TERRORISTS shot dead a Kashmiri Pandit and injured his cousin on Tuesday at an apple orchard in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, which had seen similar attacks on the minority community in April. This casualty raised the number of targeted killings to 21 this year.

Tuesday’s incident was a chilling reminder of the barbaric gunning down of a school principal Supinder Kaur last October. According to police officials, two terrorists belonging to the banned Al-Badar organisation, came to the orchard this morning and lined up everyone.

After identification, they segregated Sunil Kumar Bhat and his cousin Pitambar Kumar Bhat and shot indiscriminately on them with their AK-47 rifles. According to eyewitnesses and Pitambar Bhat’s statement, while one terrorist was firing indiscriminately, the other was capturing the horrific incident on his smart phone. Giving details, a police spokesman said around 11.30 AM, they received information about the incident.

Both the cousins were immediately shifted to a hospital where Sunil Kumar succumbed to injuries. The condition of Pitambar Bhat is stated to be stable. Police has identified the assailant as Adil Wani, a categorised terrorist of Al Badar group, and a hunt has been launched to nab him.

Sunil Kumar, who leaves behind four daughters and his wife, was cremated in the evening amid slogans of “Hindu Muslim Sikh Itehad (unity of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs)”. Qatal-e-Gaarth na manzoor (killing of innocent and destruction are unacceptable) and chants of unity reverberated in the air as villagers of Chotigam took out a procession from the house of Bhat to the cremation ground.

Several people from the area joined the procession from Bhat’s residence where Muslim neighbours were seen consoling the family. Terrorists had struck in the same village in April when they opened fire on Kashmiri Pandit chemist Balkrishen Bhat alias Sonu Kumar, who miraculously escaped death. He was injured and remained in hospital for a long period. After the incident, the administration had assured that the presence of security forces where minorities were living would be increased. There has been a sudden spike in attacks on minorities, labourers and police personnel in the valley since the beginning of this year. The death toll in targeted attacks has gone up to 21 this year which includes two Kashmiri Pandits. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said he was “pained beyond words on the despicable terror attack on civilians in Shopian. My thoughts are with the family of Sunil Kumar.