Slain Hizb chief's wife shot at, arms seized in J

Srinagar, Nov 29 (UNI) Unknown gunmen shot at and critically wounded the wife of slain Hizbul Mujahideen chief commander (operations) Abdul Majid Dar while a mutilated body of a woman was recovered even as the security forces seized huge cache of arms and ammunition across Jammu and Kashmir during the past 24 hours, an official spokesman said today.

Meanwhile, two more families, comprising 13 members, surrendered before troops immediately after their return from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) at Tulanga in the Uri sector today.

The spokesman said unidentified gunmen fired upon Dr Shameema Badroo, the wife of slain Hizb chief commander, at her residence at Lal Nagar in Channapora area here last evening.

She was rushed to the Sri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital here where doctors stated her condition as ''very critical''.

Dr Badroo, who works with the Children's Hospital and runs a non-governmental organisation in the name of her husband (Majid Dar Foundation), received two bullets in her abdomen and has been put on ventilator, the doctors said.

Dar was shot dead by unknown gunmen at Sopore on March 23, 2003, a few years after he declared a unilateral ceasefire and initiated talks with the Centre on July 24, 2000. But, the truce was called off within 15 days on August 8, 2000, following India's refusal to include Pakistan in any trilateral talks over the Kashmir issue as proposed by the Hizb.

Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin later removed Dar and his supporters from top positions in the outfit and finally expelled him for ''defying party discipline''.

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