63-year-old accused from Purani Mandi arrested, weapon seized
Omar raises questions over security lapses
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 11: An attempt was made to assassinate National Conference president and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah when a person fired a shot from his revolver at him as he was attending wedding function of a party leader’s kin at Royal Park in Greater Kailash area on outskirts of the City tonight.
Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
The accused, who identified himself as Kamal Singh Jamwal, 63, son of late Ajit Singh Jamwal, a resident of Purani Mandi, made no attempt to escape. He kept giving interviews to news channels which reached the spot before being taken into custody by the police for questioning.
Dr Farooq Abdullah was accompanied in the function by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and Advisor to Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as well as Deputy CM Surinder Choudhary raised questions over security lapses leading to a man with loaded pistol reaching close to NSG protected former Chief Minister.
Security Inspector Khursheed and other staff accompanying Farooq Abdullah in the marriage function averted the attack. Security staff later handed over the accused to local police.
Security staff overpowered the attacker, took away his weapon and removed bullets before handing him over to the cops.
The incident took place when Farooq Abdullah along with Choudhary and Nasir Aslam Wani were leaving the venue at Royal Park.
Jamwal, was found in an inebriated condition and managed to fire one shot before he was disarmed and grounded by the alert personnel, the officials said, adding no one was injured in the firing.
They admitted that Dr Farooq Abdullah had a narrow escape in the firing.
SP City South Ajay Sharma said the weapon was .32 revolver from which one shot was fired.
“It was a licensed weapon and has been seized. The accused has been arrested and as attempt to murder case has been registered against him,” Sharma said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, “Allah is kind. My father had a very close shave.”
“Police said an attempt was made on the life of Abdullah when he was attending a marriage ceremony at Royal Park Greater Kailash, Jammu. The security deployed with the protectee immediately swung into action and thwarted the attempt and took the accused in custody, who was later identified as Kamal Singh S/o Ajit Singh R/o Purani Mandi, Jammu,” police said in a statement here.
“It said the pistol used in the crime has also been recovered from the possession of the accused.“Cognizance has been taken and further investigations going on,” the police said.
“A CCTV footage showed the gunman approaching Abdullah from behind and fired a shot on the politician from a very close range but swift action by his security entail saved his life.
In a post on X, he said the details are sketchy at the moment but what is known is that a man with a loaded pistol was able to get “within point blank range” and discharge a shot.
“It was only the close protection team that deflected the shot & ensured that the assassination attempt failed. There are more questions than answers at the moment including but not limited to how someone was able to get this close to a Z+ NSG protected former CM,” the Chief Minister said.
He further wrote on X: “Thankfully both the Deputy CM and Nasir Sogami who were accompanying my father at the time are also safe and sound. The almighty shielded them”.
According to the officials, Farooq Abdullah, Choudhary and Wani had come to greet party leader D S Chouhan on the marriage of his son and were at the venue for more than an hour.
“There has been a firing incident using a licensed weapon at a marriage party where ex-CM JK Dr Farooq Abdullah was also present. It falls in JD (jurisdiction) of PS (Police station) Gangyal. Accused is arrested and detailed investigation is going on. There is no terror angle,” Superintendent of Police, City South, Ajay Sharma said in a post on X.
The Deputy CM expressed concern over the incident and told reporters that you should ask the security and the police how such a major lapse happened.
“It is a very serious security lapse. When the former Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and the Advisor are present at a function, and if a person can enter inside with a gun, then you can imagine what the security arrangements were like,” he said.
Choudhary said there was no presence of local police.
Nasir Aslam Wani, Advisor to CM said the accused tried to target Dr Farooq Abdullah. However, no one was injured.
Rakesh Singh, an eye-witness said, the incident occurred around 10.45 pm when Abdullah and other prominent guests were leaving the venue.
Abdullah was having Ramdhan fast and had dinner with the guests. He was moving out of the venue when the gunman opened fire but luckily he was not hurt. The accused claimed to be the chairman of some hitherto unknown Jagran Manch and was intoxicated,” he said.
The officials said the accused told interrogators that he wanted to kill Abdullah for the last 20 years. “Today, I got an opportunity but he was lucky to survive,” he said. Jamwal said he is living on the rent from several shops which he had rented out and was not doing any work himself.
The post Farooq survives assassination attempt as man opens firing from pistol at wedding function appeared first on Daily Excelsior.