New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah today met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to discuss the recent spate of targeted killings in Kashmir. Union Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office Dr Jitendra Singh also joined the meeting.
NSA Doval is currently in North Block to meet Mr Shah. The meeting has been going on for over an hour now.
The meeting comes on a day when a bank manager from Rajasthan was shot dead by a militant in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam in the second targeted attack on Hindus in the Valley in three days.
A militant entered the Areh branch of Elaqahi Dehati Bank and shot Vijay Kumar, the bank manager. A CCTV footage shows the killer entering the branch, firing a shot and fleeing. Vijay Kumar was being rushed to the hospital when he breathed his last.
The attack comes just two days after a Hindu teacher from Jammu, Rajni Bala, was killed by militant outside a school, also in Kulgam.
The bank manager’s killing in Kulgam came within 24 hours of two major incidents in the adjoining Shopian district.
A civilian, Farooq Ahmad Sheikh, was injured in a targeted militant attack inside his home last evening.
In another incident, three soldiers were injured after an explosion in their vehicle early this morning. One of the soldiers has suffered critical injuries.
According to the Army, the three soldiers had taken a private vehicle for an anti-militants operation. The blast, they said, took place while they were on their way to the target area.
In Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot condemned the killing and expressed his condolences.
He also targeted the NDA government over its failure to keep the peace in Kashmir and said they must ensure the safety of citizens.
The fresh attack also comes amid a widespread protest in the Union Territory by Kashmiri Pandits demanding that they be relocated to safer areas. Members of the community have been protesting since Rahul Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit, was shot dead inside the magistrate’s office in Budgam last month.
About 4,000 Kashmir Pandits employed in the Valley under a Prime Minister’s rehabilitation package have threatened mass migration as they no longer feel safe. To stop them from leaving, the Union Territory administration put up barricades and locked gates to transit camps.
NDTV
