Terrorists shoot dead J&K BJP sarpanch, wife at home

SRINAGAR: Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists barged into a home at Lal Chowk in J&K's Anantnag district on Monday to fatally shoot a BJP sarpanch and his panchayat member wife, reprising the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror strike in June that almost wiped out a special police officer's family in neighbouring Pulwama.
The slain couple – sarpanch Ghulam Rasool Dar of Kulgam's Redwani panchayat and his wife and colleague Jawahira Begum – had recently chosen to move back home from a secure government-provided hotel accommodation in that district, IGP (Kashmir range) Vijay Kumar said.
The personal security officer assigned to the couple was not with them when the attack occurred. "The PSO has been placed under suspension with immediate effect," IGP Kumar said.
The manner of the killings bore a striking resemblance to the June 27 storming of special police officer Fayaz Ahmad's home at Hariparigam in Awantipora, when two Jaish terrorists sprayed him, his wife and their 22-year-old daughter with bullets.
Since last year, a total of 19 BJP members, including elected panchayat representatives and grassroots workers, have been killed by terrorist outfits across the Valley. Congress has had its share of casualties in the spate of attacks that peaked after the first-ever District Development Council elections in J&K and ebbed at the start of this year. Overall, 40 political activists have been killed in terror attacks since the nullification of Article 370 in August 2019.
"Once again, Pakistan-sponsored terrorists have bled Kashmir. The sacrifices of BJP workers in Kashmir will not go waste," said J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina.
The spectre of political killings has returned to haunt the Valley on the cusp of democratic restoration, a process coinciding with a multi-agency crackdown on terror funding, alleged supporters of outlawed outfits within the ranks of government employees and state-funded schools and seminaries that allegedly radicalise youth for terror activities.
Compared to 2020, there has been a steep decline in terrorist-related violence in J&K, according to official data. Till July 16, the number of such incidents officially reported this year stood at 67. Between January and June 30 last year, 105 such incidents had been recorded in the Union Territory.