No end of militant attacks on banks, political workers 

NL Correspondent

SRINAGAR: The political workers and banks have become soft targets for militants in south Kashmir.

Two days after militants shot dead seven people, including five policemen, after dragging them out of a vehicle carrying cash of a bank in Kulgam district of south Kashmir, two incidents of bank robbery took place in south Kashmir on Wednesday. The first bank robbery happened when three masked militants, heavily armed, entered inside the Ellaquai Dehati Bank in Wahibag village of Pulwama. The gunmen forced the cashier to provide them with Rs 5 lakhs. The militants successfully fled from the village after the loot.

The second robbery occurred in Nehema Kakapora area of Pulwama, where the militants looted nearly Rs 1.5 lakh from J&K Bank. The gunmen successfully escaped after the loot.

On Tuesday, another instance of bank heist was reported from the adjacent Shopian district. Masked militants looted Rs 65,000 from the branch of Ellaquai Dehati Bank in Kader village. The looting of banks has become a major concern for the security agencies.

Similarly, people associated with mainstream parties continue to be under attack or facing threats.

For the last three weeks, at least three people associated with the NC and the PDP have been killed in Pulwama and Shopian districts of south Kashmir.

On April 15, a PDP worker was killed while another was injured when suspected militants opened fire upon them at Rajpora area of south Kashmir's Pulwama district. The next day, the lawyer associated with the National Conference was shot dead in Shopian.

The PDP's Pulwama president was shot dead by the gunmen. Before that, the gunmen had barged into houses of several political workers and asked them to stay away from their political activities.

Several videos have gone viral on social networking sites wherein some workers of mainstream political parties are seen tendering an apology and dissociating themselves from the mainstream parties.

Such acts have triggered panic among political workers, who are quivering with fear.

Scores of party workers according to sources have gone into hiding. Several have disassociated themselves from mainstream parties and apologised publically in Mosques.

“The killings and threats have created a panic among all workers of mainstream parties of south Kashmir. I am living in a relative's house for the last several days,” a PDP worker of Pulwama said. He said his family was worried about his security.  He said the killing of political workers has raised security concerns among political workers in south Kashmir.

A PDP leader of Shopian said the political workers were worried for their safety. “For the last three weeks, I spent only five nights at my home. The rest of time I spent in my friends and relatives homes,” he said, who was actively participating in party activities a month ago.

An NC worker of Shopian said scores of party workers have either gone into “hiding or taking refuge near police stations” fearing for their lives. “So far, the government has failed to provide secure environment for workers of mainstream parties,” he said.

Meanwhile, a senior police official said the hunt has been launched to nab the militants.