Terrorists kill truck driver, set ablaze his vehicle in South Kashmir

Shopian: Militants sent a chilling reminder to the Jammu and Kashmir administered government when they shot dead a truck driver from Rajasthan and set ablaze his vehicle ferrying apples, in south kashmir on October 14.

The incident took place in Shirmal Village located in Shopian district of South Kashmir, at around 7. 30 PM Monday. An eye witness said, “When the truck driver was trying to load apples, a five-member group of heavily armed militants surfaced near the village and hijacked the truck along with the driver. After a few kilometres, the militants asked the driver to stop and reportedly took him away from the vehicle. He was shot at a point-blank range. He received 5 bullets on his face and body. He died on the spot."

The militants later set the truck on fire before leaving the spot. The deceased is a native of Rajasthan.

The Jammu & Kashmir Police have registered a case and have launched a massive hunt to nab the militants. Preliminary investigation revealed that the militants were associated with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and were headed by the district commanders.

This is the second incident that rocked Kashmir in the last one month.

On September 6, militants stormed a house of a prominent apple grower by name Hamid Ullah. Four people including top apple grower Hamidullah Rather and five-year-old girl were injured in the incident.

Mudasir Ahmad Pandith alias Maaz Bhai and Sajjad Ahmad Mir alias Hyder are the prime accused in the September 6 failed assassination bid on the prominent apple grower’s home and the central brain behind the current unrest in the apple- rich town of Sopore.

Innocent Kashmiri killed by Pakistan sponsored goons in Kashmir. Truck driver Noor Muhammad Dar of Brijbehara was killed in Anantnag of South Kashmir when stone pelters attacked his vehicle from a lane. He died on his way to the hospital. How many Kashmiris will Pakistan kill? pic.twitter.com/EFFk4g8CYa

— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) August 26, 2019

While one of their aides Asif was killed in a chance encounter, police have gone into an overdrive announcing Rs 5 lakh bounty on Pandith and Rs 10 lakh on Mir. Posters have been put up across Sopore seeking information about the duo.