J&K appoints new DG, CID; Vohra gets a new advisor

The J&K Government on Thursday appointed an additional Director General of Police for the CID, while former senior Kashmiri bureaucrat Mohammad Shafi Pandit is tipped to become Governor N N Vohra’s advisor, thus providing Muslims in the state a representation at the top decision-making level. The State Advisory Council led by Vohra decided to transfer Commissioner, Vigilance, Ashok Kumar Bhan and appoint him as the DG CID. This is the first time that the J&K Police will have two DGP’s — one heading its executive branch while the other its intelligence. The Council also approved to recall R V Raju from central deputation where he is currently working as Additional Director, CBI. A 1976-batch IPS officer, Bhan is known to be an upright officer and tough taskmaster. This top level reshuffle in the state police had been necessitated as the force is at the brink of communal polarisation. Sources reveal that the situation in Jammu is especially precarious.

Nothing to do with Sinha’s appointment: Cong

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday sought to distance itself from the UPA Government’s decision to continue with former J&K Governor Lt Gen S K Sinha (retd), who in his capacity as Amarnath Shrine Board chairman was said to have been instrumental in the state Government’s controversial decision to divert land to the Board. “Sinha’s appointment is not done by the Congress; it is done by the Government of India. The party is not involved in making Governors,” AICC spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said in response to a query at a press briefing here. Quoting official figures, the Congress said there was a record inflow of pilgrims to Amarnath this year. About 5.29 lakh pilgrims visited the shrine from June 18 to August 16, “which is only a little less than the total number of pilgrims who visited Amarnath from 2000 to 2004”. As against 5.29 lakh pilgrims who visited in 2008, the figures read 4 lakh pilgrims in 2004, 3.8 lakh in 2005, 2.65 lakh in 2006, and 2.14 lakh in 2007, according to Natarajan.