Two people including a lady principal was shot dead by militants at a school in Eidgah locality of Srinagar, taking the number of civilians killed in Kashmir Valley to seven in the past five days.
According to the reports, quoting unnamed eyewitnesses, the two teachers identified as 39-year-old Deepak Chand, a resident of Janipur locality of Jammu and 46-year-old Supender Kour, a resident of central Kashmir’s Budgam area, were separated from the rest of the school staff by the armed assailants before being killed. Both died on the spot, the police later confirmed.
The eyewitness said, school was closed for students on Thursday, but most of the staff were present during the incident, which occurred between 10:30 a.m and 11:00 a.m.
The authorities have heightened security in and around the summer capital following the series of attacks on the civilians in the past five days. The Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh, who reached the spot after the killing, said that the killing of civilians was being carried out to disturb communal harmony in the region.
“This is an attempt to defame the Muslim population of Kashmir. Killing innocent civilians, including teachers, is a move to attack and damage the age-old tradition of communal harmony and brotherhood,” the J&K Police chief was quoted as saying.
Earlier on Tuesday, three civilians were shot dead by militants in three separate incidents in different parts of the Kashmir valley. The deceased include Makhan Lal Bindroo, as famous chemist, who was shot dead near Iqbal park Srinagar, Virender Paswan, a non-local vendor and Mohammad Shafi Lone of Hajin Bandipora.
On November 2, militants shot dead Majid Ahmad Gojri, a resident of Chattabal Srinagar, at Karan Nagar. Later that night, another civilian Mohammad Shafi Dar, resident of Batamaloo, was shot at and injured at SD Colony Batamaloo. He succumbed to injuries a few hours later.
This series of killings have renewed the fear in Kashmir, particularly among the minority communities and have draw strong condemnations from all parties across the Political spectrum.
(With inputs from media reports)
