Tral: Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday evening shot dead a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker while another associate of the party was wounded in Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, officials said.
#Terrorists shot dead one councillor namely Rakesh Pandita in #Tral. Despite provided 02 PSOs & secured hotel accommodation in Srinagar, the said councillor went to Tral without PSOs. Area cordoned off & search is going on. @JmuKmrPolice
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) June 2, 2021
An official said that suspected militants shot at a BJP leader in Tral, adding that he was shifted to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. He identified the BJP leader as Rakesh Pandita.
Rakesh Pandita with Ravinder Raina
The official said that he was shot at the house of neighbor Mushtaq Ahmad where his daughter identified as Asifa Mushtaq has also sustained injuries during the attack, saying that she has been shifted to Sub District Hospital Tral where she is undergoing treatment.
Meanwhile, the officials said that the area has been cordoned off to nab the attackers.
Meanwhile, police in a statement said: “Today at about 2215hrs, three unidentified militants fired indiscriminately upon a Municipal Councillor of Tral town namely Rakesh Pandita, son of Somnath, a resident of Tral Bala who was visiting his friend at Tral Payeen. In this incident, Rakesh Pandita and the daughter of his friend received serious gunshot injuries. Rakesh Pandita succumbed to his injuries while another injured person has been shifted to hospital for treatment of her injuries.”
It is pertinent to mention that the deceased was a protected person and two PSOs were deployed for his security and secured accommodation was also provided to him at Srinagar. However, at the time of the incident he was without any security as he defied the SOPs and went to his native village without PSOs, the statement said.
Police has registered a case in this regard under relevant sections of law. The investigation is in progress and officers continue to work to establish the full circumstances of this terror crime besides why he was without any security at the time of the incident. The area has been cordoned off and searches in the area is going on to nab the militants involved in the attack.
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