Express News Service

SRINAGAR: Militants on Thursday morning shot dead a BJP sarpanch in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Police sources said the militants fired at BJP Sarpanch Sajad Ahmad Khanday from close range, near his residence at Vessu, Qaizgund in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, today morning.

The militants fled the scene, leaving Sajad in a pool of blood.

The injured sarpanch was shifted to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.

After the militant attack, police, CRPF, and the army rushed to the area and launched a search operation to track down the militants responsible for the attack.

It is the second attack on BJP panchayat members in militancy-hit south Kashmir in the last 48 hours.

Earlier, on the evening of August 4, militants fired at BJP panch, Arif Ahmad, at Akhran, Qazigund in Kulgam district.

Arif received multiple bullet injuries and is undergoing treatment in the hospital.

On July 8, militants had gunned down BJP district president Bandipora Sheikh Waseem Wari, his younger brother Omar Sheikh and their father Bashir Sheikh at their shop near their guarded residence in Bandipora in north Kashmir.