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Another sarpanch shot dead in Kashmir

Last Updated 20 December 2014, 18:51 IST

Just a week after killing a sarpanch in Sopore town of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, unidentified militants shot dead another sarpanch in the same district on Saturday, creating a fresh wave of fear among the elected representatives of the Valley.

Police said the unidentified militants shot at Ghulam Ahmad Bhat, 60, at Bomia, Sopore, 55 km from here, on Saturday morning near his residence. “He (Bhat) was shot at from a point blank range by pistol-borne militants who escaped after carrying out the  attack, leaving him in a pool of blood. Bhat was rushed to hospital, but died on the way,” police added.

Locals in the town told Deccan Herald over phone that Bhat had survived a bid on life in 2013 when militants had fired a volley of bullets on him. “He had received a bullet injury in his hand in the shootout and survived miraculously,” they said.

Bhat had won during village council (Panchayat) elections on National Conference ticket. However, he supported the Congress during the ongoing Assembly elections.

This was the second killing of panchayat members in the last one week in the area. On December 13, Sarpanch Ghulam Mohammad Bhat was shot dead by militant a day after he was abducted from his residence in Hygam, Sopore.

The latest incident occurred on a day when voting was taking place for 20 seats in border districts of Jammu, Kathua and Rajouri in the last of the five-phased assembly polls in the state.

The latest killing has come in the wake of repeated threats to the elected panchs and sarpanchs by militants who have asked them to resign from their posts or face dire consequences. Posters and threat letters from various militant organisations have repeatedly appeared in north and south Kashmir, asking village heads to resign from their posts.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wrote on his Twitter account: “A sarpanch shot dead, this time in the Sopore region. Another grim reminder of the risks associated with fighting an election.”

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(Published 20 December 2014, 18:51 IST)

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