Srinagar: The Kashmir Valley on Tuesday witnessed three targeted civilian killings in 90 minutes, which included a prominent Kashmiri Pandit businessman Makhan Lal Bindroo and the owner of the city's most famous pharmacy, and a resident of Bihar who earned his daily bread by selling 'golgappa' and 'bhelpuri'.
Bindroo was killed around 7 pm while he was dispensing medicine at Iqbal Park, which is barely a few metres from the office of Senior Superintendent of Police and 'Cargo', the headquarters of the anti-militancy unit of Jammu and Kashmir police.
Bindroo (68), the owner of Bindroo Medicate, was shot at by the assailants from point-blank range while he was at his pharmacy, dispensing medicines, a police official said, adding he was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead.
A Kashmiri Pandit, Bindroo was one of the few in his community who did not migrate out of Kashmir at the onset of militancy in 1990. He stayed back along with his wife to continue operating his business, which was a trusted name for quality medicines.
According to officials, Bindroo had received four gunshot wounds.
Terror organisation The Resistance Front (TRF), believed to be a shadow outfit of the banned Lasker-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's killings in the Valley.
The official Twitter handle of the Kashmir zone of the Jammu and Kashmir Police gave details of Tuesday's incident with an appeal from IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar who reiterated that "all misguided youth who have joined terror folds to shun the path of violence and return to the mainstream".
"He also said that the police is committed to accept them with open arms as society needs them the most, especially their parents."
Barely a few minutes after the killing of Bindroo, militants gunned down a roadside vendor identified as Virendra Paswan, a resident of Bhagalpur in Bihar, who used to earn his livelihood by selling 'golgappa' and 'bhelpuri'.
He was shot dead near Hawal chowk in downtown of the city, police said.
Almost simultaneously, militants shot dead Mohammad Shafi Lone at Naidkhai in Bandipora district of north Kashmir, officials said.
Lone was the president of the local taxi stand.
The three killings, including that of Bindroo, was widely condemned with former CM and Lok Sabha member Farooq Abdullah asking the government to wake up to the realities of the targeted killings of innocent youths.