‘Want justice and only justice’: Son of killed BDC chairman in Budgam

Bhupinder Singh was attacked by militants late Wednesday evening when he went to his ancestral village of Dalwash from Jammu. (Representational)

The family of the Khag Block Development Council Chairman killed by militants in Budgam district wants the Jammu and Kashmir administration to carry out a thorough probe into his killing.

Bhupinder Singh was attacked by militants late Wednesday evening when he went to his ancestral village of Dalwash from Jammu. The police said the Chairman had left without his personal security officers, assigned to him on August 15 in the wake of increasing militant attacks against public officials.

“They say he had left his PSOs at the police station and proceeded to his ancestral house, but we don’t know how much the truth is there to it,” his eldest son Balwinder Singh a B.Ed student, said Thursday.

“We only want the government to conduct a thorough inquiry into the matter and find out the people involved in his killing,” he said.

The attack had come hours after the Block Diwas celebrations concluded at Aripanthan and the administration decided to hold elections to over 13,200 vacant sarpanch and panch seats across Jammu and Kashmir. Most vacancies are in Kashmir, where only 1,257 sarpanch and 5,611 panch constituencies could be filled up during the 2018 elections owing to threats by militants threat and a poll boycott call by separatists.

“We want justice and only justice from government,’’ said Balwinder.

Since 2011, when panchayat elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir after a gap of 23 years, nineteen sarpanches and panches have been killed by militants in the Valley.

Bhupinder had migrated from Kashmir’s Dalwash village to Jammu in the 1990s. He is survived by his wife and three children including a girl. Balwinder’s younger brother is doing graduation and his sister is Class 12.

His son recalled him as a man devoted to serving the people.

“We advised him against going to Kashmir due to of increased militant activity and killing of elected panches and sarpanches, but he told us that he had done enough for his family and now wanted to work for his people.”

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