Daily Times

At least four army soldiers were burnt alive after a vehicle they were travelling in caught fire in Poonch district on Thursday. Official sources told GNS that the incident took places in Bhatadhurian area of Mendhar Sub Division in Poonch this afternoon. There was no official confirmation so far as regards the reasons leading to the incident.

Investigations are underway if the incident happened due to grenade or thundering as it is heavily raining in the area. According to Indian media, Army and police personnel have reached the incident site. The higher reaches of Kashmir continued to receive snowfall for the second consecutive day while rains lashed plains, officials said on Wednesday. The upper reaches of the Valley, including Keran and Machil, in the Kupwara district, Gurez, in the Bandipora district, and Sonamarg in the Ganderbal district, received light snowfall, they said, adding that there are reports of snowfall in some other areas at the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir. Snowfall also continued on the Zojila Pass along the Srinagar-Leh national highway for the second day. The plain areas, including Srinagar city, were lashed by overnight rains, bringing down the temperature, they said. Rains continued intermittently during the day as well. The Meteorological (MeT) office has said intermittent light to moderate rain at most places of Kashmir and scattered places of Jammu would continue till the evening, after which there would be a significant decrease in rainfall activity.

The higher reaches are likely to experience a good amount of snowfall, it said. There is a forecast of intermittent light to moderate rain at scattered places from Thursday till Saturday. The weather is likely to stay mainly dry after that till April 25. Meanwhile, incessant rainfall over the past two days in Kashmir has dampened the festive spirit of shoppers ahead of the Eid. Eid-ul-Fitr, marking the culmination of the fasting month of Ramzan, is expected to be celebrated on Friday or Saturday, depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.

“Preparations for Eid are underway but rain has hampered and disturbed the fervour. There is no rush in the market compared to last year,” Nisar Hussain, a customer, said.

He also blamed the rampant construction work going on in the city for fewer people coming out to shop.

“If you see, due to smart city construction work also people don’t have a passage to walk. So, this also has adversely affected the Eid shopping,” Hussain said. Imtiaz Ahmad Bhat, a shop owner, echoed similar views.