Hunt on for Umar Majeed: What we know so far about mastermind of Kashmir cash van attacks

As security forces on Thursday launched an anti-militancy crackdown and cordoned off at least 20 villages in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, the search is on for Umar Majeed, a militant operating in south Kashmir who allegedly masterminded the killing of seven people, including five policemen and two bank guards, in Kulgam on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_3394544” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] On Thursday, terrorists shot dead seven people after dragging them out of a vehicle carrying cash of a bank in Kulgam district of south Kashmir. The cash van of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, which was returning to Kulgam district headquarter from Damhal Hanji Pora, was waylaid by a group of heavily-armed terrorists this afternoon, a police official said. He said the terrorists pulled out the five police personnel and two bank employees from the vehicle and shot them at point blank range. A report in Kashmir Life said that 22-year-old Majeed is from Soach village of Kulgam district. He was identified with the help of some locals and the driver of the cash van which had come under attack on Monday. Meanwhile, clashes and protests were reported in parts of Kashmir like Kulgam and Sopore after the security forces launched the crackdown, according to reports. Amid increasing incidents of bank robberies by militants, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had on Wednesday urged the people to rise against this “dangerous trend” of looting public money by spilling innocent blood. The chief minister made the appeal during her visit to the families of five police personnel and two Jammu and Kashmir bank guards who were killed on Monday. “People, particularly civil society and youth, are appealed to rise against this dangerous trend of looting of public money by spilling innocent blood, thereby giving Kashmir a terribly bad name in the civilised world,” she had said. With inputs from PTI