J&K police on Friday seized the car used to kill three BJP workers in south Kashmir on Thursday evening, as it started a manhunt to trace the attackers who, they have said, belong to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and The Resistance Front (TRF).
The three were shot dead in Kulgam’s Y.K. Pora area on Thursday.
Also read: PM Modi condemns killing of 3 BJP workers in J&K
“Militants from the LeT and the TRF had come in a vehicle and resorted to indiscriminate firing at the BJP youth leader Fida Hussain and his two colleagues. They fled in the same vehicle,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar said. The vehicle was seized near Achabal area of Anantnag district in south Kashmir on Friday.
“According to our technical and human intelligence, the three militants involved in the attack included two local militants, Nisar Ahmed Khanday and Abbas Sheikh. Sheikh was earlier with the Hizbul Mujahideen and later joined the LeT. The third one may be a foreigner,” IGP Kumar said
According to the police, the slain BJP leader Hussain was provided security and was lodged at Hotel Dolphin, Pahalgam. “Hussain gave a request recently that he wanted to move around without security. Now we are investigating what they were doing in Kulgam area,” the IGP said.
According to the police figures, at least 1690 BJP workers, leaders and activists were lodged in various hotels in the Valley, while 157 were provided security cover on the basis of threat perception. “We urge BJP leaders, workers and activists not to venture out without their security guards. They should avoid going to areas that are quite far,” he said.
PM condemns attack
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the killing. “They were bright youngsters doing excellent work in J&K. My thoughts are with their families in this time of grief. May their souls rest in peace,” he said.
J&K parties, including National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), CPI(M), Congress and J&K Apni Party have also condemned the attack.
NC president Farooq Abdullah and vice-president Omar Abdullah, in a joint statement, said such gruesome killings had no place in a civilised world. “Violence in all forms is condemnable. Our instrument should be dialogue, not violence,” they said.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said she was saddened to hear about the killing of the three BJP workers. “At the end of the day, it is the people of J&K who pay with their lives because of the Government of India’s ill thought out policies,” she said.
Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha said the perpetrators of the violence “are the enemies of humanity and such cowardly acts cannot be justified.”
