poll candidatesSrinagar, Jan 8 (PTI) An audio clip of a purportedconversation between two Hizbul Mujahideen militants has goneviral here in which a commander of the outfit tells his cadresto pour acid into the eyes of those who contest the upcomingpanchayat elections in Kashmir.
In the purported clip, Hizb commander Riyaz Naikoo tellsanother militant of the outfit, Sameer Tiger, that they shouldnot threaten or kill anyone contesting the polls but pour"strong acid -- Sulphuric Acid or Hydrochloric acid" into thetheir eyes.
"Over the past 28 years, we have been threatening andkilling the candidates but it has not deterred them. Normally,those people stand for elections who are considered useless bytheir families.
"They (families) want to get them (candidates) killed sothat they get Rs 5 lakh ex gratia and job on compassionategrounds," Naikoo is heard saying in the audio clip.
He says in the clip that instead of helping these peopleget rid of their unwanted family members, "this (pouring acid)will ensure that they (victims) become a burden on them".
The state government last month announced that panchayatelections will be held from February 15 this year.
Opposition National Conference leader Omar Abdullah saidthat earlier people were blinded by pellet guns, now they arebeing threatened with blinding by acid.
"If it isn't pellets, it's acid. One way or the otherpeople are threatened with being blinded," Omar tweeted. PTIMIJTIR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.