A BJP leader, who was a sarpanch in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district, was shot dead by terrorists this morning, officials said. Sajad Ahmad Khanday was shot dead near his home in Kulgam’s Qazigund area, about 60 km from Srinagar. He was the BJP’s district vice president for Kulgam.
The BJP sarpanch was immediately rushed to a hospital in nearby Anantnag district after the attack where “he was declared brought dead”, officials were quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The attack comes less than 48 hours after another BJP sarpanch – Arif Ahmad – was shot at in the same area. Last month, BJP’s Sheikh Waseem Bari, his father and brother were killed by terrorists in the union territory’s Bandipore district. He was the district chief for Bandipore.
“Terrorists fired on BJP worker Wasim Bari at Bandipora. During indiscriminate firing Wasim Bari, his father Bashir Ahmad and brother Umer Bashir got injured and shifted to hospital, but all three succumbed to their injuries,” J&K Police had tweeted at the time.
A new terror group – The Resistance Front- had claimed responsibility for the attack. The police said it is a front of the Jaish, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.
The terror attack was condemned by politicians across party lines. BJP chief JP Nadda said Mr Wasim’s death was a huge loss for the party. “This is a huge loss for the party. My deepest condolences are with the family. The entire Party stands with the bereaved family. I assure that their sacrifice will not go in vain,” he had tweeted.
The fear of being vulnerable to terrorist attacks has gripped mainstream political workers across parties in Kashmir after the killing in Bandipora.
In June, a Congress sarpanch Ajay Bharti was killed during a terror attack.
