Indian bank employee shot dead in Kashmir
An attacker has shot the Hindu bank employee, who moved from the western state of Rajasthan a week earlier, in his office in the Kulgam area with a pistol, according to a police officer.
A bank manager in India-administered Kashmir has been shot dead, the seventh in a spate of targeted killings in the disputed territory.
On Thursday, an attacker fatally shot the Hindu bank employee, who moved from the western state of Rajasthan a week earlier, in his office in the Kulgam area with a pistol, a police officer told AFP news agency.
"#Injured bank employee namely Vijay Kumar #succumbed to his injuries at hospital," police said on Twitter.
The Resistance Front (TRF) group claimed responsibility for Kumar's death on its Telegram channel, though it later deleted the post. The claim could not be independently verified.
Last year, the TRF claimed responsibility for a string of other killings, accusing them of working for the security forces.
READ MORE:India jails Kashmir independence leader for life in 'terror funding' case
Deadly attacks
On Tuesday, a Hindu female schoolteacher was shot dead by assailants in the same area.
Last week, three off-duty policemen and a television actress, all Muslims, were killed in three separate. Days before that, a Hindu government employee was shot dead inside his office by gunmen.
The killings evoked widespread condemnation from both pro-India politicians and pro-independence groups.
The relatively new TRF surfaced after August 2019, when Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government dissolved the partial autonomy of India-administered Kashmir.
Tension has been running high since then, with many accusing New Delhi of "settler colonialism" aimed at effecting a demographic change in the highly militarised territory.
India and Pakistan both claim the divided territory of Kashmir in its entirety. Rebels in the India-administered portion have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989.
Tens of thousands of civilians, pro-independence rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
READ MORE: India jails Kashmir independence leader for life in 'terror funding' case