Anantnag: District President of BJP’s Kisan Morcha and his wife in Kulgam were shot dead at their rented residence here in Lal Chowk area of Anantnag district late Monday afternoon.
The slain politician has been identified as Ghulam Rasool Dar, son of Ghulam Hassan, a resident of Radwini Bala area of Kulgam district.
A senior Anantnag police officer said, “His wife has been identified as Jawahar Begum.”
The incident took place here on Monday around 3.30 pm in the Old-Idgah area of Lal Chowk in the main town of Anantnag. The police officer told Kashmir Reader that unidentified terrorists entered Dar’s rented residence and opened fire on him and his wife indiscriminately.
“Both of them died on the spot. He was taken to the nearby district hospital and there he was declared brought dead,” said the police officer, adding that Dar had been living in Anantnag for some time due to security reasons.
Local sources told Kashmir Reader that Dar had worked in the veterinary department before contesting panchayat elections and being elected sarpanch. “This was his second marriage and that of his wife too. They did not have any children together,” a local source told Kashmir Reader.
Following the incident, a contingent of government forces reached the spot and cordoned off the area. A search operation was launched to nab the assailants who fled after the firing.
“A case has been registered and investigation has been started in this regard,” the police officer said.
Meanwhile, former chief ministers of the then Jammu and Kashmir state, Omar Abdullah of the National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP condemned the killings in Anantnag. The two took to micro-blogging site Twitter and expressed grief and fear over the killings.
BJP leader from Jammu Ravinder Raina also condemned the killing and blamed Pakistan for the bloodshed. He praised Dar for donning the tricolor on August 5, the second anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370.
This is the third such incident where unidentified gunmen have targeted women. On June 27, two women – the wife and daughter of a policeman – were murdered along with the police in Hariparigam village of Awantipora in the police district.
Also, the wife and daughter of a policeman were seriously injured in the firing by gunmen on July 20 in Verinag area of Anantnag district.
