Militants kill PDP leader, son shoots attacker

Srinagar: In a rare incident during the three-decade old turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, a militant was on Monday night killed, allegedly by the son of a ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) worker, in retaliation to the attack on his father in southern Shopian district.

A report from Shopian said that a group of three militants belonging to Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit appeared outside the residence of the PDP Halqa president and former sarpanch Muhammad Ramazan Sheikh in Humhuna village in Imam Sahib area of the district at around 8 pm on Monday. They asked for Sheikh and when he appeared before them, along with his sons, the militants shot him from point blank range.

One of the sons of the PDP worker struck back by snatching the AK-47 rifle of a militant and in a brief scuffle, one of the militants was killed, said the report. According to this report, the other two militants fled the spot, leaving behind the corpse of their accomplice. The slain militant has been identified as Showkat Ahmed Kumar alias Fallahi. However, the police said that the militant was not shot dead by the PDP worker’s son but died of gunshot wound during a scuffle.

The PDP worked was rushed to a hospital but he succumbed to his injuries. The security forces immediately launched a search operation in the area but could not find the other two militants, the officials said. On Tuesday, large number of people turned up at the funeral of the slain militant in his native village Tranz. Later, sections of the crowd relocated to Humhuna where they attacked the house of the slain PDP worker. “After ransacking the house, the angry youth in the crowds set it to fire,” said a local resident who wished not to be named.

However, the 22 people, including Sheikh’s family, were rescued by the police and removed to a safer location, the police sources said.

CM Mehbooba Mufti, who is also the PDP president, condemned Sheikh’s killing. She wrote on micro blogging site Twitter, “I strongly condemn the killing of former sarpanch Mr. Muhammad Ramazan and burning of his house at Humhuna Shopian.” In another tweet, she said. “Such dastardly acts can’t justify or achieve any political goal”.