Clashes erupted and at least three buildings, purportedly of the government, were set on fire in Jammu and Kashmir’s militancy-hit Shopian and Pulwama districts late on Sunday, hours before the two regions go to polls, officials familiar with the matter said.

A Panchayat Ghar was set ablaze by unidentified persons in Rajpora area of Pulwama , with local residents stating that a school building was also set on fire in the district’s Qasabayar area.

According to security officials, police had to use tear gas shells to disperse mobs in Shopian’s Palpora area, where a civilian was reportedly injured in clashes. Locals said that at some places the polling staff that were on the way to duty were pelted with stones.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, security officials said the poll staff was safe and had been sent to different polling stations amid tight security.

Earlier in the day, dozens of men were picked up by security personnel in what the police called ‘preventive arrests’.

“Many people who had adverse police records were detained by the forces in Shopian and Pulwama,’’ a senior officer incharge of poll security said.

A day after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was killed by suspected militants, Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik on Sunday ordered an enquiry into killings of various political persons in past few months and assured protection to all political people.

Pal directed Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam to conduct the enquiry and asked for identifying any lapses on part of security agencies.

“Governor has directed BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary to get an enquiry conducted into the killings of political people belonging to various political parties in the state in the last few months,” an official statement read.

Suspected militants had shot dead Mir, district vice president of the BJP in Anantnag district late Saturday night. BJP leaders said that Mir was among the leaders whose security was withdrawn by the government recently, days after the February 14 Pulwama suicide bombing that left 40 CRPF soldiers dead.

First Published: May 05, 2019 23:50 IST