Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 29: Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu today announced a special ex-gratia of Rs 30 lakhs in favour of the Next of Kins (NoKs) of Sheikh Zahoor Ahmed, Junior Agriculture Extension Officer who was killed by the militants while performing his duties during the Back to Village-2 (B2V2) programme in village Hakura, Anantnag on November 26.
The Lt. Governor observed that these inhuman and dastardly acts are not going to deter the Government in its resolve to reach out to the people and usher a new era of participatory development.
“We condemn the barbaric act. We pay our rich tributes to the departed souls, who laid down their lives in the call of duty during a special welfare programme of the Government under the ‘Mission of Delivering Governance and Development’ at doorsteps. The noble souls will be in our prayers and thoughts. We express our deepest sympathies with the bereaved families and pray for their courage and fortitude to bear the loss”, he said.
Pertinently, at the conclusion of the B2V-2 event at Hakura, terrorists had lobbed a grenade and fired indiscriminately in which, Sheikh Zahoor Ahmad and Sarpanch of village Hakura, had sustained injuries in the attack, who later succumbed to their injuries at District Gospital Anantnag. Two other Government employees also sustained injuries in the attack.
Meanwhile, the Lt Governor has directed the Rural Development Department to speedily process the compensation case of the NoKs of the late Sarpanch, Syed Mohammad Rafi.
He has further directed the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir to ensure that the two injured employees receive the best medical treatment.