A Kashmiri Pandit was shot dead by militants in the Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, news agency PTI reported, citing officials. The deceased has been identified as Puran Krishan who was attacked near his residence in the Chowdhary Gund area of south Kashmir district.
Doctors declared him dead after he was shifted to Shopian hospital, officials added. The area has been cordoned off to find the assailants.
Meanwhile, Kashmiri Pandit migrant employees have been protesting in Jammu seeking better security measures and relocation outside the Valley, following the killing of Rahul Bhat inside his office in central Kashmir’s Budgam district on May 12, PTI reported on October 10.
Also Read: J-K administration stops salaries of Kashmiri Pandit employees who are on strike
The employees, who are under the Prime Minister’s Special package in the Valley, have been protesting for nearly five months now.
The protest intensified after a recent order was issued by the divisional administration in Kashmir that made bio-metric attendance compulsory for all government employees.
Earlier, the labour department of Kashmir and additional deputy commissioner, Anantnag, had issued orders to stop the salaries of the protesting employees for the month of September, as per PTI report.
On August 16 this year, militants shot dead a Kashmiri Pandit named Sunil Kumar Bhat and injured another named Pritembar Kumar in Shopian district. While Bhat died in the hospital, Kumar was being treated, The Indian Express reported. The duo were fired upon at an apple orchard in Chotipora village of Shopian. The assailants had fled.
Also Read: Shopian: Kashmiri Pandit killed, brother seriously injured in militant attack
The Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), an organisation of Pandits who did not leave the Valley in 1990, while majority left following targeted killings, said the government had “failed” them, and asked members to leave the Valley.