SRINAGAR: Police have constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the assassination attempt on National Conference president and three-time former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah during a marriage function in Jammu on March 11.
According to an order issued by IGP Jammu Bhim Sen Tuti, in view of the seriousness and sensitivity of the assassination attempt on Abdullah, who enjoys Z+ security cover and protection by NSG commandos and police personnel, an SIT has been formed to investigate the incident.
The SIT will be headed by the DIG of the Jammu-Samba-Kathua (JSK) Range and includes senior officers such as SSP Sanjay Sharma, SP Headquarters Jammu Irshad Hussain Rather, DySP Arvind Kumar Sambyal, Inspector Saroop Singh, Inspector Paramjeet Singh, Inspector Sanjeev Chib and Inspector Shariq Majeed.
The IGP has directed the SIT to conduct a thorough investigation and complete the probe promptly while adhering to the statutory timeframe.
Abdullah, 88, had a close shave on the evening of March 11 when he, along with Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Singh Choudhary, the Chief Minister’s advisor Nasir Aslam and other party MLAs, was leaving a marriage function at a banquet hall in Greater Kailash. A man allegedly rushed towards him with a pistol and pointed it at his neck.
However, the assassination attempt was foiled due to the swift action of NSG and police guards deployed with Abdullah. They deflected the bullet at the last moment and overpowered the attacker, who was identified as 63-year-old Kamal Singh Jamwal of Purani Mandi in Jammu.
“I wanted to kill Farooq Abdullah for 20 years. Today I got the opportunity but he did not die. He survived,” the attacker allegedly told police during questioning. A video of the interrogation has since gone viral on social media.
When asked about his motive, he reportedly said, “I had my own purpose.”
Police are currently questioning the accused to ascertain his motive and are also verifying his background.
Abdullah expressed concern over the absence of police presence at the event.
“If I say it is a security lapse, it will be a big statement. But many high-profile people were attending the marriage function and the police should have kept that in mind. There was no police arrangement there,” he said. “The police should have been present there. They should have taken precautionary measures.”
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Singh Choudhary, who was accompanying Abdullah, also described the incident as a security lapse.
“There was nobody from the local police at the venue and it was a big security lapse. In a function where a three-time former J&K Chief Minister, a serving Deputy Chief Minister and the Chief Minister’s advisor are present, a person coming with a pistol shows what kind of security arrangements were there,” he said.
Abdullah’s son and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also raised questions about how the attacker managed to get so close to his father despite the Z+ security cover and NSG protection.
“There are more questions than answers at the moment, including but not limited to how someone was able to get this close to a Z+ NSG-protected former CM,” Omar posted on X.
