JK: Army colonel and major, Dy SP killed in gunfight with terrorists
Srinagar (PTI): An Army commanding officer, a Major and a Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police were killed in a gunfight with terrorists in the higher reaches of Kokorenag area in the south of the valley, officials said here on Wednesday.
Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonack, and Deputy Superintendent Humayun Bhat were critically injured in the gunfight with terrorists that ensued in the Garol area of Anantnag district in the morning hours of Wednesday.
The officers succumbed to their injuries during the treatment, they said.
Bhat, father of a two-month-old daughter and son of retired Inspector General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Ghulam Hasan Bhat, died due to heavy blood loss, they added.
The banned Resistance Front, believed to be a shadow group of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Officials believe that it is the same set of terrorists who had carried out the attack on army personnel on August 4 killing three jawans in the higher reaches of the Halan forest area of Kulgam district.
The operation against the terrorists began on Tuesday evening in Garol area but was called off during the night.
This morning, the hunt for the terrorists resumed after information started trickling that they were spotted at a hideout, the officials said.
Colonel Singh, leading his team from the front, attacked the terrorists. However, the terrorists fired upon him and he was critically injured.
Major Ashish and DSP Bhat were also hit by bullets resulting in critical injuries, they said.
Senior army and police officers, GoC 15 Corps Lt General Rajiv Ghai and including DGP Dilbag Singh rushed to the spot to assess the situation.
Earlier Jammu and Kashmir Police had posted on social media handle that an "encounter has started in #Kokernag area of #Anantnag. Officers from Army and JKP injured. Details shall follow".
Kashmir-based XV corps also gave details that "based on specific intelligence on presence of terrorists a Joint Operation was launched by #IndianArmy & @JmuKmrPolice on the intervening night of 12-13 Sep in Area Garol, Anantnag.
"Contact established and firefight ensued. Two Army personnel and one J&K Police personnel injured. Operation in progress."
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
