Kashmir BJP leader shot dead in Bandipora, father and brother killed too

BJP leader Wasim Bari, his brother Umer Bashir and father Bashir Ahmed were shot dead outside a shop owned by the family, police said.

BJP leader Wasim Bari | @DrJitendraSingh | Twitter

Srinagar: A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and his father and brother were shot dead Wednesday by suspected militants in north Kashmir’s Bandipora area. According to government officials, the three men suffered multiple bullet wounds to the head.

Police sources said, BJP leader Wasim Bari (38), his brother Umer Bashir (30) and father Bashir Ahmed (60) were killed outside a shop owned by the family. Umer and Bashir were also believed to share Bari’s BJP affiliation.

The attack coincides with the fourth death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani, which was marked by a commemorative shutdown in parts of Kashmir.

Police said they had launched a massive cordon-and-search operation at and around the site of the crime.

Bandipora chief medical officer Bashir Ahmed Khan said the trio was brought dead to the district hospital around 8.45 pm.

“The post-mortem examination has been completed and so have the legal formalities. We have handed the bodies to police now,” he added. “Almost all the firearm injuries are in the head area,” he added in a video released to the media.

ThePrint called up senior police officers, including Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh, Inspector General (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bandipora Rahul Malik, for comment, but there was no response until the time of publishing this report.

‘Militants frustrated’

According to J&K BJP state spokesperson Altaf Thakur, Bari had served as the president of the party’s Bandipora unit. As of Wednesday, Bari was the state executive member of the J&K BJP unit, he told ThePrint. Bari, he added, was also heading the party’s training department for fresh recruits.

“This is just the frustration of the militants who are being killed on a daily basis by security forces. We will continue the mission that was undertaken by three BJP men who were martyred today,” said Thakur

Bari’s younger brother was a member of the BJP youth wing, while their father was an active member of the party and had earlier served as vice-president of the BJP’s Bandipora unit.

“Waseem Bari had helped thousands of people through schemes launched by the BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that irked the militant groups here,” said Thakur.