Srinagar, Aug 05: Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested two drug peddlers in Handwara and recovered contraband substance from their possession.

A police in a statement said that a police team of Police Post Langate at a checkpoint established at Zand Batpora intercepted a vehicle bearing registration number JK05B-1974 with 02 persons on board identified as Showkat Ahmad Kalo, son of Farooq Ahmad Kalo, resident of Kanyari Hajin, Bandipora; and Manzoor Ahmad Nadroo, son of Abdul Aziz Nadroo, resident of Sher Colony, Tarzoo Sopore. During search, two bags weighing 2.90 kg and 1.54 kg of poppy straw were recovered from their possession. Both the accused persons have been arrested and vehicle used in the commission of crime has also been seized.

Accordingly, a case FIR No. 179/2025 under relevant sections of law have been registered at Police Station Handwara and further investigation is in progress.

Police urged the common masses that if you witness drug peddling or any other crime anywhere near you, feel free to contact nearest police establishment or dial 112. They also requested people to cooperate with police in curbing the menace of drugs from the society.

Srinagar, Aug 05: The anti-terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district entered the fifth day on Tuesday as security forces tightened the noose around the ultras engaged in the gun battle with them.

As tight cordon has been laid in the Akhal area, the authorities on Tuesday evacuated some of the villagers who needed medical attention.

“The encounter has entered its fifth day as intermittent exchange of firing has been going,” an official said.

He said the security forces were using all means, including drones and helicopters, to track down the terrorists.

Two terrorists have been killed while at least two security forces personnel were injured in the encounter which began on Friday after security forces launched a cordon and search operation in a forest area at Akhal in the south Kashmir district, following specific intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists there.

After an initial exchange of fire between the two sides on Friday evening, the operation was halted for the night, the officials said.

The cordon was strengthened, and additional reinforcements were rushed to the area.

Firing resumed on Saturday morning, during which two terrorists were killed, the officials said.

The identity and group affiliation of the slain terrorists are being ascertained, they added, noting that the operation is still underway.

Srinagar, Aug 5: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said August 5 marks “a black day” for the entire nation, and the abrogation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was the “beginning of a broader assault” on constitutional values of the country.

The PDP also claimed that its president, along with party workers, was barred from stepping out of the party office to take out a protest against the “unilateral and unconstitutional” abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

“August 5 marks a black day not just for Jammu & Kashmir, but for the entire nation. On this day, the Constitution was subverted not by foreign hands, but from within, by a brute majority in the heart of our democracy,” Mehbooba said in a post on X.

She said the “unconstitutional” abrogation of J-K’s special status was not an end, “it was the beginning of a broader assault on constitutional values”.

“J-K was turned into a laboratory its people disempowered, its land dispossessed, its demography targeted. What many saw as a local issue was a warning for all,” she charged.

“Today, that warning is unfolding across the country. In Bihar (SIR) threatens to disenfranchise lakhs. From Tamil Nadu to Kashmir non-local voters are being added en masse, paving the way for demographic manipulation and electoral distortion,” she said.

“If India does not wake up now, what began in J-K will soon define the nation,” she added.

Flaying the curbs placed on its leaders, the PDP said, “Suppressing democratic dissent has become the new normal in Kashmir”.

They said PDP leaders and workers assembled at the party office and tried to take out a protest march against the abrogation of Article 370 on its sixth anniversary, but were not allowed by the police to move out.

They party leaders and workers then staged the protest march at the party office.

Speaking to reporters, PDP leader Iltija Mufti said, “On August 5, 2019, the illegal abrogation of Article 370 was done, and the Constitution and the flag of J-K were taken away from us”.

“This is the change that has taken place in the six years. We are a legal party, and even six years after the abrogation of Article 370, we are not being allowed to protest. We were put under house arrest six years ago and the common people of J&K, and political parties were put under arrest,” she said.

She said there has been no change even after six years.

“We have been kept here inside PDP office like animals. A huge CRPF vehicle has been stationed here and we are not being allowed to move forward. We told them that we wanted to take out a peaceful protest. But were not allowed. Nothing has changed here,” she claims.

Iltija Mufti asked which part of the Indian Constitution is being implemented here? “We are being stripped off our fundamental right to speak and peacefully protest. Not just our special status, flag, and constitution, but efforts are being made to take our voices as well,” she added.

Srinagar, Aug 5: Police on Tuesday foiled a protest march by the ruling National Conference (NC) here against the Centre’s August 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 and divide the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.

Led by NC Kashmir president Showkat Ahmad Mir, MLAs and senior leaders assembled at the party headquarters Nawa-i-Subah here and raised slogans against the Centre’s decision taken on August 5, 2019, and called for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

Raising slogans like “August 5, 2019, decisions are not acceptable”, “Black laws are not acceptable” and “Restore Articles 370 and 35A”, the protesters tried to march towards the Lal Chowk city centre but were not allowed to step out of the party office complex by police, who shut the gates of Nawa-i-Subah.

NC state spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said police did not allow the party leaders to move out and even “pushed some leaders”.

“Our MLA Salman Sagar was injured in the melee. He suffered foot injuries,” Dar said.

He said the NC activists wanted to march towards the historic clock tower at Lal Chowk to register their protest against the Centre’s August 2019 decisions.

“We also wanted to press our demand for the restoration of statehood as it has been six years now (since Jammu and Kashmir was downgraded to a union territory),” he added.

Meanwhile, Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone said August 5 will always be a “brutal reminder of undermining of democracy” and “an ugly example of selective targeting”.

“This was the day when whatever little was left from the glories of the past was taken away. I will never lose hope. We will get what has been taken away. If the glories don’t last, the inglorious won’t last either,” Lone said in a post on X.

Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari said August 5 is a “painful reminder of a dark moment in our recent history”.

“On this day in 2019, the sudden and sweeping constitutional changes by Centre left deep scars on the hearts and minds of the people in Jammu and Kashmir.

“I have said it before and I will say it again: New Delhi must uphold the dignity and democratic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The restoration of these rights is not an act of generosity, it is a constitutional and moral obligation,” Bukhari wrote on X.

He said the region has gone through a prolonged phase of violence and bloodshed, and the people have suffered immensely over the past several decades, and “therefore they long for peace, justice, and dignity — fundamental aspirations that can no longer be ignored”.

“This is the right time for New Delhi to initiate a genuine, inclusive and meaningful dialogue with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in order to address their issues and grievances and move towards a lasting resolution,” Bukhari said.

Srinagar, Aug 05: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday handed over appointment letters to family members of terror-hit victims at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar on Tuesday, officials said.

An official said, that the event was aimed at supporting families who lost their loved ones in terror-related incidents by providing government employment to eligible family members.

He said 250 letters of appointment were given by LG Sinha himself to the victims and family members from the north, south and central Kashmir.

The Lieutenant Governor also interacted with the victim-families and assured them of the administration’s continued commitment to their welfare and rehabilitation.

Notably, the event was organised on the occasion of 5th anniversary of Article 370 abrogation. (KNO)