The killing of a 35-year old chemist in Kashmir’s Baramulla by militants on Saturday got a brief mention in media outlets, but has evoked much condemnation on social media with many of his friends and sympathisers wondering why the mainstream political party leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, who take to Twitter to comment on any happening, have been strangely silent this time.
News agency reports quoting police said that Arjumand Majid Bhat was shot at and critically injured at main town Baramulla in the north Kashmir district on Saturday evening. He was taken to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. A case has been registered, police said.
Arjumand, also known as Raju Mistry, ran a medical shop and a drug de-addiction centre in Baramulla. He would organize seminars on drug de-addiction in Baramulla and was a familiar face with journalists, many of who have mourned his killing on Twitter.
Arjumand worked to wean away youth from drugs, many of who were lured to stone-pelting with the promise of drugs, according to twitter posts by his friends and sympathisers.
He was known to speak out against the Hurriyat and terrorists, said another post.
He reportedly had escaped several attempts on his life earlier by militants, but continued with his work undeterred.
Arjumand worked for a peaceful Kashmir, that all Kashmiris yearn for, his friends said, in their tribute to him.
The killing comes over two months after Baramulla was declared the first militant-free police district in the valley and also as security in north Kashmir has been beefed up ahead of the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April 11.
