Trucker injured in bomb attack dies, PSA slapped on accused
19 Oct 2015 5:38 AM IST
One of the two persons injured in Udhampur petrol bomb attack on a Kashmir-bound truck died on Sunday after battling for life for nine days, sparking fresh protest in some areas in the Valley, even as the stringent Public Safety Act was slapped against five of the accused.
Former J&K CM Omar Abdullah attacked BJP and its allies over the incident and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to who would be blamed for the death of Zahid Ahmed.
Zahid, the conductor of the truck targeted in the October 9 attack, died this morning at Safdurjung Hospital in Delhi, where he was admitted with 74 per cent burns. The police said that five of the seven persons arrested in connection with the petrol bomb attack, that claimed one life and left another critically injured, have been booked under Public Safety Act (PSA).
Those booked under the PSA are <g data-gr-id="37">Sandoor</g> Singh, Danesh alias Pamma, Harish Singh Katoch, Balbahadur Singh alias <g data-gr-id="38">Abbu</g> and Varinder Singh alias Kaka, an official said. The decision to book the five accused under PSA was taken by the District Magistrate Udhampur based on a dossier submitted by the district police which pointed out to their criminal history as they had several FIRs already lodged against them.
According to the dossier, these persons have been booked for planning and executing a criminal conspiracy aiming at disturbing peace and public order in the state under a pre-designed and motivated plan.
Meanwhile, Batengoo in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, the native village of Zahid, observed a spontaneous shutdown <g data-gr-id="26">to protest</g> against the killing.
“Batengoo village, which is on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, has <g data-gr-id="27">shutdown</g> in protest against the death of Zahid Ahmed,” an official at Police Control Room (PCR) Anantnag said over <g data-gr-id="24">phone</g>.
Clashes broke out in Batengoo and surrounding areas between protesters and police personnel, a police official said.
The protesters pelted stones at security personnel, who retaliated by firing tear smoke shells, he said, adding that there was no report of anyone getting hurt. “The Highway has been closed,” the official said, adding additional police personnel are on stand by. Omar condoled the death of Zahid and said he had met him on Saturday. Attacking the state and the <g data-gr-id="29">Cemtral</g> governments, he said they cannot wash their hands off the issue.
RSS organ on Dadri lynching: Vedas say kill cow murderers
Fuelling the ongoing beef debate, the RSS mouthpiece in its cover story has said that the killing of Mohammad Iqlakh in Dadri over beef consumption rumours could not have been “without reason” and even the “Vedas mandate killing of those who slaughter cows”. An article in RSS organ Panchjanya said, “The Vedas order killing of anyone who slaughters the cow.Cow slaughter is a big issue for the Hindu community. For many of us it’s a question of life and death.” The article also questioned the rebellion by writers who are returning their awards to protest the lynching episode.
One held in HP lynching case, four others identified
Shimla: In a breakthrough in the Himachal Pradesh lynching case, police on Sunday claimed to have arrested one of the five people accused of killing an alleged cow smuggler two days back and said the remaining would be nabbed soon as they have been identified. One of the accused has been arrested, DSP of Sirmaur district Yogesh Rolta said about the incident that took place near <g data-gr-id="89">Lawasa</g> village in Sirmaur district, about 150 <g data-gr-id="90">kms</g> from here, on Friday. The arrested person, who is a local resident, is being interrogated to get more information about the incident and the persons involved in the attack and some more accused may be identified, he said. Efforts are on to arrest the other four accused, he added. Earlier in the day, Rolta said, “We have identified five persons on the basis of messages and pictures flashed by some youth.”
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