Pulwama terror attack: Politician Ghulam Patel killed, parties 'disown' him

Militants fired at the vehicle of Gulam Nabi Patel in J&K's Rajpora Chowk of Pulwama, injuring him and his guards

A political activist was killed in a militant attack on Wednesday in Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said, but the ruling PDP and opposition Congress were locked in a row over the party affiliation of the victim.

Ghulam Nabi Patail, a resident of Shadimarg area in Pulwama, succumbed to injuries while being taken to a hospital after the attack in Rajpora Chowk area which also left two policemen injured. As political parties promptly condemned the killing. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti described Patail as a senior Congress leader while the Congress said he was a "well-known PDP activist". National Conference leader Omar Abdullah waded into the row, saying if neither PDP nor Congress was willing to own Patail as one of their own, he could be called an NC worker.

The Congress and the PDP were not keen on owning the killed leader as their own to avoid conveying to their workers that they were at risk, Abdullah, a former chief minister claimed.

Giving details of the attack, a police officer said three persons were injured when militants opened fire in the Rajpora Chowk area. One of the injured, a political activist identified as Ghulam Nabi Patail, resident of Shadimarg area, succumbed to injuries while being taken to a hospital, he added. The other two injured, both policemen, were being treated upon at a hospital and their condition was said to be stable, the police official said.

The BJP’s spokesperson Altaf Thakur later told HT, Patel had been working with the party for some time.

“He did not hold any party position but was associated with us for one year now,” said Thakur.

Former chief minister Omar Abdullah criticised the parties for “disowning” Patel and said they did so to “lie to their workers to claim they aren’t at risk from militant bullets”.

Top 10 developments on militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajpora Chowk of Pulwama

1. BJP leader killed in Kashmir: BJP leader Ghulam Nabi Patel was shot dead by militants in South Kashmir’s Rajpora area today. Patel was earlier with the People’s Democratic Party.

2. Mehbooba Mufti expresses her condolence on Congress leader's death: Heartfelt condolences to the family of senior Congress leader, G. N. Patel who was killed by militants today in Rajpora. Such cowardly acts achieve nothing but leave one more family devastated.

3. Congress politician Salman Nizami targets Mufti govt: Congress politician Salman Nizami tweeted, "Every day we hear the news of attacks/killings in Kashmir, BJP/PDP govt has completely failed to secure the lives of Kashmiris."

4. Omar Abdullah slams PDP, Congress: Former J&K CM Omar Abdullah tweeted, "What terrible news to start the day with here. My heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased & prayers for the injured"

"Ghulam Nabi Patel is being denied the dignity of having been assassinated for belonging to a political party just so the PDP & Congress can lie to their workers to claim they aren’t at risk from militant bullets," he added.


6. Parties disown Patil:Patail had contested the 2002 J&K assembly elections on a Congress ticket but switched over to Socialist Democratic Party in 2008 assembly elections. He did not contest the 2014 state polls. A Congress party spokesperson, while strongly condemning the killing, said in a statement Patil was a "well-known PDP activist. In a statement, Mohd Anwar Bhat, vice president of the state's Congress unit, said the killings, in any form, were highly condemnable and must be condemned by every section of the people. He offered deepest condolences to the bereaved family.

7. 4 JeM militants killed on Tuesday:Four Jaish-e-Mohammed militants were killed on Tuesday in an gunfight in a forested area in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

A joint operation was started by the Rashtriya Rifles (RR), state police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Lam forest area of Tral following information about the presence of militants there.

8. 2 security forces killed: Along with 2 JeM militants, two security forces were killed yesterday.  Sepoy Ajay Kumar of 42 RR, who was injured in the initial firing exchange, succumbed to his injuries at Army's 92 Base Hospital in Badami Bagh Cantonment area here. Latif Gujar of Jammu and Kashmir Police also succumbed to injuries.

9. 13 terrorists killed in a single day on April 1: Indian Army killed 13 terrorists in Kashmir in a single day on April 1. In three counter-insurgency encounters that took place during the day in the Valley, security forces gunned down as many as 13 militants in the Anantnag and Shopian districts of Jammu & Kashmir. The major counter-terrorism offensive claimed the lives of three Army jawans and four civilians. The militants who were killed included those responsible for the brutal killing of Lieutenant Umar Fayaz. Meanwhile, authorities imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar on Monday to maintain law and order in the wake of gunfights in the Kashmir Valley the previous day.

 

With inputs from Agencies