Sikh youth shot dead by militants in Tral

Our Correspondent

Anantnag, January 4

A Sikh youth, 24, was shot dead by militants in the Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Friday noon.

The slain youth has been identified as Simranjeet Singh, alias Suman Singh, a resident of Khasipora village in Tral. Simranjeet was a taxi driver and is survived by his mother and elder brother, who is the sarpanch of the village.

The shooting was carried out by militants around noon in Simranjeet’s native village. “He was shot at multiple times outside his home in Khasipora. He was evacuated to a nearby hospital and then to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital in Srinagar, where he succumbed,” said a senior police officer.

The police officer said a case had been registered and investigation had begun in the matter.

Simranjeet’s brother was recently elected as sarpanch. “That angle has been taken into consideration in the investigation,” the officer said.

Meanwhile, amid a complete shutdown in Awantipora police district and some other parts of Pulwama, massive funerals were held at Laribal in Tral and Charsoo in Awantipora for the three militants killed in Gulshanpora village of Tral on Thursday.

In Laribal, two separate groups of militants appeared at the funeral of militant Shakoor Ahmad and offered a gun salute to him.