National Conference President Farooq Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surender Chaudhary were not injured in the attack by a gunman on Wednesday. According to a PTI report, officials said the incident took place outside a marriage hall on the outskirts of Jammu.
The accused, Kamal Singh Jammwal, a resident of Purani Mandi, was overpowered by security guards and detained for questioning, officials said.
“An attempt took place on the life of Farooq Abdullah when he was attending a wedding at Royal Park in Greater Kailash district of Jammu state. The security deployed with the protégé immediately moved in, foiled the attempt and arrested the accused, who was later identified as Kamal Singh, son of Ajit Singh, a resident of Purani Mandi in Jammu,” the police said in a statement.
The officials added that Abdullah and Chaudhry came to receive party leader BS Chouhan on the occasion of his son’s marriage.
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They said the accused, who was in his 70s, was waiting outside the venue and tried to shoot the JKNC president.
However, two police officers – an inspector and a deputy inspector – overpowered him, and despite this, the accused managed to fire one shot before he was disarmed and detained.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also Farooq Abdullah’s son, condemned the attack and raised questions about the level of security.
‘God is kind. My father had a very close shave. Details are unclear at the moment but what is known is that a man carrying a loaded gun was able to get within close range and fire a shot.”
Abdullah added: “It was only the close protection team that blocked the shot and ensured that the assassination attempt failed. There are more questions than answers at the moment, including but not limited to, how did someone manage to get so close to the Z+NSG protected former Prime Minister.”
