Terrorist Behind Killing of Bank Manager Shot Dead in Encounter: Kashmir Police

Vijay Kumar, who was a bank manager at a Kulgam branch of a bank, was attacked in the Arreh area of the district.

The terrorist involved in the killing of Vijay Kumar was shot dead on Wednesday morning.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The terrorist involved in the killing of a bank manager from Rajasthan in south Kashmir's Kulgam district earlier this month was among the two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives who were shot dead in an encounter with security forces in Shopian in the wee hours of Wednesday, 15 June.

Kashmir Zone Police tweeted that the encounter had left two terrorists dead and later identified one of them as Jan Mohd Lone of Shopian, who was reportedly behind the killing of Vijay Kumar.

Vijay Kumar, who was a bank manager at the Kulgam branch of Elaqahi Dehati Bank, was attacked in the Arreh area of the district on 2 June. A resident of Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, Kumar had joined his posting in Kulgam only a week before he was shot dead.

He was shot on the bank premises, visuals showed. Kumar, in a critical condition, was rushed to a hospital, but succumbed to his injuries on the way.

Vijay Kumar had moved to Kashmir four years ago and used to live in the Valley with his wife of three and a half months, having been married on 10 February.

About the Incident

CCTV footage from inside the bank had showed a terrorist, who was wearing a mask and holding a bag, entering the bank. Standing at the bank's main door, he took out a gun and fired two to three shots at Kumar, who was sitting at a desk near the entrance.

The terrorist fled immediately after shooting Kumar.

An organisation named Kashmir Freedom Fighters (KFF) later claimed responsibility for the killing.

The attack was the second targeted attack on Hindus in the Valley in three days and came just two days after Rajni Bala, a Hindu teacher from Jammu, was shot down by terrorists outside a school in Kulgam.

Growing Terrorist Attacks 

The Kashmir Valley is in the midst of another surge of terrorist attacks as ten people, including civilians – locals and non-locals – and security personnel, have been killed since 7 May.

There are around 300 bank employees from Sri Ganganagar & Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan working in Kashmir, who are worried about their safety after the recent killing of Vijay Kumar.

Scores of the Kashmiri Pandits, who were employed under a prime minister's package in 2012, have been staging continuous protests threatening mass migration since the killing of Rahul Bhat.