Targeted Killing : Kashmiri Pandit shot dead in Shopian, Kashmir Freedom Fighter claims responsibility
In another targeted killing, a Kashmiri Pandit – Puran Krishan Bhat – was shot dead allegedly by terrorists in the Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. Deputy inspector general of police Sujit Kumar said the Kashmir Freedom Fighter (KFF) group, the proxy name of a terrorist group, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Bhat was attacked near his residence in the Chowdhary Gund area of the south Kashmir district. He was rushed to Shopian hospital where doctors declared him dead, police said.
Hundreds of protesting displaced Kashmiri Pandit employees blocked the Jammu-Akhnoor road to protest the latest targeted killing of their community members.
Top updates on Kashmiri Pandit’s killing in Shopian:
> The area has been cordoned off and a hunt has been launched to arrest the assailants.
> The DIG said the initial investigation has revealed that one terrorist fired upon Bhat. He said there was security for this cluster. “We are looking at the reason (for the lapse). He had gone out on a scooter and just returned to his home,” he added.
> Deputy commissioner of Shopian Sachin Kumar Vaishya said Bhat’s body will be taken to Jammu where the last rites will be performed.
> Lieutenant governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha and political leaders condemned the killing. “Attack on Puran Krishan Bhat by terrorists in Shopian is a dastardly act of cowardice. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. I assure the people that the perpetrators and those aiding and abetting terrorists will be severely punished,” Sinha tweeted.
> National Conference’s vice president Omar Abdullah termed the attack reprehensible. “I unequivocally condemn this attack in which Pooran Krishan Bhat has lost his life. I send my heartfelt condolences to his family. May Pooran Ji’s soul rests in peace,” he said in a tweet.
> The PDP said while the Kashmiri Pandits have been protesting for the last five months demanding their relocation after Rahul Bhat was shot dead in May, the “LG administration in their hubris kept turning a blind eye to their plight”.
> BJP general secretary (organisation) Ashok Koul condemned the “barbaric” killing and offered his condolences to the family.
>As the news of the killing of Kashmiri Pandit broke out, the protesters marched towards the main road and blocked the highway, amid high-pitch sloganeering to denounce the target killings by terrorists.
> Rashtriya Bajrang Dal activists also joined the protesters and set ablaze an effigy of Pakistan to condemn the frequent target killings by terrorists in the Valley.
> The Valley has witnessed a spate of targeted killings since October last year. Several Hindus, including migrant workers, have been killed.
> Kashmiri Pandits have long fretted over their place in the region. Most of an estimated 200,000 of them fled Kashmir in the 1990s during the peak of terrorism. Some 4,000 returned after 2010 as part of a government resettlement plan that provided them with jobs and housing.
