Terrorists kill Apni Party worker in J&K

Terrorists shot dead Apni Party worker Ghulam Hassan Lone in his house in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Thursday, marking the third killing of a political leader in the Valley this month.

Police spokesman said that preliminary investigation revealed that terrorists fired upon the 70-year-old leader near his house in Devsar. “He (Lone) was immediately shifted to nearby hospital where he was declared as brought dead… neither the police records nor the activities of deceased indicated him to be a political worker. Besides, as of date no political party had indicated or intimated about his political affiliation. However, post incident Apni Party claimed that the deceased was their political worker,” the spokesman said.

Apni party president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari termed the incident barbaric and conveyed deep anguish over the killings of political activists. Bukhari said Lone was working on the ground for the welfare of people.

This is the third killing of a political leader in the region in a fortnight, but the earlier deaths were of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. On Monday, BJP leader Javeed Ahmad Dar was shot dead by terrorists in Kulgam. On August 10, BJP village chief Ghulam Rasool Dar and his wife Jawahira Bano were gunned down in Anantnag town.

Politicians condemned the killing. “Very sorry to hear about the assassination of Ghulam Hassan Lone in Devsar area of south Kashmir. This renewed trend of targeting mainstream politicians by militant outfits is very worrying & I condemn the same in the strongest possible terms….,” tweeted Omar Abdullah, National Conference vice-president.

Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said, “Unfortunately there seems to be no end to the spree of political killings in Kashmir. Unreservedly condemn the killing of Apni party leader Ghulam Hassan Lone…”