SRINAGAR: With the killing of two militants at Awantipora, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said they have closed the murder of social media star and TV artist, Ambreen Bhat. The 35-year old entertainer was killed at her Hushroo residence in Chadoora on May 25, and her nephew survived the evening attack.
For the family, however, a pillar of support is lost. Amreen was earning for the family that was somehow managing to live with dignity within the limitations of the resources.
Bhat’s father, Khazir Mohammad told reporters that two people came to their house and asked her nephew about Ambreen. She was sleeping inside and was called out.
The strangers asked her to attend their shooting in Budgam, a proposal she turned down. “They were talking and one of them took out a pistol and fired thrice,” Bhat was quoted saying. “Two bullets hit Ambreen and a third hit the child, Farhan Zubair, who was also there.”
After being hit by bullets, she gathered herself and entered her room where she collapsed in a pool of blood and was later driven to the hospital. Ambreen died on way to the hospital and Farhan, 11, having a bullet in his arm, was discharged from the hospital and is out of danger. In Ambreen, Bhat said he has lost a son. “She was my son, who was the family’s bread earner,” he said.
Ambreen was a TV artist. After the work at local Doordarshan almost dried up, she used to use social media to stay relevant and create her own profile. She would make small videos on TikTok and YouTube. She was on Instagram since April 2020.
This might have helped the artist to stay relevant but it seemingly has not helped the family to come out of poverty. They live in a still incomplete 2-storey house of which even the ground floor is not properly finished.
Ambreen, her relatives said was pushed into work after a troubled marriage and an ailing father. She had dropped out of school in her tenth class. She had lost her mother more than a decade ago. Apart from her father, she lived with her elder sister and her labourer husband and their two children. Most of her videos were dedicated to her mother.
A beautiful young girl, she joined TV soon after her mother died and started earning. In 2012, she fell in love with a young man from south Kashmir, but it did not last long. In 2014 she was divorced and returned to her father.
“I would have happily told her to quit if there was any warning,” Khazir tells the people who come to condole her death. “But no one said she shouldn’t act in videos.”
Ambreen’s relatives said she would record her videos in Delhi and Dehradun and would take her father to Jammu for most of the winter to help him breathe better. Khazir is an asthama patient. Her social media handles were gradually growing. She had 27,000 followers on Instagram and another 15,000 on YouTube.
Police on Friday said that two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants involved in the killing of TV artist Amreen Bhat – have been killed in a late-night encounter in Aganhanzipora village of Awantipora.
Both killed newly joined local #terrorists identified as Shahid Mushtaq Bhat R/O Hafroo Chadoora #Budgam & Farhan Habib R/O Hakripora #Pulwama. They had #killed TV artist on the instruction of LeT Cmdr Lateef. 01 AK 56 rifle, 4 magazines and a pistol recovered: IGP Kashmir https://t.co/VeoHZRkdEO
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) May 26, 2022
The two militants identified as Shahid Mushtaq Bhat of Hafroo Chadoora Budgam and Farhan Habib of Hakripora Pulwama had killed the 35-year-old TV artist on the instruction of LeT Commander Lateef, the police said, quoting the inspector general of police, Vijay Kumar, adding that one AK-56 rifle, four magazines and a pistol were recovered from the site of the encounter.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday met the family of Kashmiri TV actor Amreen Bhat.
“The situation is deteriorating. Innocent people are being killed every day,” Mufti said while talking to reporters at the residence of Ambreen Bhat.
Taking to the social networking site Twitter, Mehbooba Mufti wrote: “Visited Ambreen Bhat’s family. Shocked to know that no one from LG admin has bothered to visit them. A sole breadwinner, she struggled to make ends meet. Hope the govt takes her circumstances into consideration & extends help.”
Visited Ambreen Bhat’s family. Shocked to know that no one from LG admin has bothered to visit them. A sole breadwinner, she struggled to make ends meet. Hope the govt takes her circumstances into consideration & extends help.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) May 27, 2022
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Friday also visited the residence of Ambreen Bhat.
According to a statement issued by NC, he visited the residence of slain TV artist to express solidarity and sympathies with the bereaved family.
He was accompanied by Party’s Provincial President Nasir Aslam Wani, Senior leader A R Rather, Zone President Ali Muhammad Dar, his deputy secretary Mudassir Shahmiri. On the occasion, the leaders offered Fatiha and prayed for peace to the departed soul.
