Srinagar: A Kashmiri Pandit, who had police guarding his house, was shot dead by terrorists in the Shopian district of south Kashmir on Saturday, officials said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Sujit Kumar said the Kashmir Freedom Fighter (KFF) group, the “proxy name of a terrorist outfit”, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Puran Krishan Bhat was attacked near his residence in the Chowdhary Gund area of the south Kashmir district. He was rushed to Shopian hospital where doctors declared him dead, they said.
Officials said the area has been cordoned off and a hunt has been launched to nab the assailants.
“Terrorists fired upon a civilian (minority) Puran Krishan Bhat while he was on his way to an orchard in Chowdhary Gund, Shopian. He was immediately shifted to a hospital for treatment where he succumbed. Area cordoned off. Search in progress,” the Kashmir Zone Police wrote on Twitter.
DIG Sujit Kumar said the initial investigation has revealed that one terrorist fired upon Bhat.
“There was security, our guard, for this cluster. We are looking at the reason (for the lapse). He had gone out on a scooter and just returned to his home,” he added.
Kumar said in case of any lapse, action will be taken against the security guards and the in-charge officials in the area. Investigations are underway and more details will be made public once things become clear, the police officer said.
Reports from the ground suggest that while the slain was a ‘protected person’, his residence, where he was shot at, is just a few hundred meters from the Army Camp.
Deputy Commissioner of Shopian, Sachin Kumar Vaishya, said Bhat’s body will be taken to Jammu where the last rites will be performed. “All arrangements are being made. We are extending help to the family.”
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and political leaders condemned the killing.
“Attack on Puran Krishan Bhat by terrorists in Shopian is a dastardly act of cowardice. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. I assure the people that the perpetrators and those aiding and abetting terrorists will be severely punished,” Sinha tweeted.
The National Conference condemned the “brazen and cowardly attack” and expressed “heartfelt commiserations” with Bhat’s family.
Condemning the attack, NC president Dr. Farooq Abdullah said, “I condemn the attack in unequivocal terms and express my heartfelt sympathies with the bereaved household. I pray for peace to the departed soul.”
The party’s vice-president Omar Abdullah termed the attack reprehensible. “I unequivocally condemn this attack in which Pooran Krishan Bhat has lost his life. I send my heartfelt condolences to his family. May Pooran Ji’s soul rest in peace,” he said in a tweet.
Democratic Azad Party chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad also condemned the attack. “Pained beyond words to hear the news about the militant attack on Kashmiri Pandit P K Bhat in Shopian, J&K today. I strongly condemn this heinous act of violence. My thoughts are with the family of Puran Krishan Bhat. May the departed soul rest in peace,” he wrote on Twitter.
The PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said, “They (Kashmiri Pandits) decided not to leave Kashmir and stayed with the people, with Muslims, here. Today, he (Bhat) was targeted after 30-35 years (since insurgency broke out in the valley), even as there is so much security, so many forces.
“People are jailed in the name of hybrid terrorists, sacked from services on doubt, but even then, the BJP has failed to provide security to the Kashmiri Pandits,” Mufti told reporters in Bandipora.
The former chief minister alleged that not only has the BJP failed to provide security to Kashmiri Pandits, it will “go out and sell their blood to secure votes in elections”.
“The (Union) Home Minister (Amit Shah) came to Kashmir, but did not even have 10 minutes for the Kashmiri Pandit employees who are protesting in Jammu for the last six months,” she said.
CPI(M) leader MY Tarigami said the government must ensure foolproof security for the minorities in the Kashmir Valley. “Pained beyond words by the despicable attack which snuffed out the life of Puran Krishan Bhat. There does not seem any letup in the killing of innocent people. The government must ensure foolproof security to the minorities,” he tweeted.
BJP general secretary (organisation) Ashok Koul also condemned the “barbaric” killing and offered his condolences to the family.
In a statement, he said that “these anti-national elements will never be successful. These things will not be tolerated anymore as these attacks are aimed to disturb the peace in the region.”
