Kashmir TV artist killed by LeT men, 10-year-old nephew injured

SRINAGAR:

Kashmiri TV artist

Amreena Bhat died of multiple bullet wounds after three Lashkar-e-Taiba

terrorists

shot her and 10-year-old

nephew

Farhan outside her home at Hushroo in the Chadoora area of central Kashmir in Budgam district around 8pm on Wednesday.

Officials said 35-year-old Amreena and Farhan, who was caught by a bullet in his arm, were taken to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar after initial treatment at Chadoora, but she couldn’t be saved. The boy’s condition is said to be stable.

J&K police said a search was launched to catch the three Lashkar terrorists.

Amreena was also popular on social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube, where her videos got wide viewership.

Former J&K CM Omar Abdullah tweeted that “there can be no justification for attacking innocent women & children”.

Amreena’s murder brought back grim memories of terrorist outfits and ultra-conservative women’s organisations in J&K targeting singers and actresses, calling their professions "un-Islamic“ and “immoral”. Terrorists had shot several artists in their legs to impose their diktat, but took their fanaticism to the extreme when actress Shamima Akhtar was abducted and killed in the 1990s.

The attack on Amreena happened a day after off-duty constable Saifullah Qadri was shot dead in front of his home in Srinagar when he was taking his seven-year-old daughter to her tuition class. The girl was wounded in the attack.