SRINAGAR: A day after a BJP sarpanch was held for possessing a pistol and ammunition in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, the saffron party has asked the police to conduct a CID verification of all the 1,270 party workers in Kulgam.
BJP sarpanch Aqib Shafi Badder and his associate were arrested by a joint patrol party of police and army in Kulgam on Wednesday evening. “The duo travelling on a motorbike was signaled to stop. However, they brandished a pistol and tried to flee. They were chased by the security personnel and arrested,” a police spokesman said. He said a pistol, two magazines and 12 rounds were recovered.
BJP district president Kulgam A H Khan told TNIE that sarpanch Aqib had joined BJP about five months ago. Being a BJP worker Aqib was provided safe accommodation in a guest house, where BJP workers stay, he said.
Khan said the party had no information that he was a stone pelter arrested by police and an Over Ground Worker (OGWs) of terrorists. Police, he said, did not inform the party that Aqib was a stone pelter.