SRINAGAR: In an interesting twist to the developments, the BJP is reported to have asked the government to conduct a CID verification of all its 1270 party workers in Kulgam, The New Indian Express reported.
The “demand” came days after the security grid intercepted and arrested a BJP sarpanch Aqib Shafi Badder and his associate branding a pistol and skipping a check-post. Police later recovered a pistol, two magazines and 12 rounds from the duo.
“BJP district president Kulgam A H Khan told TNIE that sarpanch Aqib had joined BJP about five months ago. Being a BJP worker Aqib was provided safe accommodation in a guest house, where BJP workers stay, he said,” the newspaper reported. “Khan said the party had no information that he was a stone pelter arrested by police and an Over Ground Worker (OGWs) of terrorists. Police, he said, did not inform the party that Aqib was a stone pelter.”
Kulgam has been in news for almost a month as a number of political activists were targeted by the insurgents. These included at least three BJP persons and one from the Apni Party.
Apni Party leader Ghulam Hassan Lone was killed on Thursday at his Devsar residence. He was the third political activist from Kulgam who was killed in the last 10 days.
On Monday, BJP leader Javeed Ahmad Dar, constituency president of Homshalibugh, was killed after being attacked at Brazloo-Jagir. Earlier, BJP sarpanch Ghulam Rasool Dar and his wife Jawhara Banoo were shot dead in Anantnag town. They were basically from Kulgam.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur in a statement said that this is to clarify that some news being attributed to Abid Khan, BJP district president Kulgam seeking security review/ CID verification of 1270 BJP workers of the district is totally baseless and falsely attributed to Khan.
“The fact is BJP district president Kulgam Abid Khan has not made these remarks. Each and every BJP worker believes in nationalist ideology and has a strong faith in nation first, party second and life third,” he said.
“We at BJP strongly rebut the news being attributed to Abid Khan as it has appeared in a news portal and we assure legal action will be taken against those trying to attribute false news to BJP leader,” said Altaf Thakur, JK BJP spokesman in a statement.
