Man shot dead at Farooq Abdullah’s Jammu residence
NC demands NIA probe into security breach
Jammu, Aug 04: In what is being described a serious security breach, a man “forcibly” drove into the residence of former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar, both Z-plus protectees, here and allegedly ransacked the house before being shot dead by CRPF personnel guarding the premises, police said.
Abdullah, a Lok Sabha member from the Srinagar constituency, was on his way to Srinagar from New Delhi, where he has been attending the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, when the security breach was reported.
The incident happened this morning at Bhatindi in the outskirts of the Jammu city when the intruder, identified as Syeed Murfad Shah, who would have turned 26 next month, rammed his XUV into the front gate of the former chief minister’s house and continued to drive recklessly and reached the inner garden, according to police.
Director General of Police S P Vaid said a case has been registered and an enquiry is being conducted into the breach of security.
“We are looking into the case and trying to ascertain the motive,” he said.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Jammu) said the man had made a forcible entry and refused to stop despite repeated warnings.
One policeman was also injured in the scuffle, he said.
Reacting to the incident, Abdullah told PTI, “It is very unfortunate that such an incident has happened and speaks volumes about the security situation in the state. Police must investigate the motive of the youth.”
Police said Shah hails from Gulthata village of Mendhar tehsil in Poonch district of Jammu region. The family is at present settled at Chinnor in Jammu and his father runs a gun shop at Bantalab in Jammu.
His relatives, who did not seem to believe the police’s claims about the incident, told reporters that Shah had gone to attend his gym in the morning and they were not quite sure how he had reached the residence of Abdullah’s.
“Why was he not arrested? He was not carrying any weapon or explosives on him…” one of them said.
Asked whether he was taking any drugs, the relatives shot back “he used to go the gym in the morning and the evening. Ask them?”
Giving details, police claimed that after ramming his car into the iron gate, the intruder continued to drive within the compound till he reached the house where Abdullah and his son Omar stay.
He stopped at the inner lawns, supposed to be highly secured, and got down from the vehicle and entered into the main lobby where he ransacked the glass table and pictures hanging from the walls and started climbing the stairs leading to the bedroom, police said.
“By this time, CRPF personnel guarding the residence of the NC leaders, got into action and challenged the intruder who continued ransacking everything that came his way.”
He was finally shot dead, police said, adding a case has been registered and efforts were on to trace his father.
An enquiry has been ordered to ascertain how the intruder managed to reach into the house without being challenged.
The house of the Abdullah’s is guarded by the CRPF in Jammu and the BSF in Srinagar. (With PTI inputs)
Meanwhile National Conference on Saturday sought a high level probe by National Investigating Agency (NIA) into the security breach at the residence of the party president and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah at Bhatindi here and circumstances leading to death of a youth.
“As Dr Farooq Abdullah is a central government categorized protectee, the Government of India should carry out its independent and impartial inquiry by a team deputed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Provincial spokesperson of National Conference Madan Mantoo said in a statement, issued here.
Expressing grave concern over the incident, the spokesperson said the probe must cover all the aspects, including how a car was able to gain entry into the supposedly high secured residence with minimum cosmetic damage, considering the strength of the main gate.
“The security lapse is needed to be probed expeditiously so that the truth must come to fore”, the spokesperson added. (With PTI inputs)
Slain person’s relatives contest official claims, stage protests
BJP demands impartial probe
Jammu, Aug 4 (PTI) Dozens of relatives of the youth, who was shot dead by government forces after he “forcibly drove” into the residence of former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar today, staged protests demanding an inquiry into the incident.
Syeed Murfad Shah (25), a resident of Chinore locality in the outskirts of Jammu, was killed when he drove his XUV into the heavily fortified residence of the former chief minister at Bhatindi this morning before being shot dead by paramilitary forces.
On hearing about the incident, Shah’s father and other family members reached the spot and demanded a probe into the incident, officials added.
After the body was taken to the Government Medical College hospital for postmortem, about 200 acquaintances of the deceased, originally hailing from Mendhar Tehsil of Poonch district, assembled there.
They prevented doctors from performing an autopsy for several hours and asked why an “innocent unarmed person” was killed, officials said.
While the postmortem of the deceased was underway at the hospital, another large group of protesters blocked the main road at Chinore, they said.
Senior police and civil officials were at the spot and efforts were on to persuade the protesters to lift the blockade on the Jammu-Bantalab road.
The agitated protesters burnt tyres and raised slogans against government forces and the national media for “misleading reporting”, the officials said.
“An intruder gate-crashed into the house of Abdullah, had a scuffle with security personnel and attempted to snatch a rifle from an officer (before he was killed),” Inspector General of Police (Jammu) S D Singh Jamwal told reporters.
He said the youth was alone in the vehicle and an investigation was on to ascertain how he managed to reach the house without being challenged.
Meanwhile the Jammu and Kashmir unit of BJP today demanded an impartial probe into the killing of a youth at the residence of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah here.
It also demanded release of the CCTV footage of the incident and said the “cold-blooded” murder at the residence of a VIP raises many questions.
“BJP demands an impartial and prompt enquiry into the matter of the fake encounter. To set at rest the apprehensions of the members of the family of deceased, the CCTV footage should be released to the media by police immediately,” BJP state spokesperson Anil Gupta said in a statement here.
He said the family of the deceased youth called the incident a “fake encounter” and insisted that their son was called by somebody to come to the residence of the former chief minister.
“The family is demanding that they will not accept the police version till they are shown the CCTV footage,” Gupta said.
He said as per the friends of the deceased he was not a drug addict, as being alleged, but a regular visitor to gym.
In a security breach earlier today, the youth forcibly drove into the residence of Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah here and vandalised the house before being shot dead by CRPF personnel guarding the premises.
He was identified by the police as Syeed Murfad Shah, who would have turned 26 next month.
BJP demands impartial probe
