Col Rathore questions silence on Apple-trader's killing in J&K

The Member of Parliament and the former Minister of State for Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Wednesday, October 16, took to Twitter and spoke against yet another killing of an apple trader in Kashmir, stating "a word of protest against the killing of an innocent person in Kashmir." He further questioned the leaders who talk about "civil liberties" for not raising any questions about the killings. Another person identified as Sharif Khan, a truck driver from village Uba in district Bharatpur, Rajasthan was shot dead by the terrorists in Shopian on Tuesday. Hours after the calling services were restored in Kashmir, four killings have been reported. 

A word of protest against killing of an innocent person in Kashmir. Sharif Khan, a truck driver from village Uba in district Bharatpur, Rajasthan was shot dead by terrorists in Shopian. Those talking about civil liberties for a select few leaders aren't questioning this. Why?

— Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe)

Killings of Apple traders in the Valley

According to reports, after facing a setback in early morning encounter in Anantnag in which three terrorists were gunned down by security forces, the terrorists are trying to create fear among the local Kashmiris as well as other people who have come down for Apple trade. Earlier in the day, a non-local civilian was shot dead by terrorists in broad daylight at around 1:30 PM in the Kashmir Valley. According to reports, the victim was from Chhattisgarh and was working as a labourer in a brick kiln in Pulwama. In another terrorist killing, two other non-locals identified as Charanjit Singh and Sanjiv Kumar were shot on Wednesday evening in Trenz village in the Kashmir valley. Both the victims were residents of Fazilka area of Punjab. While Singh was shot dead at the spot, Kumar has been referred to Srinagar in critical condition, stated reports. 

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Calling services restored

The government restored all the postpaid calling services in all ten districts of Kashmir Valley. According to reports, 40 lakh postpaid mobile connections have been restored in Jammu and Kashmir, from 12 PM on October 14. Along with this, the government will also be setting up 50 PCOs in the Valley for the people to make calls free of cost. The mobile phone services were blocked since the abrogation of article 370. The BJP-led Central government on August 5 abrogated Article 370, revoking the special status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and further bifurcating the state into two Union Territories- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Further, the house arrest on political leaders has also been removed ahead of the  Block Development Council (BDC) elections.

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