New Delhi, October 19: Taking things in their own hands, the National Investigation Agency will take over the probe into the targeted killing of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. The probe will take over four cases from Jammu and Kashmir Police as the NIA has been mandated by the Union Ministry to investigate the large conspiracy behind the killing of innocent civilians. In the month of October, around 11 civilians have been killed by terrorists in different areas of the Valley.

 

 

The most recent killings took place on Sunday when terrorists shot dead two workers from Bihar namely; Raja Reshi Dev and Joginder Reshi Dev and injured another after barging into their accommodation in Kulgam in south Kashmir. The incident prompted the police to direct that all such labourers in the Valley be brought to nearest security camps “immediately”.

 

In a message flashed to all district police in the Valley, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar on Sunday said, “All non-local labourers in your respective jurisdiction should be brought to the nearest police or central paramilitary force or army establishment just now.” Amid the civilian killings, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had on Sunday vowed to avenge every drop of their blood by hunting down terrorists and their sympathisers.

 

Governor Manoj Sinha said attempts are being made to disrupt the peace and socio-economic progress of Jammu and Kashmir and the individual growth of people, and reiterated the commitment to the fast-paced development of the Union territory. Other victims of the recent terror attacks in the Valley include Makhan Lal Bindroo, a prominent member of the Kashmiri Pandit community and the owner of a pharmacy in Srinagar; Mohammad Shafi Lone, a taxi driver in Bandipore district; Virender Paswan, a street food vendor who also came to J&K from Bihar; two teachers at a government school in Srinagar Supunder Kaur and Deepak Chand, who were from Kashmir’s minority Sikh and Hindu communities.