Intruder shot dead at Farooq’s house, family demands probe

JAMMU: An unarmed intruder driving a sports utility vehicle crashed through the gates to the Bhatindi residence of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah near Jammu on Saturday, and was shot dead by security forces guarding the house, police said.

At the time of the incident, which took place at 9.30 a.m., no member of the Abdullah family was in the house, which is used by Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar Abdullah and their families when they visit Jammu. “It was a forced entry by the intruder who first gatecrashed the Mahindra XUV...HE then tried to snatch the weapon of a CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel. He also had a scuffle in the lobby area of the house before being gunned down by the security personnel in the lawns,” inspector general of police (Jammu zone) SDS Jamwal said.

Police said the intruder had been identified as Murfad Shah. Jamwal said documents recovered from the slain intruder con- tained the name Murad Ali Shah of Galuta in Poonch district.

Also recovered from the man’s vehicle were some prescriptions for psychotropic drugs that indicate that he may have been mentally ill or a drug addict, the police said. IGP Jamwal said the intruder didn’t carry any weapon with him. The IGP didn’t rule out a possible terrorist angle to the incident, but said only an investigation will establish the motive.

Poonch police has been asked to go into the details of the intruder shared by Jammu police. The intruder’s father Imzaz Hussain Shah, his cousin and sister, who rushed to the house of Farooq Abdullah, asked why security personnel had to shoot dead an unarmed man.

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