SRI NAGAR: In yet another incident of targetted killing, militants on Sunday shot dead a Kashmiri Pandit in the Pulwama district. A police officer said militants shot at and critically injured Sanjay Sharma (50) when he was on his way to a local market at Achen village in Pulwama. Sanjay was hit by three bullets and was taken to District Hospital Pulwama, where doctors declared him dead. Sanjay’s wife was accompanying him and she had stopped at a shop to purchase something when the militants attacked him.
Sanjay is survived by his wife and three minor kids – two daughters and a son. The Resistance Front (TRF), which is said to be Lashkar-e-Toiba’s offshoot, has claimed responsibility for the attack. After the attack, police, CRPF and Army launched a search operation in the area to track down militants. However, no arrests were reported during an hour-long operation. DIG, South Kashmir, Rayees Bhat said the militants involved in the killing would be tracked down and neutralised soon.
Sanjay was working as a guard at J&K Bank ATM since 2018. However, after targeted killings by militants last year, he had stopped going to work but was paid a salary. He had previously worked as a teacher in a private school.
A local resident said the whole village stands with the family in this hour of grief. “He had not migrated from the Valley after the eruption of militancy in J&K in 1990. We condemn this killing,” a local said.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha condemned the killing and said the administration gave a free hand to security forces to deal with militants.