SRINAGAR: A week after three minority community members and a street vendor from Bihar were killed, another gol gappa seller from Bihar and a carpenter from Uttar Pradesh were shot dead, the first in Srinagar and the other in Pulwama.
The late evening shootings came on day when two militants who were responsible for the killings of civilians in Srinagar last week, were shot dead in a gunfight in Pulwama, south Kashmir. A police official said the street vendor, Arbind Kumar Sah of Banka in Bihar, was shot dead near Eidgah in downtown Srinagar in the evening. "He was shot at point blank range. He had received bullet injuries in the head and died on the spot," he said.
Within an hour, a carpenter belonging to Uttar Pradesh was shot at a shop in the Litter area of Pulwama in south Kashmir. Identified as Sagir Ahmed, he received critical bullet injuries and was rushed to the district hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Immediately after both the incidents, the police and paramilitary personnel rushed to the area and launched a search operation. At least nine civilians, including three minority community members, have been killed in a fortnight. Lt Governor Manoj Sinha strongly condemned the killings. "My heartfelt condolences to families who have lost their loved ones. J&K Govt stands in solidarity with the bereaved families in this hour of grief," Sinha tweeted.
Perpetrators of these heinous attacks will be punished soon. We have intensified our efforts to crush terrorists & their ecosystem.They will have to pay a very heavy price for killing innocent civilians.I urge people to speak in one voice & join hands in the fight against terror.
— Office of LG J&K (@OfficeOfLGJandK) October 16, 2021
He said the perpetrators of the heinous attacks would be punished. "We have intensified our efforts to crush terrorists & their ecosystem. They will have to pay a very heavy price for killing innocent civilians. I urge people to speak in one voice & join hands in the fight against terror," he said.
Meanwhile, two The Resistance Front militants, Umer Mushtaq Khandey and Shahid Khurshid, were killed in an encounter in the Pampore area of Pulwama in south Kashmir.