SRINAGAR: In a first during the ongoing eight-phase District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir, militants on Monday shot dead a security guard of a Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) leader in Srinagar.
Police has termed the killing as an attempt to disrupt the ongoing election process. Militants fired upon the Personal Security Officer (PSO) of PDP leader Haji Parvez Ahmed outside his residence at Asthan Mohalla in uptown Srinagar at around 10.50 am.
The PSO identified as Manzoor Ahmad sustained multiple bullet injuries and was evacuated to nearby Bone and Joints Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries.
The militants, who are suspected to be two in numbers, escaped from the area after carrying out the attack. Immediately after the attack, the police and paramilitary personnel rushed to the area and launched a search operation to track down the militants. However, no arrests were reported during the operation.
It is the first killing during the ongoing eight-phase DDC polls in J&K. The six phases have been held so far and the final phase would be held on December 19.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti while condemning the killing of policeman alleged that the government has reduced the security of opposition leaders. “Strongly condemn the attack on PDP’s Haji Parvez. J&K admin has left opposition leaders in a vulnerable position by downgrading their security. My heartfelt condolences to Manzoor Ahmed’s family,” tweeted Mehbooba.
However, J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh termed Mehbooba’s allegations as baseless. “Two PSOs were provided to the PDP leader,” he said.