Militants kill man, injure his family with sharp weapons in Kashmir

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants Tuesday killed a civilian after abducting him from his home late on Monday night, police said.

A police official said that the body of Naseer Sheikh (26) was recovered from a stream in Shahgund, five kilometres from his residence in Hajin town of north Kashmir's Bandipora district. Naseer, as per his family and the police, was kidnapped at gunpoint by militants from the house of his in-laws last (Monday) night at around 10:15 pm.

 

"The body bears visible bullet marks. It will be handed over to the next of his kin after post-mortem," he said. "Four militants, believed to be affiliated with LeT, barged into the house and without caring about the life and dignity of the inmates, fired indiscriminately. Three members of the family received grievous injuries, including wife and daughter of the slain."

 

The injured, who were hit by sharp-edged weapons, were rushed to local hospital from where they were referred to Srinagar, where the condition of Rafeeqa is critical, police added.

 

Hajin, 32 kms from Srinagar, was once known as the epicentre of pro-government militia - Ikhwan - who broke the back of militancy in 1990's. From mid 90's to later part of last decade Hajin was out of bounds for militants as it was the hometown of the most dreaded renegade Kuka Parray, a star anti-militancy commander.

 

However, over the last two or three years, the area has emerged as a hub of LeT as most of the Pakistani militants find the area suitable for carrying out the attacks. The vast swathes of orchards, huge clusters of villages, close proximity to Srinagar on south and Bandipora on north makes Hajin an important transit point for militants as it is also connected to highway.