Muslims neighbours of Kashmir Pandit who was killed by militants in Achan village of Pulwama district yesterday, helped his family members to perform the last rites on Monday.

Locals told said that  Muslims neighbours came together to help perform the last rites of Sanjay Sharma.

Sanjay Sharma (42), who working as a bank guard in Achan locality, was killed by militants outside his residence on Sunday.

Sharma’s family is the only Pandit family living in the village, and today his friends and the neighbours from the Muslim community took it upon themselves to help perform the last rites.

They also shouldered his coffin and arranged wood for the cremation. “He was one of us. We never thought of him as a KP. We arranged everything needed for the cremation,” said Mudasir Ahmad, a local resident.

He said they have lived alongside each other and done everything together. “We share a bond that goes back hundreds of years. When we heard this sad news, all of us rushed to console the family members and today arranged everything to help perform the last rites,” he added.

Sanjay’s relatives also said that Muslims of the village always help them in times of need and they don’t intervene in the religious affairs.

“They (Muslims) sit at a distance when a ritual has to be done by a Pandit, but rest of the arrangements were arranged by them,” they said.