Hardworking Arbind Kumar Sah was selling golgappas — a sort of street food — in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, in the hopes of improving the lives of his impoverished family back home in Bihar. The 30-year- old was shattered in an instant by his assassin, who fired bullets at him near his handcart outside a park in the Eidgah district of the city.
Eyewitnesses
According to eyewitnesses, a terrorist with a pistol halted beside Sah’s vending cart and shot him from point-blank range, killing him instantly.
Every evening, Sah, a resident of Bihar’s Banka district, would sell golgappas to strollers who came to the park, and he had made a few acquaintances among them.
Hardworking man
“He was a hardworking man. He had dreams of getting his family out of poverty back in Bihar. But that dream has died today,” a middle-aged resident who did not want to be named said.
Sah, according to the resident, would show up at the park’s gate every day without fail.
“His business was brisk. He was a likable man, maybe that’s why he had good business. He would often talk about his folks and poverty in his hometown,” the resident added.
Sah was identified by authorities by his Aadhaar card while lying in a pool of blood, and his day’s earnings were spread all over the cart.
On Saturday, he was one of two non-local residents assassinated by terrorists.
Saghir Ahmad, a carpenter from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, was killed in the Pulwama district.
Another such incident
Earlier this month, three civilians were killed in separate terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. Terrorists shot and killed a drugstore owner, a street vendor, and another civilian in J&K in back-to-back strikes.
Terrorists shot Makhan Lal Bindroo, a Kashmiri Pandit who owned a prominent pharmacy in Srinagar, at point-blank range.
Terrorists shot a non-Kashmiri street vendor at Madina Chowk Lalbazar in Srinagar in a separate incident. The deceased, named Virendra Paswan, was from Bhagalpur in Bihar. He was currently residing in Zadibal’s Alamgari Bazar.
Following the event, the Kashmir Police arrived on the scene and are currently searching for the terrorists.
Reacting to the incident, Omar Abdullah tweeted, “Another targeted attack in Srinagar. A poor non-local handcart stall owner selling golgappas has been shot and has reportedly succumbed to his injuries. No words of condemnation are enough. May his soul rest in peace.”
Terrorists killed another civilian in the Bandipora area in North Kashmir in the third terror incident of the day. Terrorists assassinated Mohd Shafi Lone, a native of Naidkhai, in the Shahgund neighborhood of Bandipore.
He was taken to the hospital but was pronounced dead.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha condemned the attacks and said, “I strongly condemn the killing of civilians Shri Virender Paswan and Shri Mohd Shafi Lone by terrorists. The barbaric act of killing innocent people is against humanity.”
“Terrorists will never succeed in their nefarious designs, and those responsible for such heinous acts shall be brought to justice. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families in this hour of grief,” L-G Manoj Sinha said.
Political figures have also mourned Bindroo’s killing, with BJP leader Altaf Thakur describing him as pro-poor and helpful. Omar Abdullah, the leader of the National Conference, described Bindroo as a “kind man” who never left despite the development of extremism in the Valley. The attack on Bindroo, according to People’s Conference president Sajad Lone, was “outrageous and unacceptable.”
In a tweet, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha mourned the three citizens’ deaths and stated that terrorists will fail in their “nefarious designs.”
