Another BJP worker killed by militants in J&K dist

Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant-governor Manoj Sinha has strongly condemned the killing of BJP activist Abdul Hamid Najar by suspected militants in the central district of Budgam.

38-year-old Najar was shot at and critically wounded by militants while on a morning walk in Budgam’s Ompora area on Sunday, the police said adding that he died in Srinagar’s government-run SMHS hospital early Monday.

While expressing anguish over the killing, Mr Sinha said “the heinous act is an attempt to spread fear and there can be no justification for such attacks”. He added, “The society does not have any space for perpetrators of violence and those involved in this cowardly act shall be brought to justice.”

Najar is the second BJP worker killed by suspected militants in the past one week.

On August 6, Sajad Ahmed Khanday, a sarpanch associated with the party, was killed by gunmen in Vesoo village of Qazigun area in southern Kulgam district. On the August 4 evening, a BJP Panch Arif Ahmad was critically wounded after militants fired upon him in Akhran village of the same district.

Earlier on August 2, a Territorial Army jawan Shakir Manzoor was abducted by gunmen while he was travelling through Damhal Hanjipora, a militancyinfected area of Kulgam. Before taking him along forcibly, the suspected militants reportedly torched his Maruti Brezza, the police sources here had said. His fate is still not known.