Seemingly taking a cue from dreaded Pakistani Taliban, suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba militants barged into a mosque and shot dead an 18 year-old-youth during a religious congregation at Doabgah village in the apple rich town of Sopore late on Tuesday evening.
Police said that Suhail Ahmad Sofi was shot at by some unknown militants at 9.45 pm on Tuesday when he was sitting with another youth in a ground near a local mosque in Doabgah, the village neighbouring Seer-Jagir where Afzal Guru used to live.
“Sofi, however, escaped the bullets fired by the militants and ran towards the mosque where he hid himself in the Hamam (a reserved place used to keep the mosque warm in winters). One militant, however, chased him and entered the mosque and pumped five bullets into him. He died on the spot. Preliminary investigation reveals that the militants of
Lashkar-e-Toiba have killed him”, said a police spokesman.
Police said there was a religious congregation going on in the mosque when the militants shot dead Sofi. “Police later recovered the body of the deceased from the mosque. After post-mortem and other legal formalities, the body was handed over to the next of kin for last rites”, he said.
Police have registered a case under section 302 (murder) and other sections at Sopore police station. Police have put the investigation on fast-track to apprehend the militants responsible for the incident.
The cold-blood murder also rocked the Legislative Assembly with J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah fuming at the “selective outrage” .
“I can accept the anger directed against us for excesses by security forces but only from people willing to condemn such killings. Want to see the hypocrisy of selective outrage?” Omar tweeted.
A visibly angry chief minister later expressed his dismay over the behaviour of a particular faction which raises its voice vehemently against the similar incidents in which security personnel are involved, but keep mum when militants kill innocent people.
“If this kind of killing had been committed by security forces they would have torn out their clothes, castigated the country and asked me to give the answer for shedding innocent blood. Had this incident taken place at the hands of security forces these members would have pulled the mikes, broken the tables and created hue and cry in the assembly”, he said.
Omar said innocent killing either by security forces or by militants are equally condemnable and any discriminated or unfair behaviour by certain members in this regard is unjustifiable and amounts to lopsided approach by them aimed at appeasement.
“Shedding of innocent blood either by security forces or militants should be condemned in unequivocal terms without any discrimination”, he maintained.
