Panchayat members shifted to safer places after killing of BJP sapranch in Kashmir

Authorities on Thursday shifted a few hundred panchayat members and political workers to safer places in south Kashmir areas after the killing of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sarpanch in Kulgam district.

Sajad Ahmad Khanday, a BJP leader and a sarpanch, was fired upon by militants from a close range outside his residence in Vessu in Kulgam district. He was immediately rushed to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries.

In July, militants had shot dead BJP leader Wasim Ahmad Bari, his father and brother in Bandipora area of north Kashmir. Earlier, Kashmiri Pandit Ajay Pandita, a sarpanch belonging to the Congress party from Anantnag, was killed by militants on June 8.

The latest incident came a day after militants shot at and injured another sarpanch associated with the BJP in the same district. These incidents have created panic in Kashmir especially in four southern districts of Kulgam, Shopian, Anantnag and Pulwama with several BJP workers and panchayat members announcing their resignations.

Sources said to instill a sense of security among panchs, sarpanchs and other political workers authorities decided to shift a few hundred among them to safer locations like migrant and CRPF camps.

“There are inputs with the intelligence agencies that militants have been assigned the task to target political workers, especially those associated with the BJP in south Kashmir to derail the government’s plan to empower panchyati raj institution,” they said and added in the coming days police and other security agencies will make a foolproof plan to protect the panchayat members.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has already decided to spend Rs 1,700 crore to empower the newly constituted panchayats to enable the locals to easily get access to the government welfare schemes.