Amid Lok Sabha polls, ex-sarpanch killed and tourist couple injured in J&K terror attacks

A former sarpanch was killed and a tourist couple injured in terrorist attacks in Shopian and Anantnag respectively on Saturday night, ahead of polling for the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir, scheduled for May 20.

“Terrorists fired upon and injured a woman, Farha, a resident of Jaipur, and her spouse Tabres, in Yannar in Anantnag. They were evacuated to a hospital for treatment. The area has been cordoned off. Further details shall follow,” the Jammu and Kashmir Police wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

In the second attack, within half an hour of the first, ex-sarpanch Aijaz Sheikh, who was associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was fatally shot in Shopian’s Hirpora at around 10:30 pm, officials said.

In a statement, the BJP called Sheikh a “brave soldier” of the party in J&K, and stated that it stands with his family.

The twin attacks also come at a time when campaigning is underway for the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary seat, which votes on May 25 in the sixth and second-last phase of the national polls.

Former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq and Omar Abdullah condemned the terrorist attacks. People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mufti is contesting from Anantnag, while National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah is in the fray from Baramulla.

The timing of the attacks is a “cause of concern,” Mufti stated.

“The timing, given that the south election was delayed without any reason, is a cause of concern. Especially keeping in mind normalcy claims touted by the Government of India,” she posted on X.

Of the five Lok Sabha seats in the Union territory, the two in the Jammu region polled in the first two phases (Udhampur, 19 April; Jammu, 26 April), while in the Kashmir Valley, Srinagar voted in the fourth round (May 13) and Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri will poll in the fifth and sixth legs, respectively.