J&K: Fourth civilian shot dead in Sopore in last 7 days

Eyewitnesses say that Reshi had come out of his home to undergo medical tests at a village diagnostic centre. “There were three-four people but they (gunmen) fired directly on him (Reshi). They were two gunmen, clean shaven,” said a villager.

In a daring bid to capture the gunmen, Mundji residents chased the assailants and one of them set his pet dog on them. “The dog chased them, jumped on one of them and overpowered him,” said an eyewitness. “The other assailant turned back and fired the dog in his head. They fired several shots while escaping from the village”.

Reshi, a father of three sons and a daughter, was a militant who served several years in jail before being released. He was leading a normal life after his release.

The killing, second in as many days and sixth in last three weeks, has put Sopore town on edge and resulted in a complete shutdown and protests. Heavy contingents of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in the town anticipating mass prorests.

The civilian killings in the town started after an unknown group Lashkar-e-Islam asked telecom operators to wind up their operations. On May 25, unidentified gunmen fired at BSNL franchisee killing a civilian and wounding two others. Two days later, gunmen barged into the house of a civilian who had leased out his land for installation of mobile tower at Dooru and shot him dead.

On June 9, a government employee and activist of Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led Hurriyat was killed in Sopore followed by the gunning down of a shopkeeper at Bomai village of town. On Sunday morning, the unidentified gunmen killed a shopkeeper in Sopore.

Police say Lashkar-e-Islam is responsible for these killings and called the outfit a front of Hizbul Mujahideen. Hizbul Mujahideen and the Hurriyat chairman Geelani are blaming “Indian agencies” for the killings and say that Lashkar-e-Islam is an “indian sponsored” outfit.