Health worker shot dead in Baramulla

Unidentified militants on Tuesday shot dead son of a prominent worker of Syed Ali Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference in volatile Sopore town of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

A police official told Deccan Herald that unidentified pistol borne militants fired at Altaf Rehman Sheikh, 45, from a point-blank range near New Colony Sopore, 52 km from here on Tuesday morning.

Sheikh received serious head injuries and was immediately shifted to Sub-District Hospital Sopore where he succumbed to injuries, he said.

Sources said Sheikh, who was an employee of state Health Department, was also an over ground worker (OGW) of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit and had been arrested by police some time ago.

“The father of the deceased is a senior worker of Jamat-e-Islami as well as Hurriyat headed by Geelani,” they said.

No group has claimed the responsibility of the attack so far.

Meanwhile, Geelani has called for a shutdown in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Wednesday to protest the killing. In a statement, he alleged that Indian secret agencies were responsible for the killing “Indian agencies, by this way, actually want to frighten and terrorise the people who are on the forefront of the freedom struggle of Kashmir,” he claimed.