Militants shot dead three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers on Thursday evening in the YK Pora area of Qazigund in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
The three died when unidentified gunmen opened fire at them. They were taken to a hospital where doctors declared them dead.
The Resistance Front (TRF), which is believed to be a shadow group of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the killings.
In a message in English and Hindi on its social media account, the TRF said “crematoriums will get overbooked”.
The slain BJP workers were identified as Kulgam’s Yuva Morcha general secretary Fida Hussain Itoo and Umar Hajjam — both residents of YK Pora Qazigund and Haroron Beigh of Sopat area of Qazigund.
BJP Jammu and Kashmir spokesman Altaf Thakur said the party strongly condemns the killing of Hussain, Hajam and Umar Beigh. This is a barbaric act, he added. Thakur said the police should track down the killers and punish them.
Senior BJP leader Sofi Yousuf said that they were not provided security in spite of the party’s repeated requests. He said several times they had talked to SSP concerned asking him to provide them security.
He said Fida Hussain had gone to his home and militants took a chance and attacked him. “We informed the administration that there are security lapses at many places. Our district president had organized a press conference saying the SSP is not cooperating,” Sofi added.
In August this year, after the killing of BJP workers, the party had asked for safe accommodation for its workers and leaders at the district headquarters. The BJP had asked its leaders not to step out from their safe houses without security clearance.
