Jammu and Kashmir: Terrorists gun down police constable in Pulwama
Jammu and Kashmir Police constable Riyaz Ahmad Thoker was shot dead by a suspected terrorist at his Pulwama residence on Friday. "Special Police Officer Riyaz Ahmad Thoker, who was shot at and injured by a terrorist in the Gudaroo area of Pulwama, succumbs to his injuries," the Kashmir Zone Police said. This is the second killing in the Valley in the last 24 hours.
On Thursday evening, Rahul Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit, who worked at the tehsil office at Chadoora in the Budgam district of J&K was gunned down by terrorists. The killing led to massive protests across the state with government officials staging a demonstration outside J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha's house in Srinagar.
Questioning the safety of Pandits, the victim's father Bitta Ji Bhat, a retired Assistant Police Sub Inspector based in Jammu, asked, "Is this how the government will take us back home to the Valley?" "The government has totally failed to protect Kashmiri Pandits," he added.
Meanwhile, former J&K chief minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti claimed that she had been placed under house arrest and denied permission to visit Bhat's family in Budgam and express solidarity with the protesting Kashmiri Pandits. The police, however, refused to comment on Mufti's claim. Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah also condemned both the killings and tweeted "Targeted killings continue unabated."
Wanted to visit Budgam to express my solidarity with Kashmiri pandits protesting against GOIs failure to protect them. Have been put under house arrest as the fact that Kashmiri muslims pandits empathise with each other’s pain doesn’t fit into their vicious communal narrative.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) May 13, 2022
Rahul in his office yesterday, Riyaz Ahmad Thoker, a SPO with JK police, in his own home today. Targeted killings continue unabated. I can’t condemn this killing strongly enough. May Allah grant Riyaz place in Jannat https://t.co/WyYifdHWKe
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) May 13, 2022
Abdullah also slammed the police for using tear smoke shells to disperse the protesting Kashmiri Pandits and termed the police's high-handedness as "shameful". "This is not new for the people of Kashmir because when all the administration has is a hammer every problem resembles a nail. If the LG's government can't protect KPs (Kashmiri Pandits), they have a right to protest," he tweeted.
The police said two militants were involved in Bhat's killing. They shot him at point-blank with a pistol. Following the attack, a joint team of J&K Police, Army, and paramilitary forces cordoned off the area and a search operation was launched. According to a report by India Today, the little-known terror group Kashmir Tigers claimed responsibility for the attack.
