Dogripora, Pulwama: Days after the Lok Sabha election dates were announced in the restive Jammu and Kashmir, two shooting attacks rocked south Kashmir on Thursday, killing one and severely injuring another. The attacks have increased the tensions among the political workers.
The first incident took place in Thajeewara area of Anantnag district when the suspected militants shot at National Conference leader Muhammad Ismail.
Ismail was shot at around 5.40 pm, eyewitnesses said. Bullets hit his abdomen and he was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. A senior activist of the party, he is being treated in a Srinagar hospital.
About three hours after the incident, unidentified assailants in Pulwama’s Dogripora village barged into the house of Manzoor Ahmad Lone, a sawmill worker. They abducted him and his body was found a couple of hours later in the nearby Gulzarpora village.
Father of two, Gulzar, 35, was not associated with any political party, his family said. “Two masked gunmen barged into the house at 8:45 pm and asked Manzoor to come out,” said his brother, Mohammad Iqbal Lone, who lives adjacent to Manzoor’s house and was informed by his wife, Gulshana about the incident.
Gulshana was inconsolable when News18 tried to reach her for comments.
Iqbal and his other brother rushed to find Manzoor in the village but didn’t succeed until they received a call from the police station at around 10 pm, informing them that his dead body had been found.
“He had two bullet marks, one on the chest and other on his arm,” Iqbal said.
Manzoor had left his studies after class 12 and started working as a labourer and also did odd jobs.
His family is devastated. No militant group has claimed responsibility of the two attacks. The police said that they are investigating both the cases and will be able to identify the attackers soon.
The attack has taken place days after the Election Commission (EC) announced dates for the Lok Sabha polls in the state. And even though the polls are inching closer but in south Kashmir no election campaign has taken place yet.
The Anantnag parliamentary seat, which includes all the three districts of south Kashmir, will be going to polls in three phases for the first time. The government has failed to hold elections in the Anantnag Lok Sabha for nearly two years.
After the February 14 attack on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama, a massive was launched against the militants in the Valley, particularly in south Kashmir, which continues to remain a militancy hot-bed.
The most number of militants active in the Valley are in south Kashmir and the area has remained tense since the last four years. After the latest attacks, fear has escalated in the southern area.
Comments
0 comment