J&K administration to constitute SIT to probe killing of Rahul Bhat

J&K L-G Manoj Sinha also announced that it would provide a government job to Bhat's wife in Jammu along with financial assistance to the family. The administration will bear the educational expenses of the deceased government employee's daughter.

Published on: May 13, 2022, 19:43:23 IST

By HT News Desk | Written by Aryan Prakash

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The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the killing of Kashmiri Pandit employee Rahul Bhat in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, the office of J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha tweeted.

Photograph of slain Kashmiri pandit and government employee Rahul Bhat is seen during a protest against his killing on the outskirts of Srinagar. (AFP)

The J&K L-G also announced that it would provide a government job to Bhat's wife in Jammu along with financial assistance to the family. The administration will bear the educational expenses of the deceased government employee's daughter.

Bhat was shot dead inside his tehsil office in Chadoora town of Budgam district on Thursday by terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad. A senior security official told Hindustan Times that the Bahawalpur-based terrorist group is desperate to take action against the minority community to keep the terror plot boiling.

Rahul Bhat is the second Kashmiri Pandit to have been killed by the terrorist in the past seven months. In October last year, Makhan Lal Bindroo, a chemist belonging to the community, was shot dead by terrorists in Srinagar. Between August 2019 and March 2022, as many as 14 Hindus including Kashmiri Pandits have been killed by terrorists.

The wife of Rahul Bhat had alleged a conspiracy behind the killing of her husband. "He (Rahul Bhat) used to say everyone behaves nicely with him and nobody can harm him," she said, adding, "Yet nobody protected him."

The killing of Rahul Bhat has triggered outrage among the Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley. On Friday, the members of the Pandit community staged a protest in Budgam's Sheikhpora. Hundreds of protestors blocked roads and burnt tyres at Muthi, Hazuribagh and Buntalab in Jammu. They raised slogans against Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and the BJP and demanded that Kashmiri Pandits be relocated from the valley.

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HT News Desk
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