Srinagar: Militants on Tuesday shot dead a BJP worker in Kulgam district of J&K, officials said, taking the number of party activists killed in 2 years to 23. BJP’s J&K spokesman Altaf Thakur said 9 of these 23 BJP activists were killed in Kulgam alone in the past year.

Officials said, the assailants fired upon Javeed Ahmad Dar near his residence at Brazloo Jageer area of the south Kashmir district at around 4.30 pm on Tuesday. Dar, who was BJP’s constituency president of Homeshalibugh assembly constituency, died on the spot.

Thakur condemned the killing and called it a cowardly and barbaric act. “The militants are feeling frustrated and targeting innocents. Killing unarmed people won't lead to anything. It is cowardly and a barbaric act,” he said, appealing to police to arrest the killers and punish them sternly.

Thakur said in the last 2 years, 23 BJP lead­ers or activists have been killed in the UT.

J&K cops lathicharge journalists covering Muharram procession

Srinagar: Police on Tuesday lathicharged and thra­shed a group of journalists covering a Muharram procession here, evoking criticism from various quarters.

Police detained a few Shia mourners at Jehangir Chowk in Srinagar as they tried to take out a procession to mark the 8th day of the 10-day Muharram mourning.

The traditional Muharram procession used to pass thro­ugh the areas of Abi Guzar, Lal Chowk and Dalgate areas, but has been banned since the eruption of militancy in 1990 as authorities maintain the religious gathering has been used for propagating separatist politics.

Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar said, “Police respect the religious sentiments of the public, but it is their responsibility to defeat the ill designs of vested interests.”