RSS leader, PSO killed in militant attack in Kishtwar; curfew imposed

Narrating the sequence of events, officials said the suspected militants barged into the hospital and snatched Sharma’s PSO Rajinder Kumar's weapon. They attempted to fire at the RSS leader. In the ensuing scuffle, the policeman was shot dead while the RSS leader received minor injuries.

Jammu: An RSS leader and his security guard were killed on Tuesday when a militant opened fire at a health centre in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar town, prompting authorities to impose curfew and call the army to maintain law and order in  the communally sensitive region.  The local RSS leader, identified as Chandrakant Sharma, was killed in the attack that targeted him, officials said. Chandrakanta had gone to a local hospital for a check-up, they said. Narrating the sequence of events, officials said the suspected militants barged into the hospital and snatched Sharma’s PSO Rajinder Kumar's weapon. They attempted to fire at the RSS leader. In the ensuing scuffle, the policeman was shot dead while the RSS leader received injuries. Sharma was moved to Jammu by air for treatment but died in hospital, officials said. Curfew was clamped in Kishtwar as a "precautionary measure" following the incident. As per reports, Sharma was close to BJP state secretary Anil Parihar who was gunned down by militants last November in a similar fashion in Kishtwar. Anil, 52, and elder brother Ajit Parihar, 55, were shot dead by two pistol-wielding men while returning to their home. Anil owned a stationery shop in the market near the brothers’ home while Ajit was a State Forest Corporation employee. The incident inflamed tensions and fears of a communal flare-up had prompted the district administration to impose curfew aftr agitating mobs took to the streets. Curfew had to be imposed in parts of adjoining Doda district. Kishtwar district has a 58 % Muslim and 41% Hindu population. The politically sensitive town has witnessed communal violence in the past. The BJP won the Kishtwar Assembly seat for the first time in the 2014 general elections.