In a serious security breach, a man forcibly drove into the Jammu residence of former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar, both Z-plus protectees, and ransacked the house before being shot dead by Central Reserve Police Force personnel guarding the premises, police said.
Abdullah, a Lok Sabha member from the Srinagar constituency, was on his way to Srinagar from the national capital, where he has been attending the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, when the security breach was reported.
The incident happened on Saturday 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 witnesses.
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 said, “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 told reporters that he 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,” on of them said.
Asked whether he was taking any drugs, the relatives shot back “he used to go the gym in morning and evening. Ask them?”
Giving details, the eyewitnesses said 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 National Conference 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 Border Security Force in Srinagar.
Dozens of relatives of the youth, who was shot dead by security forces after he forcibly drove into the residence of former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar on Saturday, staged protests demanding an inquiry into the incident, officials said.
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 a post-mortem, 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 post-mortem 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 security 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.
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