Kashmiri Pandit Murder: Another Targeted Murder; Kashmiri Pandit shot dead by terrorists, brother’s condition critical Srinagar News – Times of India

Srinagar: A Kashmiri Pandit was shot dead and his younger brother injured by terrorists on Tuesday in Chotigam village of South Kashmir’s Shopian district.
Sunil Kumar Nath, 45, was shot dead on the spot, while his brother Pintu Kumar, 35, sustained bullet injuries. A search has been started to nab the killers.
Sources said a masked terrorist, possibly a Pakistani, and a Kashmiri accomplice attacked the Nath brothers when they were cutting down an overgrowth of willow trees on the orchard with the help of three local hands. The masked men asked the hired hands to leave even before they opened fire on the brothers.

Villagers said that the slain brother is survived by his wife and three school going daughters.
Several attacks have been registered in Jammu and Kashmir in the past one week amid tight security on Independence Day. Mohammad Amrej, a 19-year-old migrant laborer from Bihar’s Madhepura, died at his rented house in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district at around 1 pm on Friday, while a Special Police Officer (SPO) in Anantnag in a separate attack later in the afternoon. got injured. Amrej was the fourth migrant worker killed in a targeted attack in Kashmir this year.
On 15 August, militants attacked twice with grenades—one at the high-security police control room in Srinagar and the other at Chadoora in Budgam district. In addition, Jammu and Kashmir Police constable Sarfaraz Ahmed died in hospital on Sunday from wounds sustained during an attack on a police patrol party in Nowhatta, Srinagar.

A total of 15 civilians and six security force personnel have been killed in targeted attacks this year.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha condoled the death of about 30 people in the predominantly Kashmiri Pandit village Chhotigam, who chose to stay behind after thousands of community members fled the Valley during the peak of militancy in the 1990s. They have large orchards of apples and other fruits, while some are in the pharmaceutical business.
“Pain beyond words… My thoughts are with Sunil Kumar’s family. Praying for the speedy recovery of the injured,” tweeted Sinha. He added that the attackers will not be spared.

The authorities have provided security to the Kashmiri Pandit families of Chottigam as they have been pulled out by terrorists in the past. This April, 39-year-old Sonu Bhat alias Bal Krishna, a popular chemist from Chottigam who helped people even in the middle of the night, was hit by four bullets in a terrorist attack.
Records show that 14 Kashmiri Pandits and others from the minority community were killed in targeted terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir since August 2019. But the attacks have been more frequent since last autumn when Makhan Lal Bindu, a Srinagar-based chemist, was shot dead on 5 October by a street vendor. Bihar was killed hours later, and two teachers—a Hindu and a Sikh—were shot inside a school on the outskirts of Srinagar on 7 October.
The attacks continued, triggering panic and protests. The killings of schoolteacher Rajni Bala and revenue clerk Rahul Bhat in May this year had created widespread unrest among religious minorities in the region.
BJP, Congress, Apni Party and Shiv Sena (Thackeray), National Conference as well as state units of Panun Kashmir, an organization of Kashmiri Pandits, condemned Tuesday’s Chotigam killing. Congress, Sena and Panun Kashmir blamed the Center for repeated attacks on Kashmiri Pandits, while their party said the killings were aimed at promoting hatred.
BJP state chief Ravinder Rana slammed “cowardly Pakistani terrorists” for the attack. “Two brothers – Kashmiri Hindus – were targeted by cowardly Pakistani terrorists. Pakistan wants bloodshed in Kashmir, Pakistani terrorists are enemies of the people of Kashmir.
Panun Kashmir President Virendra Raina said the problem was not development or economic, but bigotry and Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. He said that unless these two are crushed with iron hands, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir will not improve.
(Inputs from Sanjay Khajuria in Jammu)
watch J&K targeted killings: Terrorists shoot dead another Kashmiri Pandit