According to police, a Rajasthan bank manager was shot dead by suspected terrorists on Thursday in south Kashmir’s Kulgam, days after a female teacher was killed outside a school in the district.
Terrorists fired upon a bank manager identified as Vijay Kumar of Hanumangarh of Elaki Dehati Bank (EDB) in Areh Mohanpora village of Kulgam. Kumar was seriously injured in the attack and was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
“Terrorists fired upon a bank employee (manager) at Ellaqie Dehati Bank at Areh Mohanpora in Kulgam district. He received grievous gunshot injuries in this terror incident. He is a resident of Hanumangarh Rajasthan. Further details shall follow,” tweeted Jammu and Kashmir Police.
Soon after the attack, a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Indian Army and paramilitary forces cordoned off the area to trace the terrorists responsible.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Twitter, “The murder of Mr Vijay Kumar, a resident of Hanumangarh, Rajasthan and working in Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir, is highly condemnable. I pray to God to give peace to his soul and courage to his family.”
Attacking the Modi government, he said, “The NDA government has failed to restore peace in Kashmir. The central government should ensure the safety of citizens in Kashmir. Such killing of our citizens by terrorists will not be tolerated.”
27-year-old Vijay Kumar was a resident of Bhagwan village in Nohar tehsil of Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan. Om Prakash’s father is a government school teacher in Nohar, while his mother is a homemaker. Vijay was three years older than his brother Anil.
SHO of Nohar police station, Ravinder Singh, who met the family, said, “According to the family, Vijay shifted to Kashmir four years ago and married in February. His wife lived with him.”
The killing of a bank manager comes days after a woman teacher from Jammu was shot dead outside her school in Gopalpora village of Kulgam on Tuesday, amid tight security in the Valley for the safety of employees from outside Kashmir and belonging to the minority community.
There has been a sudden spurt in attacks on non-local employees posted in the region in the Kashmir Valley. Since May 12, when Rahul Bhat, a Kashmiri Hindu employee, was murdered inside his office in Budgam, four employees of the minority community in Kashmir have been shot dead.
The killings have shocked the Jammu and Kashmir administration, which is already grappling with protests from Kashmiri Hindu employees appointed under the Prime Minister’s Package and stationed in the Valley. The employees are demanding their transfer from the Kashmir Valley.