In a dastardly act, a BJP Sarpanch was shot dead by some unidentified terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir on August 6 (Thursday). The terrorists attacked Sajjad Ahmed Khandey outside his residence at Vessu Qazigund area of Kulgam. He was rushed to Anantnag’s Government Medical College where he was declared brought dead by the doctors. This is reportedly the second such attack on a BJP leader in Jammu and Kashmir in less than 48 hours.
No terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
The BJP sarpanch was 20 metres away from his house when he was attacked
According to reports, Khandey who was staying at a secured migrant camp along with several sarpanches had left the camp on Wednesday morning to visit his home at Veesu when the terrorists fired upon him. Khandey was just 20 metres away from his house when he was attacked.
Two attacks in less than 48 hours
Prior to this, a BJP sarpanch named Arif Ahmad was critically wounded after terrorists fired upon him at Akhran, Qazigund at around 9.30 pm on August 4. Ahmad was shifted to the emergency hospital at Qazigund with firearm injury in the neck. He is still undergoing treatment at the hospital and his condition is said to be stable.
The outgoing lieutenant governor GC Murmu said that they were assessing the situation. “We have seen that some soft targets are there. A lot of terrorists have been neutralized recently so there are some desperate actions. Wherever it is required, we are providing security. It is a continuous process to assess the threat,” he said.
Other recent incidents in the valley
Recently, there have been many such incidents where terrorists have attacked democratically elected leaders in the valley. Last month, a former district president BJP Wasim Ahmad Bari was shot dead, along with his father and brother. DGP Dilbag Singh had informed that two LeT terrorists, one local man and another a Pakistani, were behind the attack.
Earlier, Kashmiri Pandit Ajay Pandita, a Congress sarpanch from the south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, was killed by Pakistan sponsored terrorists on June 8, 2020.
