Kashmir: BJP Sarpanch Gunned Down, Tourist Couple Injured In Two Separate Terror Attacks

On the final day of campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Baramulla constituency, South Kashmir witnessed two militant attacks, leaving a couple from Jaipur hospitalised and a former BJP sarpanch dead.

According to the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the couple from Jaipur were targeted in the first attack in Anantnag. “Terrorists fired upon and injured a lady Farha, resident of Jaipur, and spouse Tabrez at Yannar, Anantnag. Injured evacuated to hospital for treatment,” the police said in a statement.

Victim's father Aslam Khan has requested the government to bring them from Srinagar to AIIMS Delhi and provide them with the best medical facilities.

Within half an hour of the first attack, former sarpanch Aijaz Sheikh, associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was fatally shot in Shopian. The areas in Anantnag and Shopian have been cordoned off and search operations have been launched to nab the attackers.

Former J&K chief minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti condemned the attack, criticising the central government.“While we condemn the attack in Pahalgam today that resulted in injuries to two tourists followed by another attack on a sarpanch in Hurpora, Shopian, the timing of these attacks given that the South election was delayed without any reason is a cause of concern. Especially keeping in mind normalcy claims touted by the Government of India,” she said in a post on X.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also condemned the twin terror attacks. "Very sorry to hear about the twin militant attacks in South Kashmir against tourists & a political worker of the BJP. I unequivocally condemn these deadly attacks. My condolences to the family of Aijaz Ahmed. May Allah grant him place in Jannt. I also pray that Tabrez & Farah, from Jaipur in Rajasthan, make a complete recovery," Abdullah posted on X.

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This is the fourth targeted attack this year. On April 17, a migrant worker was killed in a militant attack in Anantnag's Bijbehara town. In the same month, Dilranje et Singh, a resident of Dehradun, was injured in a shooting by suspected militants in Heerpora area of Shopian. In another attack in February, two men from Amritsar were shot at in Shalakadal area of Srinagar. One of them succumbed to his injuries.

Of the five Lok Sabha seats in the Union territory, the two in the Jammu region polled in the first two phases (Udhampur, 19 April; Jammu, 26 April), while in the Kashmir Valley, Srinagar voted in the fourth round (May 13) and Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri will poll in the fifth and sixth legs, respectively.