A street hawker from Bihar and a labourer from Uttar Pradesh were killed in Jammu and Kashmir in two separate terrorist attacks on Saturday. The incident took place in Srinagar’s Eidgah area at around 6.40 pm on Saturday when terrorists opened fire on Arvind Kumar, who hailed from Bihar. In the same area, another street hawker, Virendra Paswan was killed earlier this month by terrorists.
The incidents come amid increased terror-related attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in recent weeks.
Kumar, 36, was rushed to Government Medical College Srinagar (SMHS), where he was declared brought dead.
Hailing from Bihar’s Banka, Kumar had migrated to Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar three months back in search of a living and worked as a street hawker.
Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah reacted to the incident, saying, “Strongly condemn the killing of street vendor Arvind Kumar in a terror attack in Srinagar today. This is yet another case of a civilian being targeted like this.”
“All Arvind Kumar did was come to Srinagar in search of earning opportunities & it’s reprehensible that he was murdered,” he added.
In another terrorist attack in Pulwama’s Litter, Sagir Ahmed, who worked in Pulwama as a carpenter, was killed after suspected terrorists opened fire at him.
Former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti reacted to the attacks, saying, “An innocent civilian on his way home to his wife & kids, a non-local street vendor eking out a living or troops in Poonch. None of these people deserved to die.”
She added, “One wonders what will it take for GOI to realise that its policies have been a monumental failure in J&K & at what cost.”
J&K LG Manoj Sinha’s office in a statement said, “UT Govt stands in solidarity with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. Perpetrators of these heinous attacks will be punished soon. We have intensified our efforts to crush terrorists & their ecosystem. They will have to pay a very heavy price for killing innocent civilians. I urge people to speak in one voice & join hands in the fight against terror.”
Source: dnaindia.com