Army raids house of PDP leader in Kashmir’s Pulwama

Although the Army terms it as a ‘random search’, neighbours insist that the political leader’s house was specifically targeted.

Army personnel raided the house of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader at Naira village in Pulwama district early on Wednesday.

PDP leader Waheed Para is considered close to former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo)

Waheed Para, president of the PDP’s youth wing, was not home at the time of the raid. He was informed by his family over the phone that the Army had surrounded their house – besides two others in the neighbourhood – with bulletproof vehicles.

The PDP leader later took up the matter with top police and Army officers.

Interestingly, police said they did not know about the raid before Para approached them. A senior army officer, on the other hand, remarked that it was just part of a random search operation in the village. “We carried out searches respectfully and left the village”

Para said his family called him around 1 am to say that their house had been surrounded by Army personnel. “They searched all the rooms of the house and left only after an hour, when the police arrived. They couldn’t find anything in the house,” he added.

Villagers who witnessed the incident dismissed the Army’s “random search operation” claim. “It seemed as if the PDP leader’s residence was the target of the raid,” said a neighbour.