STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: Terrorists shot dead a civilian in Kulgam district in the Kashmir Valley on Wednesday, officials said here.
Satish Kumar Singh, a Rajput, was shot by terrorists in Kakran area of the south Kashmir district at around 7.30 pm.
Officials said the two police personnel posted at his house rushed out after hearing gunfire and found Singh in a pool of blood.
Fifty-five-year-old Singh, who received one bullet in the head and two in the chest, was taken to a hospital in Srinagar where he died.
“Civilian Satish Kumar Singh, a resident of Kulgam, succumbed to his injuries at hospital. Terrorists involved in this gruesome terror crime will be neutralised soon. Search to track the involved terrorists in progress,” the police said in a tweet.
Officials suspect that a new recruit of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group was involved in the attack.
Kulgam and Shopian districts have small pockets with Rajput families who have not migrated out of Jammu and Kashmir. They are mainly into apple business.
Terrorists have stepped up attacks on civilians in south Kashmir over the past 10 days.
Four labourers hailing from outside Jammu and Kashmir were injured in two separate attacks in Pulwama last week, while a Kashmiri Pandit shopkeeper was shot and injured by terrorists in Shopian.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the killing.
“I unequivocally condemn the attack on Satish Kumar Singh in which he lost his life. There can never be a justification for attacks like these. May his soul rest in peace & may his family find strength during this difficult time” Abdullah tweeted.
The gruesome terror incident in Shopian is the latest in a series of targetted attacks on migrant workers and local minorities that has been sweeping the Kashmir over the last seven months.
The targeted killings had started in October, the victims being mostly migrants from outside Jammu and Kashmir who came in search of jobs.
In October, seven civilians were killed in five days — among them a Kashmiri Pandit, a Sikh and two non-local Hindus.
Security forces have intensified their operations and launched a major crackdown on alleged separatist supporters.
The Congress has the BJP-led Centre of failing to protect the people.
“The situation in Jammu and Kashmir is getting worse with every passing day and both Kashmir and Kashmiriyat are in danger. No one knows where the BJP, which has been doing politics in the name of Kashmir for years, is missing nowadays,” the Congress had tweeted.