After prominent Kashmiri Pandit chemist, 2 teachers killed in Srinagar

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 7

Amid increasing targeted attacks on civilians in the past few days in the Kashmir Valley the militants on Monday gunned down two school teachers including a woman in the Eidgah area of Srinagar, which sources Jammu & Kashmir Police said, the manner in which killings were executed showed an imprint of ISIS and Taliban elements presence.

A police officer has confirmed that all teachers of the school were lined up and their ID cards and mobiles phones were checked. After ascertaining their respective religions, the militants allowed most of them (presumably Muslims) to leave the place and later a Hindu (man) and a Sikh (woman) were killed at around 11.15 am, he said.

The deceased have been identified as Supinder Kour, a resident of Alochi Bagh area of the city here, and Deepak Chand, a resident of Jammu. Kaur was working as principal and Chand as teacher at Government Boys School, Sangam, Srinagar.

Also read: With tears, resolve, Kashmiris bid adieu to slain pharmacist

With today’s killings of the teachers, which drew widespread condemnation, took the number of civilians killed in the last five days in Kashmir valley to seven, including six in capital Srinagar only.

On Saturday, militants shot dead Majid Ahmad Gojri, a resident of Chattabal Srinagar, at Karan Nagar. Later that night, another civilian Mohammad Shafi Dar, resident of Batamaloo, was shot at and injured at SD Colony Batamaloo. He succumbed to injuries a few hours later.

On Tuesday, three civilians, including Makhan Lal Bindroo, owner of Srinagar’s most famous pharmacy, were shot dead by militants. Within a span of two hours in separate incidents in Srinagar and Bandipora districts, militants killed two more.

Bindroo, owner of Bindroo Medicate, was shot dead by the assailants from point blank range while he was at his pharmacy. Within an hour, militants struck in the Hawal area of the city, killing a non-local street vendor, who was identified as Virender.

Within minutes of the second killing, militants shot dead Mohammad Shafi Lone at Naidkhai in Bandipora district in north Kashmir.

Meanwhile, J&K political parties and leaders poured in their condemnation over the killings.

“Shocking news coming in again from Srinagar. Another set of targeted killings, this time of two teachers in a Govt school in Idgah area of the city. Words of condemnation are not enough for this inhuman act of terror but I pray for the souls of the deceased to rest in peace,” National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah said on Twitter.

Lamenting that the Centre’s claim of building a “Naya Kashmir” has actually turned it into a “hellhole”, former J&K Chief Minister and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti in tweet said, “Disturbing to see the deteriorating situation in Kashmir where a minuscule minority is the latest target… It’s sole interest is to use Kashmir as a milch cow for its electoral interests.”

Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone said it is important to understand that terrorists have no religion. “Reports of cowardice emerging. Two teachers shot dead. It is important to understand that terrorists have no religion. Muslims have been killed too. I personally had a killing in my family. This is a lunatic fringe which is a curse for Kashmir. May Allah rid us of this curse,” Lone said in a tweet.

BJP’s J&K spokesman Altaf Thakur also condemned the killings, saying the killing of unarmed teachers, who have nothing to do with politics, is nothing “but purely an inhuman act and frustration”.

He said, “Those who killed the two teachers have no religion. These teachers were teaching students, what was their fault. The cowardly act deserves the highest form of condemnation”.

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