Srinagar Feb 28 PTI Authorities in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday intensified raids at the drug peddling and drug abuse hotspots under Mission Wapsi and arrested 69 drug peddlers while booking 21 people under the stringent Public Safety Act In a massive crackdown the Srinagar district administration conducted raids across the city to break the supply chain of drugs in the district an official spokesman said adding a large quantity of narcotics and cash generated due to its sale were seized He said the anti-drugs operation was monitored by Srinagar district magistrate Mohammad Aijaz Asad and senior superintendent of police Rakesh Balwal The raids were carried out at more than a dozen locations in all the tehsils of the district during which 21 drug peddlers were arrested and booked under Public Safety Act while 69 drug peddlers found in substance abuse on the spot were also detained under various provisions of the CrPc the spokesman said Speaking about Mission Wapsi district magistrate Asad said the administration will continue its fight against drug peddling and ensure that Srinagar is freed from the menace In view of rehabilitating the people affected due to substance abuse he said the district administration will provide all possible support in helping them settle in their careers and will also extend the benefits of various employment generation programmes of the government SSP Balwal said the operation against drug peddling and consumption will continue PTI MIJ CJ CJ

Srinagar Feb 28 PTI Suspected militants shot at a police officer outside a mosque in Jammu and Kashmirs Batamaloo area here on Monday officials said The bullet hit inspector Firdous Sheikh currently posted in the Anti-Corruption Bureau on his neck and he was rushed to hospital for treatment they said Further details are awaited PTI MIJ CJ CJ

Srinagar Feb 22 PTI Security forces on Tuesday arrested a suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba LeT militant in Jammu and Kashmirs Bandipora district police said They identified him as Danish Shah alias Haris a resident of Elahipora Based on specific inputs regarding the movement of a terrorist in Aloosa area of Bandipora police along with the Army andCRPF established a special joint checkpoint in the area a police spokesman said During checking of pedestrians and vehicles Danish upon noticing the joint forces tried to flee towards the orchards but was apprehended tactfully by the alert party he said Incriminating materials arms and ammunition including a pistol and a grenade were recovered from his possession Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused is working at the behest of Pakistan-based Lashkar handlers Samama alias Ali and Hilal Sheikh the spokesman said Shah was currently arranging travel documents to visit Pakistan for obtaining specialised arms training he said PTI MIJ CJ CJ

Srinagar Feb 22 PTI A 50-year-old carpet weaver from Srinagar citys Fateh Kadal area has made a silk wall hanging carpet of his idol and Bollywood superstar Salman Khan and wants to present his artwork to Bhaijaan Mohammad Hussain took six months to make the 900mm x 750mm artwork which comprises 576 knots per square inch in pure silk and carries the actors portrait on both sides Since there was not much work during the lockdown I thought of paying my tributes to Bhaijaan With my savings I created this piece of work and I want to gift it to him Hussain told PTI Asked about the cost incurred in making the wall hanging Hussain said one cannot put a price to such things I made this out of love for him It cannot be measured in money he said Hussain said he used 10 natural dyes just to make the silk yarn for the hair strands It commands a lot of timefrom the perfect combination of dyes in order to get the right tone and shade to getting the design right at the end of the weaving process This piece has 576 knots per square inch which gives the clarity of the design Hussain explained He wants to gift this wall hanging carpet to the actor and hopes that the Bollywood star accepts it PTI MIJ CJ CJ

Srinagar Jan 18 PTI In the highest single-day spike so far this month Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday recorded 4651 fresh cases of COVID-19 taking the total number of infections to 366851 while three deaths were reported in 24 hours officials said Of the fresh cases 1546 were from Jammu division and 3105 from Kashmir the officials said They said Srinagar district recorded the highest number of 957 cases followed by 919 cases in Jammu district There are 21677 active cases in the union territory while the number of recoveries so far was 340599 the officials said With three fresh deaths the death toll in the union territory went up to 4575 they said Meanwhile the officials said there were 51 confirmed cases of Mucormycosis black fungus in the union territory However no such fresh case was reported since Monday evening PTI MIJ CJ CJ