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Hizb behind attack on BJP leader in Ganderbal, says J&K DGP
Police suspect that another militant was also involved in Tuesday’s attack as they saw a blood trail at the spot
Hizbul Mujahideen was involved in the Tuesday evening attack on a BJP leader in Ganderbal in which a police personnel and a militant were killed, J&K DGP Dilbag Singh said on Wednesday.
Singh also led the wreath-laying ceremony for constable Altaf Hussain who died after killing a militant during the attack outside the home of BJP leader Ghulam Qadir at Nunar Ganderbal.
The DGP said that the attack was on a protected person, someone who was accompanied by two personal security officers, including Hussain. “They were going somewhere when they were fired upon. Our brave colleague Altaf Hussain retaliated and he was injured in the exchange of fire. He managed to kill the militant,” he said.
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Hussain, a resident of Eidgah Srinagar, had joined the police department in 2011 and was posted with Qadir for the past three months. He is survived by his parents, wife and a toddler son. A large number of people gathered for his funeral.
The slain militant has been identified as Shabir Ahmad, a resident of Awantipora, Pulwama. “At one point, he was a close aide and over the ground worker (OGW) of (then Hizb commander) Riyaz Naikoo. He was especially prepared to be sent to Ganderbal for the attack and we are proud of our colleague’s response,” he said.
Riyaz Naikoo, 35, a top Hizbul militant, was killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces at his village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district in May.
Police suspect that another militant might have been also involved in Tuesday’s attack. “There are indications that another militant was injured in the Ganderbal attack. A trail of blood was detected there and we suspect there may be more than one militant involved,” Singh said.
Blaming newly formed outfit, The Resistance Front (TRF), for this spurt in attacks on political leaders and panchayat members in the Valley, Singh said, “The TRF is a mouthpiece of Pakistan which threatened 39 journalists here, those who are working honestly, and then targeting those who work for peace and development.”
He was alluding to a recent viral blog post that named journalists, many of them working for national media outlets, and threatened them for “working for India”.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a vocal Kashmiri lawyer, Babar Qadri, in Hawal area of Srinagar on September 24. A day before that, Khag BDC chairman Bopinder Singh was shot dead at Dalwach Khag in Budgam. Police suspect the involvement of LeT in his killing.
Assuring that each of these cases will be worked out, Singh said the police were investigating Monday’s militant attack on the national highway in which two CRPF personnel were killed and three wounded. “We will soon take it to court,” he said.
