J&K: BJP sarpanch shot dead by terrorists in Kulgam

Terrorists shot dead a sarpanch belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Audora area of Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.

“At about 8:50 pm, terrorists fired upon Shabir Ahmad Mir near his residence in Adoura in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district,” one of the officials said.

Mir was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival, the officials said. The attack comes days after a sarpanch was shot dead by terrorists inside his house in Khanmoh in Srinagar. This is the third attack on a panchayat member this year and the second in Kulgam.

Earlier in February, another independent panchayat member, Mohammad Yaqun Dar from Kulgam was killed at his village.

The mainstream political parties have attacked the J&K administration, accusing it of not doing enough to protect the panchayat representatives.

There has been a spike in terror attacks in J&K in recent times. One person was killed and 15 injured in a suspected IED blast in Udhampur on March 9.

“An explosion was heard in which 15 people were injured and one died. Preliminary investigation indicates it is an IED (improvised explosive device) blast but more information can be shared only after detailed investigations by forensic and ballistic experts,” Jammu and Kashmir additional director general of police Mukesh Singh had told Hindustan Times.