Apni Party president Mohammad Altaf Bukhari said, “Unequivocally condemn the attack on Pooran Krishan Bhat in Shopian. My heartfelt condolences to his family. This is a dastardly act of cowardice. May his soul rest in peace.”
The Peoples Conference said there can never be a justification for attacks like these.
Congress, while condemning the killing said that Modi government has failed to provide security to Kashmiri Pandits.
“Very sad! Another Kashmiri Pandit Puran Krishna Bhat was murdered in Jammu and Kashmir. The killing of Kashmiri Pandits is not stopping and the Modi government has failed to provide them security.
“There is information that the administration is pressuring the family to perform the last rites early. Shameful,” the Congress said in a tweet in Hindi.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also condemned the incident and said the “bloodbath is going on unabated in Kashmir and the BJP government as well as the LG administration are busy in spreading claims of normalcy through numerical figures and are treating loss of precious human lives as a numbers game.”
“Things are not well in any context as people are not even safe in their lawns and orchards where gunmen appear from nowhere, fire volley of bullets, take innocent human lives and then escape from the scene,” AAP state spokesperson Nawab Nasir said in a statement.
He said the loss of every single human life irrespective of caste, color, creed and religion is painful and the society should stand against it to condemn the inhumane act.
Bhat was frequent visitor to Shopian, never faced any problem, say relatives
Puran Krishan Bhat was a frequent visitor to his hometown in Shopian district and never faced any problem, and on Thursday he had gone there to join his brother to attend their apple orchard.
He had shifted his wife and two children — a son studying in Class 5 and a daughter who is in Class 7 — to Jammu in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, otherwise all of them were living in Shopian, said one of Bhat’s relatives waiting for his body here.
As the news of his killing spread, a pall of gloom descended on Muthi locality here on the outskirts of the city, which also houses a large migrant Pandit township.
Bhat’s wife and the two children were in a state of shock as relatives and neighbours, who rushed there, were seen consoling them.
“The news of his death came as a shock for us. They are brutes who do not want any Indian nationalist in the Valley,” a relative of Bhat said.
“The government must do something to stop such killings. What wrong did he do to anyone?” a neighbour said.
The mortal remains of Bhat will reach here late Saturday night and the cremation will take place on Sunday, officials said.
Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu zone, Mukesh Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, Avny Lavasa and other senior officers rushed to the residence of Bhat to express their condolences with the family.
“All possible assistance will be provided to the family,” Kumar told reporters.
Angry KPs block Jammu road to protest latest target killing
Hundreds of protesting displaced Kashmiri Pandit employees, who are seeking their relocation from the Valley, on Saturday blocked Jammu-Akhnoor road to protest the latest targeted killing of their community members in the Valley.
Puran Krishan Bhat was fired upon by terrorists near his residence in the Chowdhary Gund area of south Kashmir’s Shopian district this afternoon, resulting in his death.
The Pandits, employed under the Prime Minister’s employment package, have been protesting at the Relief Commissioner’s office in Jammu over the past five months following the killing of their colleague Rahul Bhat in Kashmir last May.
As the news of the latest killing of Kashmiri Pandit broke out, they came out of the protest site and marched towards the main road and blocked the highway, amid sloganeering to denounce the target killings and the alleged failure of the government to deal with the situation.
“Our worst fears have once again come true with the latest killing. We have already fled the valley otherwise we feel many of us have been done to death,” one of the protesters, Nikhil Kaul said.
He said they have been saying that the situation in the Valley is not safe for them but “this government remained unmoved and paid no heed to their pleas for relocation.”
Yogesh Pandit, another protester, said the administration is trying to pressure them to rejoin their duties by issuing “death warrants” in the form of making biometric attendance mandatory and stopping their salaries.
“The killing of Bhat exposed the government claims about the improved security situation in the Valley. We will not return till the situation becomes normal in true sense,” he said.
Pandit said they have tried to reach the government through memorandums and protests for their relocation from the Valley following the series of targeted killings over the past one year.
“This government is deaf, dumb and blind,” the agitated Pandit said, asking what was their fault for which they are being brutally killed by terrorists. (With PTI inputs)
