J&K targeted killings: Pall of gloom descends on Chamiari village in Ajnala

Amritsar, February 8

A pall of gloom descended on Chamiari village in Ajnala as the body of Amritpal Singh, 31, reached here today.

He along with another youth, Rohit Masih, was gunned down by terrorists at Shaheed Ganj in Srinagar yesterday. Rohit’s body is likely to arrive late evening after completion of legal formalities.

While Amritpal was the youngest of seven siblings, Rohit was the only son of his parents.

Last rites of Amritpal were perfomed this afternoon. Earlier, family members of Amritpal refused to cremate his body and claimed that there was no bullet mark as stated by the Jammu & Kashmir Police.

“We demand the autopsy report of Amritpal. Family has all the rights to know what actually happened. We did not find any bullet mark though there were some marks on his face,” said a relative. Later, the administration and the police assured the family to provide them the post-mortem report.

Amritpal, who used to work as carpenter, had reached Srinagar yesterday. This was for the third time he had gone to the Valley. Rohit had gone for the first time. The duo was returning to their rented accommodation from a dry fruit shop when unknown assailants shot them in Shaheed Ganj area. Amritpal died on the spot while Rohit succumbed to his injuries at a hospital this morning.

Amritpal’s father Surmukh Singh said his son had gone to Srinagar for work thrice. “We received the tragic news around 11 pm on Wednesday night,” said Surmukh.

Amritpal had got a call from a Gurdapur-based contractor for work in Srinagar following which he along with Rohit, who worked as a painter, decided to go to the Valley. Rohit’s father, Prem Masih, said he was the only son and his death had devastated the family.

The Jammu & Kashmir Government has provided Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh compensation cheque to the aggrieved families. The Punjab Government has also announced Rs 2 lakh relief for both the families.