Jammu, Mar 23: A local court on Monday sent Kamal Singh Jamwal, accused of firing at National Conference president Farooq Abdullah at an event here, to judicial remand till April 6.

Jamwal was produced in the court on the expiry of his police remand in the case.

Abdullah had a miraculous escape on March 11 when 63-year-old Jamwal opened fire while the former chief minister was leaving a marriage function in Greater Kailash area of Jammu. The accused was overpowered and arrested along with a revolver.

As the city judge was on leave, Jamwal was produced before the sub-judge’s court and was remanded to judicial custody till April 6, a lawyer representing the accused said.

The accused was earlier granted five days’ police remand by the city judge on March 12. On the expiry of the first remand on March 16, the sub-judge had extended his police remand by seven days.

“The investigation is almost complete. Therefore the court today sent him to judicial remand…whatever investigation has been conducted will be submitted in the form of a final chargesheet before the court and the family will take a call on moving a bail in the coming days,” the lawyer said.

Police have constituted a Special Investigation Team under the supervision of a deputy inspector general of police to probe the incident.

The accused is facing charges under attempt to murder and the Arms Act in connection with the case.

Reasi, Mar 23: At least two persons were killed on the spot and four others sustained serious injuries in a road accident in the Budhan area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district on Monday, officials said.

The accident involved an Eco car bearing registration number JK19A-4098 on the Budhan–Dagantop road, a hilly stretch known for sharp turns and difficult terrain, they said.

Officials said the vehicle met with an accident under circumstances that are being investigated, leading to immediate fatalities and multiple injuries.

Rescue teams and local authorities rushed to the spot soon after receiving information and shifted the injured to a nearby medical facility for treatment.

The condition of the injured was stated to be serious, officials added.

Police have taken cognizance of the incident and initiated further investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the accident.

There was no immediate identification of the deceased, and efforts were underway to ascertain their identities. [KNT]

Jammu, Mar 23: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday handed over appointment letters to 37 Next of Kins (NoKs) of victims of terrorism, at Convention Centre Jammu.

Appointment letters were also handed over to 29 NoKs of government employees who lost their lives in service, and beneficiaries in Age relaxation cases, under Jammu & Kashmir Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme-2022 and SRO 43.

Paying tribute to the victims of terrorism, the Lieutenant Governor vowed strongest action against terror ecosystem and terrorist supporters.

“I pledge to the families of terror victims that we will work with full commitment to secure their dignified and honourable lives. We will discharge every duty towards them with utmost seriousness, and we will not rest until justice reaches every family,” the Lieutenant Governor said.

The Lieutenant Governor observed that justice to terror victim families is not limited to only punishments but also healing the wounds and restoring dignity.

“Justice also lies in which stories society chooses to remember. Justice also means wiping the tears of grieving families, acknowledging their pain, and healing the wounds inflicted on their souls. Justice also means that the stories of terror-victim families, once forgotten, are now being rewritten with renewed memory and honour.

We stand at a decisive turning point in J&K today. The youth of the Union Territory and terror victim families aspire to a bright future and wish to live a better life. It is our shared responsibility to make that future a reality and create the opportunities they deserve,” the Lieutenant Governor said.

The Lieutenant Governor issued a stern warning to the remaining elements of the terror ecosystem and conflict entrepreneurs, stating that their era of terror is over.

“The people of Jammu Kashmir know fully well who shielded such terror elements, but that shield is now crumbling. I warn them that there is no longer any safe haven in Jammu Kashmir for terrorists or the networks that support them,” he said.

The Lieutenant Governor reiterated that it is his commitment to ensure that every terror victim’s family receive the justice, jobs, recognition and support they deserve after years of suffering.

“Terror victim families remained erased from society’s memory for decades. Among all these stories, the most painful and bitter truth is that these families were let down by the very system whose duty and primary obligation was to protect them.

I do not see this merely as an administrative lapse but it was a civilisational failure of that time,” the Lieutenant Governor said.

The Lieutenant Governor said that the terror victim families were harassed by elements of terror ecosystem and the situation was not simply injustice but it was the complete collapse of social morality.

“The elders of the society must ask themselves some tough questions- what kind of society we had become a few decades ago? How did Jammu Kashmir evolve into a system where the victim became a burden that time and those linked to terror were turned into beneficiaries?

I am confident that these questions will shake our conscience, because such practices hollowed out every value that makes a society just. Such darkness had extinguished the very spirit of law, trust, and coexistence,” he said.

The Lieutenant Governor said those who were part of this terror ecosystem and managed to infiltrate government machinery in the past will face the law and they will be systematically removed from government jobs and punished as per the law.

“Those directly linked to terrorism are being dismissed from service, while decades-long neglected terror-victim families are being given government jobs to secure their economic and social dignity. I see this not merely as a policy correction, but as a new moral declaration for a new Jammu Kashmir.

This is a clear message that a new order has arrived, one that will punish mercilessly those tied to terrorism and will firmly fulfil its duties to restore the dignity of victims. This moral declaration is the announcement of a system that defines justice not only in words, but in deeds,” the Lieutenant Governor further said.

Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor, Dr Mandeep K. Bhandari; Commissioner Secretary, General Administration Department, M Raju; Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Ramesh Kumar; Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Dr. Rakesh Minhas; senior officials, members of various social organisations and family members of victims of terrorism were present.

Jammu, Mar 23: PDP MLA Waheed Para has moved a private member bill in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly seeking a statutory framework for reorganisation of administrative divisions, districts, sub-divisions and tehsils in the Union territory.

Titled ‘The Jammu and Kashmir Territorial Administrative Reorganisation Bill, 2026’, the proposed legislation calls for the creation of new administrative divisions, including a Chenab Division with headquarters in Doda and a Pir Panjal Division with headquarters in Rajouri, in addition to the existing divisions.

The Bill also proposes the creation of several new districts in the Kashmir division, including the Tral-Awantipora hill district, Ashmuqam-Pahalgam hill district, Beerwah, Sopore, Handwara, Gurez, Tangdhar-Karnah hill district and the Norabad hill district.

In the Jammu division, the Bill suggests the formation of new hill districts such as Nowshera, Bhaderwah, Banihal, Thathri, Akhnoor, Billawar, Kotranka and Mendhar for focused administrative planning.

According to the draft, the government will have the power to assign districts to Jammu, Kashmir, Chenab or Pir Panjal divisions through notifications, while ensuring geographical continuity, administrative convenience, socio-cultural cohesion and balanced regional development.

According to the Bill, the objective is to address administrative challenges arising from large geographical areas, difficult terrains and regional imbalance, and to provide a transparent legislative mechanism for the creation of new administrative units to ensure decentralised governance and better public service delivery.

The proposal has been submitted to the Assembly Secretariat for consideration during the ongoing Budget session of the Assembly, which will resume on March 27 after a five-week recess following the conclusion of its first leg held from February 2 to 20.

During the initial phase of the session, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah presented the Budget on February 6, while the House passed grants for various departments after detailed discussions conducted in twin sittings each day.

The session is scheduled to conclude on April 4.

According to the notified business schedule, March 30 and April 1 have been earmarked for private members’ bills, while March 31 and April 2 are reserved for private members’ resolutions.