‘Won’t leave Kashmir’: Bizman after staff shot dead in terror attack

The Mawas moved to Delhi in 1990 after Sandeep Mawa’s father, Roshan Lal Mawa, was shot four times in his abdomen. The family returned to Kashmir in 2019 and restarted their dry fruit business

A Kashmiri Pandit businessman, who is believed to be the target of a terrorist attack that left his salesman dead in Srinagar earlier this week, said he will not leave the Valley and remain here despite opposition from his family.

A family member mourns the death of salesman Ibrahim Khan during his funeral procession in Srinagar on Tuesday. Khan, who worked for Kashmiri businessmen Roshan Lal Mawa and Sandeep Mawa, was shot dead by terrorists. (ANI)

Sandeep Mawa, who runs a dry fruit shop at Bohri Kadal, also claimed that he escaped the attack on Monday as he left his shop early due to a prior intelligence input. His salesman, Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, was shot dead instead.

“Making us run away and killing... is the policy. They (terrorists) are nobody’s friends,” the44-year-old said.

“There is fear and my family, including my father, have been wanting to relocate. But how is running away a solution? For how long will we keep running? This has to stop somewhere. If a mistake has been committed by one, you cannot punish the others,” he added.

It was in 1990 that the Mawas relocated to Delhi after the businessman’s father, Roshan Lal Mawa, was shot dead by terrorists. The family returned to Kashmir in 2019, after 28 years, and restarted their wholesale dry fruit business.

Mawa said that on Monday, he was warned by police of a possible attack on him, following which he left his shop and returned home early. Hours later, terrorists mistook his salesman for the businessman and opened fire at him outside the shop. Khan died on the spot.

“During the day, police informed me of an imminent attack and I left but my vehicle was left behind. In the evening, when Ibrahim opened my vehicle, he was fired upon. They mistook him for me,” Mawa said.

The businessman, who lives with his father, mother, wife and two children, said he was also provided with personal security officers.

A day later, a little-known organisation, Muslim Janbaaz Force, claimed responsibility for the attack on the businessman but later issued a corrigendum saying they had mistakenly killed his salesman.

Khan is survived by his wife and two children.

“Khan was like a brother to me. He always stayed with me... in Delhi, Bengaluru and even Jammu. It is unfortunate that he lost his life. We are trying to get a government job for his daughter or son,” Mawa said.

Khan family quotes if we can get please

While Zoheb Tanveer, police superintendent (north), refused to comment on the matter, inspector general (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar did not respond to a message sent by this reporter.

The Mawas were among the bulk of Kashmiri Pandits who left the Valley after an insurgency erupted in the region in 1989. In 2016, the then state government had said that over 154,080 people migrated from the Valley in 1990.