2 nabbed for extortion, promise for govt job
Two individuals were arrested on charges of extortion for promising jobs in the state food and supplies department.
More than 1300 people, including some tourists from West Bengal, stranded due to heavy snowfall at the Jawahar Tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar highway were on Sunday rescued by the J-K Traffic Police and CRPF.
Besides the major rescue, over 1000 people were provided food and shelter in Banihal by Police and civil administration, a senior police officer said.
Keeping in view the early snowfall, the J-K police has deployed rescue teams across all affected areas of the state. Men and machines of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) were engaged in clearing snow and landslides from the roads.
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The senior cop said that in last 24 hours, police in Kulgam rescued 700 stranded passengers from Jawahar Tunnel. Of them 300 were taken to Qazigund, 300 to Banihal and 100 to the CRPF establishments where they were provided all required assistance.
Another 600 rescued from Banihal area were accommodated at Nowgam and Gund where they were provided food, shelter and accommodation for night stay with active support of civil administration.
At Ganderbal, 26 passengers trapped in a stranded tempo vehicle were rescued and shifted to a safe place.
Police was engaged in efforts to rescue two truck drivers, Shamsher Singh and Ajit Singh, who are trapped at Zero Point India Gate near Drass in Ladakh where the temperature has nosedived below freezing point due to heavy snowfall.
The valley remained cut from rest of the country due to snow blockade and landslides on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. Air services were non-operational because of bad weather and poor visibility.
Most parts of Kashmir and Jammu were plunged into darkness as electric wires were snapped by uprooted trees. Power department officials said that efforts were being made to restore electric supply.
Orchardists suffered extensive damage as heavy snowfall broke apple trees in Shopian, Sopore and other places.
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