Gunman attempts to shoot dead Farooq Abdullah in Jammu, held

Jammu: An attempt to assassinate National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah was foiled on Wednesday night, March 11, when his security personnel overpowered a gunman outside a marriage venue in Jammu’s upscale Greater Kailash locality, on the outskirts of the city.

The accused, identified as Kamal Singh Jamwal, son of Ajit Singh, a resident of Purani Mandi in Jammu and believed to be in his 70s, was waiting outside Royal Park when Abdullah and J-K Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary were stepping out after attending the wedding function. 

Jamwal managed to fire one shot before two police personnel, an Inspector and a Sub-Inspector, disarmed and detained him. No one was injured.

The pistol used in the attempt was seized from his possession. Abdullah and Choudhary had come to the function to greet party leader BS Chouhan on the occasion of his son’s wedding.

In a statement, police said the security detail deployed with Abdullah “immediately swung into action, thwarted the attempt and took the accused into custody.” Further investigation is underway.

J-K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is Farooq’s son, condemned the attack and raised sharp questions about the security arrangements. “Allah is kind. My father had a very close shave,” he posted on X. 

“A man with a loaded pistol was able to get within point blank range and discharge a shot. It was only the close protection team that deflected the shot and ensured that the assassination attempt failed.”

He added that the incident raised serious questions about how someone was able to get that close to a Z+ NSG-protected former Chief Minister.

(With PTI inputs)