A sarpanch was gunned down by unidentified militants in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Sunday evening.
Today’s killing is yet another in a series of relentless attacks against the panches and sarpanches in the valley who have been clamouring for security by the administration.
Scores of them have already submitted their resignations, with the latest cases of resignations coming from south Kashmir’s Shopian district, where over a dozen panches and sarpanches resigned from their posts on Saturday.
Militants fired from a close range at Javed Ahmad Wani in his native village Kalantra on Sunday evening, said a senior police officer
“He was critically wounded and succumbed to his injuries before he could be shifted to the hospital,”
the officer said.
Senior police officers have rushed to the spot. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the killing.
Panchayat elections to elect panches and sarpanches were held in 2011 in the valley after a gap of nearly 30 years. It was billed as a pioneering measure to strengthen democracy at the grassroot level by the state and the central government.
