RSS leader injured, his security officer shot dead in J&K; curfew like situation

Srinagar: Curfew-like restrictions are being enforced by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar town and its neighbourhood after a local leader of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were shot and wounded by unknown assailants on Tuesday, setting off tensions in the communally sensitive area.

The police guard of the RSS leader was killed in the attack, the police said.

Giving the details of the incident, a police officer said that the gunmen barged into Kishtwar’s district hospital and snatched the service weapon of the personal security officer of the RSS leader Chandrakanta Singh and then attempted to kill him.

In the ensuing scuffle, the policeman Rajendra Kumar was shot dead by the assailants whereas Singh received minor injuries, the officer said.

A report said that Singh had gone to the hospital for a medical check-up.

Another report, however, said that he works as a medical assistant at the hospital.

The police also said that Singh was a close associate of Bharatiya Janata Party’s local leader Anil Parihar who was along with his elder brother Ajit Parihar killed by unknown gunmen in Kishtwar on October 31 last year.

The police had blamed the killing BJP, of the brother duo on terrorists and constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident. However, it has not been able to identify the killers nor have any arrests been made, so far.

Kishtwar is communally sensitive and the town which has an almost equal population of Hindus and Muslims has witnessed communal clashes in the past. The officials said that security restrictions are being enforced in Kishtwar and its neighbourhood after the attack on the RSS leader “as a precautionary measure”.