Srinagar (TIP)- A Hindu teacher from Jammu’s Samba district, posted in Kashmir Valley’s Kulgam, was shot dead just outside the school by militants on Tuesday, May 31, morning. Target killings have left seven civilians dead this month in the Valley. Two local Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militants were shot dead in an anti-militancy operation in Pulwama, taking their death toll to around 27 this month.
Officials said militants fired from close range at Rajni Bala, 36, around 10 a.m. The staff and students of the Government High School, Gopalpora in Kulgam were about to finish the morning assembly when militants intercepted Ms. Bala outside the school, which is located around eight km away from the Kulgam town at a secluded place with orchards around.
“The gunmen shot Ms. Balal in her head,” the officials stated.
The police said Ms. Bala was shifted to a hospital in critical condition but died of her injuries. She was recruited under the Schedule Caste (SC) quota five years ago and was posted in Kashmir.
In October last, a teacher from Jammu, also recruited under the SC category, was shot dead inside a school in Srinagar’s Eidgah locality.
“The government should do something about targeted killings. We want justice in our case. My sister-in-law was here (Samba) two months ago. She never complained of any threat, though she did talk about lurking fear of late,” a relative of Bala said in Samba.
Earlier this month, militants killed six civilians, including a Kashmiri Pandit employee, a woman artist, a wine shop employee and three policemen, in six separate targeted attacks in the Valley.
The killing of policeman Saifullah Qadri outside his house on May 24 in Srinagar’s Soura saw the security forces stepping up operations against militants. Sixteen militants have been killed since then in the Valley. The police claimed that among the slain militants included those behind four target killings, including the cases of Kashmiri Pandit employee Rahul Bhat, artist Amreen Bhat and two policemen. Besides, the module behind the wine shop attack in Baramulla was also busted.
Source: The Hindu