 Mountain Brigade, Brigadier G S Sangah, now a Major General.

“The investigators carried out the proceedings as promised. They have ascertained the role of the accused and ordered Court Martial,” sources said, adding that there was a delay because of recalling of the witnesses who were involved in the incident, as the unit was de-inducted after it completed its mandated tenure. “Hectic efforts were made to complete the court of inquiry quite recently,” they said.

Army sources said that these six Army men would be given exemplary punishment. “They will most probably lose their jobs and other perks. They can be jailed also,” sources said adding that those things will get clear soon after the completion of Court Martial.  “Hopefully it will take little time for completion of Court Martial of these soldiers.”

Sources further said that parents and other relatives of the youth killed in the fake encounter were given fair opportunity to make their submissions during the investigations by the Army. “The step has been taken as a part of Army’s resolve towards non-tolerance for human rights violations and in pursuit of justice,” they said.

The family members of youth in their statement to police had said that Bashir Ahmad Lone, a Government-gunman-turned SPO (who worked as an informer for security agencies) is involved in the disappearance of the three youth. Later police interrogated Bashir and he identified dreaded Government-gunman Fayaz Ikhwani alias Gazi of Tujjar Sharief Sopore as an co-accused.

He has confessed before police that on April 26, 2010 they gave Rs 5,000 each to three boys and asked them to come next day for more money. He told police that when the youth approached the Government-gunmen Bashir and Fayaz the next day, the latter took them along and since then they were missing. During the investigations, police ascertained call records of Fayaz Ikhwani that confirmed he was in Thayen village of Kalaroos in frontier district of Kupwara when the trio was killed in Machil and the bodies were brought to Kalaroos.

During the investigations the police have recorded the statements of various people, including the driver of the vehicle in which the three youths were taken from their native village of Nadihal before being gunned down in a fake encounter.

After the investigations, in July 2010, police charge-sheeted an Army Colonel and two Majors among 11 people in connection with the fake encounter.

The charge-sheet was filed before a designated court in Sopore Tehsil of Baramulla district. All of them were charged under sections 302 (murder), 364 (abduction), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intent) of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) for conspiring and kidnapping three youths from Nadihal Baramulla on the pretext of giving them jobs and later killing them in Machil on the LoC in Kupwara claiming that they were militants.
via GreaterKashmir

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