INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
terrorists when he was returning home after offering Eid prayers in Jammu and Kashmir, police said
Fayaz Ahmed Shah, a constable in Jammu and Kashmir Police, was shot at outside an Eidgah in Awgam village
He died on the spot.Shah was a resident of Zazri Pora village in Kulgam district
He was training in Talwara and had come home to celebrate Eid with his family
His mother, wife and two daughters are inconsolable.The police have registered a case and a search for the terrorists has begun.There has
been spike in terror attacks on local policemen in south Kashmir
Security analysts say the terrorists are targeting them to destabilise counter militancy grid and also to deter youngsters from joining the
He, too, had come home on leave from training in Jammu
Bhat was kidnapped on Tuesday and his bullet-riddled body was found this morning in the fields in Rakh-e-Litter area of Kupwara, police
said.In a series of tweets, BJP President Amit Shah offered his condolences to Bhat's family and said that extremists cannot stop the youth
of Kashmir from choosing a better future for themselves."Anguished to learn about the killing of BJP karyakarta, Shabir Ahmad Bhat by
terrorists in Pulwama (JK)
This act of cowardice is highly condemnable
Extremists cannot stop the youth of Kashmir from choosing a better future for themselves
This cycle of violence won't last long," Mr Shah tweeted."The sacrifice of our @BJP4JnK karyakartas will not go in vain
Entire BJP stands firmly with Shabir Ahmad Bhat's family in this hour of grief
May god give his family the strength to bear this tragic loss," he wrote in another tweet.Bhat is the first political activist killed by
terrorists after the government announced municipal and panchayat elections in the state last week.The previous panchayat polls were held in
2011, while the urban body elections have not been held in the last 13 years.The panchayat polls got delayed in 2016 because of the unrest
following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani
Last year, the polls were cancelled due to security concerns
The BJP-PDP government led by Mehbooba Mufti had told the centre that the situation was not conducive for the polls.In the panchayat polls
in 2011, more than 4,000 sarpanch and 29,000 panch were elected, and the voter turnout was around 80 per cent
Sixteen panchayat members were reportedly killed and 30 injured in terrorist attacks across the Valley in 2011.
