Srinagar: In the fourth attack carried out by suspected militants against non-locals in Jammu and Kashmir within a fortnight, two more civilians were shot dead Thursday in Shopian region.
Last week, three non-Kashmiris – a fruit trader, labourer and a truck driver – were killed in two separate incidents in Pulwama and Shopian areas of the Valley.
According to the Jammu and Kashmir Police, militants Thursday evening intercepted two fruit-laden trucks in Chitragam village in south Kashmir’s Shopian. One of the deceased was identified as Illyas Khan, a resident of Alwar, Rajasthan.
Police sources said identity of the second person was being ascertained. He is, however, believed to be the conductor of the truck.
Another trucker, named Jeevan Singh, was injured in the firing incident and brought to Srinagar’s SMHS hospital for treatment. He condition is stated to be stable.
Police said the militants first fired at the trucks, killing the two men instantly, before setting the vehicles on fire.
Officers believe militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen to be behind the incidents, owing to a statement issued by its operational commander Riyaz Naikoo who had threatened attacks on non-Kashmiris if J&K’s “demography was altered”.
On 14 October, two terrorists, including a suspected Pakistani national, had shot dead the driver of a truck with a Rajasthan registration and assaulted an orchard owner in Shopian district. The driver was identified as Sharief Khan.
Two days later, Punjab-based apple trader Charanjeet Singh was also killed and another named Sanjeev injured when militants had attacked them in Shopian district.
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These continued killings show that not enough people were detained. In my opinion, all the youth and men from age 13 to 55 should have been herded into detention camps. Yet modi govt is prolonging the problem through half measures and half hearted detentions. Either let everybody free and let them agitate anything, or if you want to control them, do it properly with an iron hand.
Tragic. All these events will have a bearing on not just the immediate return of calm to the Valley but also to the visits of tourists and – hopefully in future – businessmen / industrialists from other parts of the country.