A man drowned to death in river Jhelum while extracting sand in Kakapora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district this morning.

Reports said that a group of three men were extracting sand from river Jhelum, and the boat capsized suddenly in Kakapora.

Also Read: Sopore police crack mysterious murder case within hours in Zaloora

They said two persons were rescued on time. However, Showkat Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Lelhara Kakapora, died.

Meanwhile, police have taken cognizance of the incident.

Sopore police have cracked a murder case within hours after a man was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Zaloora area of Sopore this morning.

Reports said that the man identified Riyaz Ahmad Mir (50), son of Abdul Aziz Mir, a resident of Zaloora village in Sopore, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in his native village this morning.

They said, after the incident, Sopore police registered a case in this regard, started investigations and, within hours, have cracked the mysterious murder case and have arrested the accused persons.

Also Read: Atal Dulloo takes over as Chief Secretary of J&K

An official confirmed that the mysterious murder case has been cracked, and further details will be shared in the press conference tomorrow.

Atal Dulloo, a 1989 batch IAS officer having vast experience in the UT today joined back as Chief Secretary of J&K after his brief stint in Ministry of Home Affairs as a Secretary, Border Management.

Dulloo being an AGMUT cadre IAS officer has served in J&K for most part of his service. He has earlier been a key person to successfully row the UT  amid the lethal Covid-19 crisis as Financial Commissioner, Health & Medical Education.

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Before going to central deputation in June this year Dulloo was serving J&K as Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Agriculture Production Department and has been instrumental in devising of Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) aiming at revolutionizing the Agri sector here and many folds increase in farmers income.

Dulloo has also served as Deputy Commissioner of key districts in the erstwhile state and has received many honours including state award for meritorious public service on Republic Day in 2013 and silver medal for successfully conducting assembly elections in the in 1996.

Later on the Chief Secretary also took round of the Secretariat campus and interacted with the employees working there. He asked them to feel free to bring their issues either directly to his office or to the General Administration Department (GAD).

He encouraged them to be forthcoming about all such issues so that these are resolved on merit. He asked them about their work and allied facilities available to them or they want to have for smooth disbursement of their official business.

He even took note of the hygiene and renovation works going on in the Secretariat campus. He directed the concerned to upkeep the premises aesthetically so that both employees and visitors have a pleasant experience.

During this visit the Chief Secretary was accompanied by Commissioner Secretary, GAD; Director Estates, Jammu besides other concerned civil and police officers.