Thief kills Kulgam man

A thief, who allegedly impersonated a security official on the pretext of a “search operation”, killed a man in Kulgam district while attempting theft.

The incident took place in Kulgam’s Kishgund when the accused, Naseer Ahmad, entered the house belonging to Mohammad Yaseen Banday on the pretext of conducting a search operation in the village, locals said on Friday.

Mushtaq Ahmad, a villager, said that they heard some noise during midnight (on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday) and when the villagers gathered, they found the thief lying on the ground.

Ahmad said the thief used an Army fatigue, a dagger and a helmet to impersonate a security official. Locals said the accused was carrying a weapon, which turned out to be a toy pistol.

The victim has been identified as Zahid Ahmad Banday, the son of the house owner. He was scheduled to get married in the coming weeks.

Locals said Naseer first went to the Bandays’ house and asked a man from the house to accompany him. “Naseer told the family members that a search operation is going on and switched off the lights…he even took away the mobile phones of the housemates,” said a local villager.

When Zahid grew suspicious, he confronted the thief and it was then that Naseer attacked him while trying to flee. “He (Zahid) passed away and was declared dead by the doctors,” said a relative.

After the thief jumped out of the window, he was caught by the locals and handed over to the police.