BDC chairman Khag shot dead by unknown gunmen

Budgam: Suspected militants shot dead an independent Sarpanch and Block Development Council (BDC) Chairman (BDC)at Khag area of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district, officials said Wednesday.

Bhupinder Singh, a member of the block development council of Khag block in Budgam district, was shot at by the unknown gunmen in his ancestral village Dalwash at 1945 hours, a police official said.

He died on the spot.

The police official said Singh, who was given two PSOs for personal security, had dropped the security personnel at Khag police station and proceeded towards his house at Aloochibagh here.

However, without informing the police he went to his ancestral village where he was attacked by the militants, the official added.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and the PDP condemned Singh’s killing.

“Very sorry to hear about the assassination of BDC councillor Bhupinder Singh. Mainstream grassroot political workers are easy targets for militants and unfortunately in recent years the threat to them has only increased. My condolences to his family. May his soul rest in peace,” Omar tweeted.

“Deeply anguished by the news of brutal assassination of BDC Chairman Khag Budgam Bhupinder Singh. Not a day goes by when Kashmiri blood is not spilt. Deaths of despair are a constant fixture in our daily lives,” the PDP tweeted.

Advisor Baseer Khan condemns killing of BDC chairman

SRINAGAR: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan has strongly condemned the brutal killing of Block Development Council (BDC) Chairman of Khag Budgam, Bhupinder Singh.

Calling it a cowardly act, the Advisor said that those behind the killing are the enemies of humanity and will be brought to book. He said that every effort will be made in bringing the culprits to justice.

The Advisor also expressed solidarity with the bereaved family members of Bhupinder Singh and prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul.

Apni Party condemns Bhupinder Singh’s killing

SRINAGAR: Apni Party president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Wednesday condemned the killing of Bhupinder Singh, a Panchayat representative and chairman of Block Development Council (BDC) Khag in Budgam district.

In a statement issued here, Bukhari termed the killing as highly unfortunate, inhuman and barbaric. “Such acts of violence can never achieve anything except for bringing more miseries to the people,” Bukhari remarked.

He said the use of guns on innocent civilians since 1990s have only brought death and destruction to J&K and have further pushed the people to a dead end. Bukhari said the recent spree of killings of Panchayat representatives in Kashmir is a dastardly act by the elements inimical to peace and prosperity of J&K.

“Violence in any of its form and manifestations will beget violence and this vicious cycle needs an end so that the people of J&K who have suffered a lot in the last many decades live in peace and harmony,” Bukhari remarked.

Calling for a thorough review of security cover of political activists in J&K, Bukhari urged the union home minister to intervene into the matter and pass on some concrete orders in this regard. “Today’s killing in Khag-Budgam has belied the claims of the government.  The union minister should intervene into the matter and order a serious review and categorization of political activists who have put their lives at risk in order to keep the democratic process alive in J&K,” he added.

Meanwhile, party senior vice president Ghulam Hassan Mir, provincial president Mohammad Ashraf Mir, provincial vice president Jagmohan Singh Raina and party leader Muntazir Mohi-u-Din has also strongly condemned the cold blooded murder of Bhupinder Singh. The party leadership has expressed solidarity with the bereaved family and prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul.