The Indian government’s crackdown on pre-paid cell phones in troubled Jammu and Kashmir has drawn ire as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reaches out to the region’s residents by withdrawing army troops from the region. Nearly 3 million subscribers, including army troops disconnected from their families, have been left without phone service, days after Singh visited the region 30 October.

The measure was introduced on security grounds, because vendors and service providers required only the simplest of identity checks, thus opening up the service to abuse by Islamist insurgents. Nearly 20,000 people in the region make their living selling airtime, and are now faced with destitution.

Militants hiding out in a cave in Kashmir were surprised when the cave’s owner, a bear, returned to his den. Two men were killed, and two injured, one seriously, when the bear attacked them in its den. Police later recovered the bodies and the men’s automatic weapons.

Bears have made a come-back in the region, as people turned in their weapons to security forces when the insurgency began, thus cutting down on poaching. BBC, KashmirLive, Reuters

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