SRINAGAR: In central Kashmir’s Budgam district, a pall of sorrow descended when a family lost their lone bread earner in a militant attack in Pulwama district of South Kashmir on Wednesday.
Imran Yousuf Wani, 22, a casual laborer in the Forest Department of Munu village, was seriously injured in the attack. The militants fired upon two employees who had laid a checkpoint to apprehend timber smugglers near Bangender Bridge under the jurisdiction of Police Station Rajpora in Pulwama district. The employees were injured and taken to the hospital.
Yousuf succumbed to his injuries as he received a bullet in his thigh, damaging his arteries. The family, according to revenue officials, lives below the poverty line. Yousuf, born in 1999, was recruited in the Forest Department in 2014 as a casual laborer and was receiving a meager salary of Rs 8000 from the department.
A family member, speaking to The Wire, said that the victim was rushed to a local hospital and later referred to Srinagar for specialised treatment, where he succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday. “He had suffered a lethal bullet injury in his thigh. By the time he was taken to the hospital, he had lost a lot of blood,” the family member said.
“During the search of the scene of crime, two empty fired cartridges of AK-47 ammunition and one bullet head were recovered from the spot. However, the search operation is ongoing,” said a police statement, adding that a case has been filed under Sections 16 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 302 of the Indian Penal Code, and 7/27 Arms Act.
“I told him to stay back and not go out at night. But he refused, saying that some timber smugglers were planning to cut down trees in the forest, and he had to stop them. We don’t know who killed him or why, but his death has robbed us of our only support in old age,” Yusuf, Imran’s father, told The Wire over the phone.
The attack took place barely hours after two migrant workers were shot by unknown gunmen in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Tuesday evening. Officials identified the victims as Akshay, 20, and Saurav, 20, both residents of Maharashtra’s Sangli. Both survived the attack and their condition is stable.
