Bihari gol-gappa walla, UP carpenter, was shot dead today in Kashmir taking the death toll up to 9 sparking massive outrage.
Disturbing visuals of blood, chappals, and cart of the Bihari gol-gappa walla were seen spewed around his dead body while a UP carpenter was also shot dead. Within a little over a week, nine civilians were killed.
The gol-gappa walla, Arbind Kumar Sah, was shot at point-blank range in Srinagar. The carpenter from UP, Sagir Ahmad, was shot dead by terrorists in Pulwama, the police said.
“Terrorists fired at two non-local labourers in Srinagar and Pulwama. Arbind Kumar Sah from Banka in Bihar died in Srinagar and Sagir Ahmad from Uttar Pradesh is critically injured in Pulwama. Areas have been sealed and searches are on,” the Union Territory’s police said in a tweet earlier. About an hour later, the police said Mr Ahmad died of his injuries.
A spate of targeted civilian killings in Kashmir had led to the departure of several Kashmiri Pandits living in transit camps over a week ago. Dozens of families – many government employees who returned to the valley after being given jobs under the Prime Minister’s special employment scheme for Kashmiri migrants – have quietly left accommodations.
“Strongly condemn the killing of street vendor Arbind Kumar in a terror attack in Srinagar today. This is yet another case of a civilian being targeted like this. All Arbind Kumar did was come to Srinagar in search of earning opportunities and it’s reprehensible that he was murdered,” former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted.
Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone tweeted, “This is pure terror. Yet again a non-local vendor was shot and killed in Idgah. What a shame. How cowardly can it get.”
Five of the nine victims in the past two weeks were not Muslims, a clear indication that Hindus and outsiders are the main targets of the attacks.
The police had begun a heavy crackdown and detained some 900 people across Jammu and Kashmir for their suspected links with separatists.
The police have also increased anti-terrorist operations. According to the police, 13 have been killed in the past one week. “13 terrorists have been killed in nine encounters after civilian killings. We have killed three out of five terrorists in Srinagar in less than 24 hours,” the Inspector General of Police said.
The string of targeted killings has sparked massive outrage and the police are under compulsion to thwart these attacks.
On a personal note, it was shocking that today, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission Arun Kumar Mishra praised Amit Shah for a new era” of peace and law and order in Jammu and Kashmir!