Days ahead of local polls, gunmen kill 2 NC workers
SRINAGAR: Unidentified gunmen shot dead two National Conference (NC) workers and injured another party worker in Srinagar’s Karfali Mohallah on Friday, police said.
The killings have come three days ahead of the first phase of elections to the local bodies in the state. No militant outfit has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, which the police have blamed on the militants.
According to eyewitnesses, two gunmen opened fire at the trio from a close range in the old city area.
All three were referred to the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital, where Mushtaq Ahmad Wani and Nazir Ahmad Bhat succumbed to their injuries. The third person has been identified as Shakeel Ahmad Zagoo. Senior superintendent of police Imtiaz Ismail said investigations have begun.
Condemning the attack as heinous and despicable, NC president Farooq Abdullah said, “We demand a high level, time-bound and impartial probe into the incident...,” he said.
Party vice-president Omar Abdullah claimed the attack was an act of terrorism and a “ploy to stifle our voice”.
“I cannot condemn strongly enough the murderous terrorist attack against three of my party workers...,’’ he tweeted.
Former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party chief, Mehbooba Mufti also expressed grief over the incident. “Pained to hear about the killing of two NC workers. My heart goes out to their families and children...’’
Bharatiya Janata Party’s spokesperson for the state unit, Priya Sethi, said, “We strongly condemn the terrorist attack on political workers and killing of two workers of NC in Srinagar.”
The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson, in a statement, described the incident as “shocking” and “highly painful”. “The loss of lives cannot be replaced by anything,” the statement read.
Three wards of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation go to polls Monday. Officials said security of the candidates will be reviewed in view of Friday’s killings. The NC and the PDP had announced a boycott of the municipal and panchayat polls, citing “threat to Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 35A”.