Ramzan ceasefire: Armed encounters from 2015 to 2017 rose 50% over 2012-14

The Ramzan ceasefire announced by the Indian government on May 16, 2018, comes after a period of heightened armed violence and killings in Kashmir. An IndiaSpend analysis of Jammu & Kashmir Police data shows that in the three years since March 2015, when the current government assumed power in the state, armed encounters between militants and security forces have increased by 53% over the preceding three years. Deaths in conflict have similarly increased by 51%.

The Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party formed a coalition government in Jammu & Kashmir in March 2015. Data suggest an increase in violence and related deaths since then, particularly after the July 2016 killing of militant commander Burhan Wani–209 militants were killed in 2017, up 65% from 136 in 2016.

Kashmir terror funding: Rs 36 cr seized in demonetised notes, NIA arrests 9

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday said it had seized nearly Rs 36.5 crore in demonetised currency and arrested nine persons here in its ongoing probe into the Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case.

Following inputs, an NIA team seized the currency on Monday on Jai Singh Road near Connaught Place -- a business and financial hub of Delhi situated not more than eight km from the counter-terror agency's headquarters.

"Seven gang members were initially apprehended while carrying 28 cartons filled with the demonetised notes in four luxury vehicles. Their other accomplices were apprehended later in the evening. We seized Rs 36,34,78,500 from their possession," NIA Spokesperson Alok Mittal told IANS.

He said after initial questioning at the NIA headquarters, the nine were arrested on Tuesday in the Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case. They will be produced in a Special NIA court on Wednesday.

Those held were Pradeep Chauhan, 47, Bhagwan Singh, 54, Vinod Shreedhar Shetty, 47, Shahnawaz Mir, 45, Deepak Toprani, 60, Majid Yousuf Sofi, 27, Ejajul Hassan, 38, Umar Mushtaq Dar, 27, and Jaswinder Singh, 53.

Three accused hail from Jammu and Kashmir, two from Delhi, two from Mumbai, and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Nagpur.
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