LG Manoj Sinha meets kin of Kashmiri Pandit killed by terrorists in Shopian last month

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday met the family members of Puran Krishan Bhat who was gunned down by terrorists in South Kashmir’s Shopian district.

Bhat was killed on October 15 outside his ancestral house in the Chowdhary Gund area of Shopian where he had gone to look after his orchards.

Flanked by Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar and Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh, L&G Sinha, visited the house of Bhat at Muthi in Jammu and offered his condolences to his wife Sweety Bhat and children Shriya and Shanu.

“Met the family members of martyr Shri Puran Krishan Bhat Ji at their residence in Jammu and offered my condolences,” Sinha tweeted.

He also tweeted that the administration has been directed to provide a permanent government job to Bhat’s wife and extend every possible help to the family.

Bhat’s brother-in-law A K Raina told reporters that L&G has assured them that the culprits will be brought to book. “The case is under investigation. It is at its conclusion,” he said.

Raina said the family raised the issue of job, education for children and ex gratia besides shifting household items from Choudharygund to Jammu.

“The LG has assured us all support,” he said adding that the demand for registration of families as migrants was raised with him and he assured us of support in the matter.

Bhat’s wife said that she wants to hear the news that her husband’s killers are dead. “This will give me justice”.

“We lived in utter fear for the past several months. The fear became real when terrorists gunned down my husband at the gate of my house in Choudharygund”, she said.

Choudharygund residents have submitted a memorandum to the L&G seeking the registration of 13 families as migrants in Jammu. Vir Ji Kaul said that the L&G has “assured us support in facilitating registration as migrants”.

Thirteen Kashmiri Pandit families, who migrated from a village in south Kashmir amid ‘targeted’ killings of members of their community, demanded on Monday that the administration register them as “migrants”.

Of the 13 families comprising 43 members, 10 had left Choudharygund village in Shopian district and reached Jammu on October 26. The remaining three had reached the city earlier. (PTI)