Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 07:41 pm:

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Anand_n:

Or cover-ups ...not very reassuring ..

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 07:37 pm:

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Shawshank:

Border Security Force, which is responsible for border security and surveillance first reported these huge infiltrations .. Later on Army denied those. After that Ministry of Defense sources again said there are "possible intrusions". I guess, there is a lack of co-ordination among military sources. I do not know if you followed news some 10 days ago, security cameras installed on the border picked up 20 terrorists infiltrating into India.

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 01:42 pm:

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Anand_n:

Army is denying it - so who are these security agencies giving this information ?

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 01:23 pm:

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Shawshank:

Security agencies have detected that in the first two weeks of March, militants infiltrated in three groups � one comprised 10 Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami militants, the second was a large contingent of 120 men, mostly Pashtuns from a new group, and the third a batch of 28 militants.

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Shawshank:

Indian Army sources in New Delhi on Tuesday denied reports of 150 militants infiltrating into J&K through the Gurez sector in a Kargil-like infiltration and said that there was no such evidence to suggest that such an occurrence had taken place. The Army is vigilant along the LoC and there is a three-tier security system in place to thwart infiltration, Army sources said.

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 01:17 pm:

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Ustad:

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 01:14 pm:

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quote:

Srinagar: Ahead of snowmelt, militants infiltrated in large numbers last month, using a treacherous stretch to cross the Line of Control in Gurez sector. Security agencies have detected that in the first two weeks of March, militants infiltrated in three groups — one comprised 10 Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami militants, the second was a large contingent of 120 men, mostly Pashtuns from a new group, and the third a batch of 28 militants.

The Army intercepted the third group while the other two groups sneaked in unnoticed. What is worrying security agencies is information that the group of 120 also brought in arms, ammunition and communication equipment in large numbers and dumped these "somewhere close to the Line of Control".

Sources said this massive infiltration came to light when one of the members of the group — a Pakistani militant from Dir in the North West Frontier Province — was nabbed along with a local militant from Bandipore. The duo spilled the beans on the entire operation. Sources said the infiltration had been launched from Kel and Sonar and the Army is now combing the area close to the LoC in Gurez for the dumped equipment and ammunition. The militants, sources said, had chosen a stretch along the LoC which was not only treacherous but also under massive snow cover and, hence, not under serious watch of troops.

Security agencies are worried about the large group which slipped in unnoticed. "These men, majority of them Pashtuns, were sent in with a small group of local militants. They met at the time of the launch and the local militants were particularly told to take care of three important men among the Pashtuns," a source privy to the investigations told The Indian Express. "The group sneaked in and the majority went towards Lolab valley while a smaller group was diverted towards Bandipore. The two men were nabbed from Bandipore area."

Sources said inputs from the Pattan-Sumbal area of north Kashmir too had suggested the arrival of a new militant group. On specific inputs, a joint team of the Special Operations Group (SOG) and CRPF encircled a group of militants. In the gunbattle that followed, a local militant commander, Abdul Rashid Beig of Sumbal, was killed. The CRPF lost one man while four policemen were injured. Beig, despite suffering from frost bite, fought for several hours after being encircled. This surprised security agencies who had repeatedly asked him to surrender.

"Beig was a militant since 1998. It is now evident he was part of this recent infiltration. The frost bites were fresh. We have inputs about four-five more militants in the area and are trying to encircle them too," sources said, adding that the first group of ten militants who infiltrated in the Gurez sector was entirely from the HuJI. These findings have put the entire security establishment on alert. An earlier assessment of infiltration this year had put the number of men who crossed the LoC at 54.

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 01:13 pm:

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Shawshank:

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 12:46 pm:

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Iamim:

Shawshank.. why did you change your signature..

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 12:38 pm:

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quote:

Vote for Bharatiya Janata Party :-)

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 12:35 pm:

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Chivuks:

george fernandez

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 12:34 pm:

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quote:

Publication: The Indian Express
Date: January 25, 2002

The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General S. Padmanabhan has said there is no malafide intent in the procurement of the aluminium caskets.

In a letter to Defence Minister George Fernandes, the Army chief said an unnecessary controversy had been created and now could be put to rest.

Padmanabhan's letter to George Fernandes was circulated to the media along with a booklet entitled The whole truth with all the Documents about the Aluminium caskets. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is learnt to have given all support, documents and even the aluminium casket to the veteran journalist and writer R.V. Pandit.

