January 3, 2002	Thursday	Shawwal 18, 1422

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SRINAGAR, Jan 2: New Delhi has banned long-distance and international telephone calls from all public call offices in occupied Kashmir.

Officials from India’s state-run telecommunications entity said the lines from public booths had been disconnected following a directive from the “highest authorities” in New Delhi.

In another move, at least four passenger trains to the held state were cancelled on Wednesday evening for “unspecified reasons”. Military sources, however, said the cancellations were done as they “wanted the tracks free for further movement of army troops”.

Long-distance and international facilities for private subscribers were not affected.

“This has been done to prevent information leaks,” a defence ministry spokesman said in occupied Jammu.

The corporations’ officials said the move had been ordered because it was virtually impossible to maintain a record of telephone calls made from public booths.

“In the case of individual subscribers, you at least know who they are and if their telephones are used for a conversation detrimental to the security of the country you have somebody in front of you to ensure he does not go unpunished,” explained one official.

But the move has left thousands of public booth operators out of work. There are some 2,500 of them in and around Srinagar alone.

The cutting of the telephone links and cancellation of trains to occupied Kashmir comes as India is massing troops and heavy armour amid an escalation of tensions with Pakistan.—AFP