Woman, son shot dead by VDC member in Rajouri

A Village Defence Committee (VDC) member allegedly shot dead a woman and her three-year-old son in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir today, about a week after a National Conference youth leader was gunned down by another VDC member.
Mushtaq Ahmed, a VDC member, fired upon Shamima Akhter and her three-year-old son Tohid from his rifle resulting in death of the duo in Samote village of Budhal tehsil in Rajouri, Senior Superintendent of Police Rajeshwar Singh said.
The reason behind the attack is being investigated and a case has been registered, Singh said, adding that the VDC member has been arrested and is being questioned.

The husband of the deceased woman has been working in Saudi Arabia for the past couple of years.
Earlier on December 19, another VDC member Kewal Sharma had allegedly shot dead National Conference (NC) leader Ishtiyaq Ahmed over some altercation in Potha village of Kalakote tehsil in Rajouri district.
The opposition parties, including NC, and some separatists have called for disbanding of VDCs in the past.
However, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh ruled out disbanding of VDCs by saying that if a political leader does something bad, can a political party be disbanded for his act.
The VDCs were set up in Jammu and Kashmir in the mid-nineties following a number of violence on innocent inhabitants in far-flung villages. As there were no police or army pockets near these inaccessible villages, locals were given military training and equipped with weapons.