Unidentified militants shot dead a man from Punjab and grievously injured another person in Srinagar on Wednesday evening.
This is the first such targeted killing in the Valley this year.
The police identified the victim as 31-year-old Amrit Pal, a resident of Amritsar.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Vidhi Kumar Birdi, said the two were on their way to their rented accommodation from Amritsar when they were attacked at Shaheed Gunj Srinagar.
“They had returned from Amritsar today only,” Birdhi told UNI.
A police spokesman said terrorists fired upon a non-local identified as Amritpal Singh, a resident of Amritsar at Shaheed Gunj Srinagar, who succumbed to the injuries.
They said one more person was grievously injured and evacuated for medical attention.
Soon after the shooting incident, the area was cordoned off by joint forces, and a massive hunt was launched to trace the attackers.
This is the first targeted attack in the last three months. On October 30, 2023, a non-local labourer from Uttar Pradesh, Mukesh Kumar, was shot dead in South Kashmir’s Pulwama.
The attacks on migrant labourers and minority members started in the Valley in 2019 after the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. The attacks saw an uptick in 2022.
The killing of an Amritsar man has evoked strong condemnation.
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President Farooq Abdullah and Vice President Omar Abdullah termed it a barbaric incident.
“Violence should have no place in our society, and such acts of barbarity only serve to hinder the progress and peace we strive for,” they said in a statement.
The People’s Democratic Party condemned the dastardly attack in Srinagar.
At the Peoples Conference, Chief Sajad Lone said such acts of terrorism are completely reprehensible and have no place in our society.
BJP leader Altaf Thakur said the attack took place on the auspicious occasion of Shabe Mehraj.
“This shows that terrorists, who are the sons of evil, don’t have any religion but also have no humanity left in them. I urge the police to act swiftly and punish the culprits accordingly. These inhuman acts of violence won’t be tolerated in Kashmir.”Thakur said
