Kashmir parties for simultaneous assembly, LS polls
Srinagar: The political parties of Kashmir on Monday. impressed upon the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hold the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir simultaneously with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The ECI Monday began a two-day visit to the state to assess the feasibility of holding the Lok Sabha and the assembly polls simultaneously. Delegations of National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, Pradesh Congress Committee and other smaller parties met the EC team headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora to put forth their views about holding of assembly elections in the state. The officials said the team will leave for Jammu later in the day and hold similar interactions there on Tuesday. Congress leader Taj Mohiuddin also said his party delegation highlighted the fact that holding assembly elections together with Lok Sabha elections can lead to higher voter turnout as was witnessed in 2008 assembly polls. (PTI)
Live mortar shell found
Jammu: A live mortar shell was found on Monday in a field near the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district, police said. Bomb disposal squad has been summoned to defuse the rusted 82-MM mortar shell which was unearthed from an agriculture field at Narayanpur village in Ramgarh sector, an official said. He said the mortar shell apparently came from the Pakistani side and landed in the field during last year’s border skirmishes. Efforts are on to defuse the explosive, the official said. (PTI)
Kedarnath to reopen on May 9
Dehradun: The sacred portals of the Kedarnath temple, a top Himalayan shrine in Uttarakhand, will reopen on May 9 after a gap of nearly six months, officials said on Monday. The date and timing for the opening was announced on the occasion of Maha Shivratri at Omkareshwar temple, Ukhimath in Rudraprayag district, which is also the winter sojourn of the Kedarnath idols. Amid chanting of vedic hymns and sounds of conches, the priests announced the muhurat. “The Kedarnath temple will reopen at 5.35 a.m. on May 9,” an official of the Badrinath-Kedarnath temples said. (IANS)
Three booked for posing as cops
Palghar: Three persons have been booked for allegedly posing as policemen and extorting Rs 4.10 lakh from a trader in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, an official said Monday. A trader from Katkarpada in Boisar here had complained that three persons, posing as undercover policemen, had come to his shop stating he had violated some laws and demanded money to ensure he is not held for the offence, the official said. Between February 25 and March 2 this year, the three accused harassed the trader and threatened to get him arrested under section 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc with intent to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code if he did not pay Rs 5 lakh, the official informed. “They took Rs 4.10 lakh from the trader who later approached the police. A case of extortion was registered on Sunday. Efforts are on to nab the three persons,” a Boisar police station official said. (PTI)