''The book puts the entire procurement in the correct perspective. The chronology and facts have been lucidly brought out for all to see that there was no malafide intent. An unnecessary controversy will hopefully now be put to rest,'' Gen Padmanabhan's letter said. Addressing a press conference former COAS Gen Shankar Roychoudhary said political controversies surrounding defence procurements and the repercussions in the media have brought the process of acquisition of technology for armed forces to a standstill.

''Turbulence generated over the years from Bofors downwards has brought the whole process of acquisition of technology for modernisation of armed forces to a halt,'' he said. He said Bofors was used to score political points with that government and coffins were being used to settle scores now.

"Clarifications with the Ministry has brought to ligfht that the aluminium caskets were bought from the US after seeking quotqations from Germany, France and U.K." he said. "While UK saids they have only wooden models, the French reported they had galvanised caskets. The Germans had only steel ones.," he said. India was lookingm for the type used by the UN forces, which were available only with the U.S. he added.

Pandit said the media had ignored the facts about the procurement. He said investigations done in his ''individual capacity'' had proved the caskets which the media and the contract referred to as weighing 18 kgs were the wooden types.

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 12:29 pm:

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quote:

The Indian parliament was adjourned on Wednesday for the second day running as the opposition demanded the resignation of Defence Minister George Fernandes over an army coffin scandal.

Both houses of parliament were adjourned over the affair which centres on a report that the government paid vastly inflated sums for coffins for soldiers killed in Kashmir in 1999.


Nobody will forgive those involved for having purchased coffins that had to be subsequently rejected

Indian state radio

Not only were the 500 aluminium coffins overpriced, but the US-based supplier failed to meet Indian specifications.

Soldiers killed fighting separatists in Indian-administered Kashmir are regarded as martyrs by many Indians and opposition deputies shouted down the government with cries of "coffin thieves".

"Nobody will forgive those involved for having purchased coffins that had to be subsequently rejected," Indian state radio commented on Wednesday.

Mr Fernandes only returned as defence minister in October after being forced out of office over a scandal over weapons purchases.

He has refused to resign, saying he has asked the US company for a refund

Public anger

More than 400 Indian soldiers were killed in the 1999 conflict which began when Islamic militants infiltrated the Kargil sector of Kashmir from Pakistan.

A report in The Times of India newspaper says the Comptroller and Auditor General found that the government had paid an American company $2,500 for each of the 500 coffins.

Indian troops
The fighting in Kashmir continues with one militant reported killed on Wednesday
But five years earlier, it had only paid $172 per coffin.

Moreover, many of the coffins were never used, being rejected as too heavy.

"What is really shocking is that the coffins of the martyrs were bought at an exorbitant price," said the chief whip of the opposition Congress Party, Pryaranjan Dasmunshi.

"They have no right to stay in office, until the prime minister explains to the house."

For Indian radio, the anger of opposition deputies was a genuine reflection of public feeling:

"The mood of the parliamentarians amply reflected the shock and anger faced by each and every Indian on these sordid revelations."

Ministry's reply

The Defence Ministry says it had to buy aluminium coffins so that the bodies of Indian soldiers could be sent home in a dignified manner.

It said that an order for 500 coffins was made with the company Buitron and Baize to be delivered in consignments.

When the first batch of coffins was delivered, it was discovered to be sub-standard and that led to the cancellation of the order for the remaining 350.

The Ministry of Defence says the company was in breach of contract and is asking for some of its money back.

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 06:47 am:

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Chiru_fan:

yevaru nokkaru and nokkina valla meeda yemainaa action theesukunnaraa?

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 01:51 am:

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Shawshank:

varini vaadu enduku vachadu saami madhya lo

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 01:29 am:

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Chivuks:

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Posted on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 01:00 am:

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quote:

April 21: The BSF has admitted that as many as 115-125 militants have infiltrated into the country so far this year along the Indo-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir.

A senior BSF official told this newspaper that these militants managed to cross over into India even as security agencies were aware of cross-border terror outfits trying to push militants across the International Border (IB) and LoC in J&K to scale up militancy as well as disturb the Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, Indian Army sources in New Delhi on Tuesday denied reports of 150 militants infiltrating into J&K through the Gurez sector in a Kargil-like infiltration and said that there was no such evidence to suggest that such an occurrence had taken place. The Army is vigilant along the LoC and there is a three-tier security system in place to thwart infiltration, Army sources said.

Pointing towards the deteriorating security situation in the neighbouring country and suspicious movements along the border line, security agencies are apprehending a further rise in infiltration bids over the next few months.

"Terror outfits like the Lashker-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen are getting desperate and have combined their efforts to push militants into the country to make up for the lull following the 26/11 attack," a senior security official said. The official said that there are inputs from the Army saying that they are expecting a lot of infiltration this year.

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