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BJP leader cremated, terror group says it’s behind attack
People’s Anti Fascist Front (PAFF) claimed responsibility for the killing in a statement that accused Pandita of creating a network of informers, drug trafficking and “immoral activities”.
A previously unknown terror group has claimed responsibility for the killing of a councillor in Jammu and Kashmir’s Tral on Wednesday night when he was visiting a friend’s house on his way back from Jammu without his security cover, police said.
Rakesh Pandita, 56, a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party, was shot dead while his friend Mushtaq Ahmad’s daughter suffered injuries in the shooting and was hospitalised in a critical condition.
Pandita was cremated in Jammu on Thursday.
People’s Anti Fascist Front (PAFF) claimed responsibility for the killing in a statement that accused Pandita of creating a network of informers, drug trafficking and “immoral activities”. It added it was “keeping an eye on the activities of these forces”.
“He [Pandita] had gone to Jammu and left PSOs [Personal Security Officers] in Kashmir. After returning from Jammu, he went to Tral without his PSOs to meet his friend... The investigations are going on,” said a police officer, requesting anonymity.
Police said PAFF appears to be a front of terrorist organisations active in south Kashmir and added security forces have cordoned off the attack scene and launched a search operation to nab the assailants.
“Pakistani terrorists have once again bled the Kashmir Valley. Pandita’s martyrdom will not go in vain,” Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina said.
