Srinagar: Suspected militants on Monday night gunned down a sarpanch affiliated to the ruling National Conference (NC) in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, police said. Ghulam Mohammad Lone, 45, was shot by the militants inside his residence at Kulpora village, 35 km from Srinagar, they said.
Lone, who was associated with ruling NC, died on the spot, they said. No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for Lone's killing. Militants have targeted several panchayat members, killing six of them, in the Valley since the Panchayat elections were held in April 2011.
This is the sixth instance in the last eight months in which a sarpanch has been killed in the state. While three sarpanches were killed in September last year, another was shot dead in January. On February 24, sarpanch Javed Ahmed Wani was shot at and critically injured by the suspected militants inside his house in the Kreeri area of Baramullaat.
Wani, who was also affiliated with to the NC, was rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to injuries. On January 11, sarpanch Habibullah Mir was shot dead in Sopore township of Baramulla district in north Kashmir, prompting Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to order more security to panchayat heads....
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11:11 PM, Apr 08, 2013
Altogether 17 panchs and sarpanchs have tendered their resignation in Jammu and Kashmir till last month, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Minister of State for Home RPN Singh said as per information received from the state government, till January 31, following the recent killing of a sarpanch and injury of a female panch in Sopore, 17 panchs and sarpanchs have tendered their resignation. ...
03:53 PM, Feb 26, 2013
Two days after a sarpanch was shot dead in the Kashmir Valley, the state government has now said that it could have been the result of political rivalry. ...
03:23 PM, Feb 26, 2013
Yet another sarpanch was shot dead in Baramulla on Sunday evening. He is the 5th sarpanch to be murdered by the militants. ...
10:48 AM, Feb 25, 2013
In the wake of the fresh militant attacks on Panchayat members in Jammu and Kashmir, around 20 panches and sarpanches of the Baramulla district on Sunday tendered their resignations here citing "threats to their lives". The panches and sarpanches from Hardshiva A and B and Yemberzalwari halqas of Sopore area in the district announced their resignations in the presence of the media here. ...
06:06 PM, Jan 13, 2013
New Delhi: Village heads in Jammu and Kashmir have put the state government on a 24-hour-deadline to provide them with special security after Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salah-ud-Din issued a fresh threat against them on Friday. The dreaded militant allegedly said that village heads will be attacked if they didn't quit from their posts. The sarpanchs say they don't want to resign but cannot afford to take Salah-ud-Din's threat lightly...
03:54 PM, Nov 03, 2012
Mehbooba Mufti of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) hit out at the Jammu and Kashmir government saying Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had failed the sarpanchs of the valley. "This government has failed. Unfortunately, this government has not given any power to the sarpanchs," she said. Two sarpanchs have been killed in the past fortnight in the state by alleged terrorists, leading to mass resignation by village heads in protest. ...
11:00 AM, Sep 29, 2012
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said there was no battle going on between him and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on security for sarpanches and empowering of panchayats. "Have to love the media's priorities when my imaginary battle with Rahul (Gandhi) is more important than what the President (Pranab Mukherjee) says in Kashmir," Omar wrote on Twitter. Congress had on Thursday dismissed suggestions that it is...
03:40 PM, Sep 28, 2012
The ongoing sarpanch protests in Jammu and Kashmir threatens to turn into a face-off between Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah after the former said on Thursday that the local body leaders must be granted more autonomy. Rahul made the statement at a meeting with a delegation of sarpanches from the valley in Delhi. The sarpanches have demanded gun licenses to protect themselves in the wake ...
02:16 PM, Sep 28, 2012
