Unidentified gunmen kill fisherman 
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, February 9
At a time when even separatists have asserted that any killing of innocent persons either by security forces or militants is a human rights violation, unidentified gunmen believed to be militants last night killed a fisherman just a kilometre from Line of Control (LOC) near Pera village in Jhallas area of Poonch. 
The fisherman was the sole bread earner of the family comprising his wife, six daughters and two sons.
Police sources said Muhammad Sharief (50), son of Nawab Ali, was on his way back home from Poonch after shopping when some unidentified gunmen fired a volley of bullets at him. They said Sharief died on the spot after four bullets hit him in the chest area and his body was recovered by the police after some passerby spotted it at around 6 am in the morning. The passerby then informed the villagers who passed on the information to police, the sources added.
Sources further said Sharief left his house at 2 pm towards Poonch for buying some essential commodities and was returning home when some unidentified gunmen fired bullets at him at around 7.40 pm, just 100 metres from his village. They said that the police recovered four empty cartridges believed to be that of pistol bullets in the morning.
Haniefa Bi, wife of the deceased, told media-persons that earlier also her husband used to go to Poonch for buying essential commodities and sometimes used to stay for the night in the town. She said even yesterday at around 2pm Sharief left for Poonch for buying items of daily need, never to return and was killed by some gunmen. "In the morning some villager informed me that my husband was killed by gunmen in the evening hours", wailing Haniefa said. “He has left behind six daughters and two sons. He was our sole bread earner. How will we survive now?”
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Poonch, Jageet Kumar said the police was investigating.
This is the first incident of its kind on the outskirts of Poonch town after December, 2006. In December, 2006 some unidentified gunmen had killed a person in the Magnar area near Poonch.
Meanwhile, securty forces have cordoned off the area and have started search operations to nab the culprits.