"We have no control over Army"

The Jammu and Kashmir government said on Sunday that neither did it have control over the Army nor was it deployed on its direction.

A statement to this effect came from Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar who was addressing a press conference here. He was answering a question about the Army taking control of north Kashmir and other areas during the past three days.

The Minister said this did not, however, justify the killings. On Wednesday, Srinagar-based defence spokesman had said that the Army, along with the State police, had formulated a strategy to counter the protest programme of the Hurriyat Conference hard-line faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

The security advisor to the Chief Minister, Lt. Gen. N.C. Marwah, had held a meeting at 15 Corps headquarters to counter the protest calendar of the Hurriyat Conference. The spokesman had said that a detailed joint strategy to restore normality had been formulated at the meeting.