After police apprehends BJP Sarpanch with pistol, party to verify 1,270 workers in Kulgam

Srinagar: Bhartiya Janta Party has asked the Jammu and Kashmir police to conduct a verification of 1,270 party workers in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.

The demand came days after the party’s Sarpanch from Kulgam was held for possessing a pistol and other ammunition.

On August 18, police arrested a BJP sarpanch Aqib Shafi Badder and his associate in Kulgam.

“The duo travelling on a motorbike was signaled to stop. However, they brandished a pistol and tried to flee. They were chased by the armed personnel and arrested,” police had said in a statement.

Police said a pistol, two magazines, and 12 rounds were recovered from their possession.

Quoting BJP district president Kulgam A H Khan, The New Indian Express reported that sarpanch Aqib had joined BJP about five months ago.

Being a BJP worker, Aqib was provided safe accommodation in a guest house, where BJP workers stay, he said.

The report quoting Khan said the party had no information that he was a stone pelter arrested by police and an Over Ground Worker (OGWs) of militants.

Police, he said, did not inform the party that Aqib was a stone pelter, the report said.

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