National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah, along with J&K Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, miraculously escaped a deadly attack after a gunman opened fire at him during a marriage function on Wednesday night in Jammu.
The incident took place while Abdullah was attending a marriage ceremony at Royal Park, Greater Kailash, Jammu. The accused, identified as Kamal Singh, has been taken into custody.
Singh, accused of attempting to shoot the former J&K Chief Minister, during police interrogation, claimed that he had been planning to kill Farooq Abdullah for the past two decades, sources informed.
The 63-year-old Jammu resident reportedly attacked the NC chief with his licenced gun. “I wanted to kill Farooq Abdullah for the last 20 years. It was my personal agenda. The weapon is my own, issued to me," he said.
According to sources, the accused owns a few shops in the old part of Jammu and survives on rent from his shops.
“Today I got the opportunity, but he (Farooq Abdullah) was lucky to survive," he told the police after the failed attempt on the NC chief’s life.
The accused was reportedly inebriated during the attack and was overpowered by security guards after he attempted to assassinate the former Chief Minister of J&K.
Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary was also present at the scene with Farooq Abdullah when the incident took place.
According to officials, Farooq Abdullah and Choudhary had come to greet National Conference leader BS Chouhan for the marriage of his daughter and were present at the venue for more than an hour.
Expressing anguish over the incident, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Farooq Abdullah’s son, Omar Abdullah, thanked Allah for saving his father’s life and questioned the security over how the man with a loaded pistol was able to get within point-blank range & discharge a shot at the NC chief.
“Allah is kind. My father had a very close shave. 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 & discharge a shot," Omar Abdullah wrote on X.
“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," he added.
