Monitor News Bureau
Jammu, Aug 04: In a serious security breach, a man forcibly drove into the 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.
Farooq Abdullah, a Lok Sabha member from the Srinagar constituency, was away in the national capital for the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The incident happened on Saturday morning at Bhatindi in the outskirts of the Jammu city when the person rammed his SUV 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 inquiry is being conducted into the breach of security.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jammu, SD Singh Jamwal said “there was an attempt of forceful entry into the house of Ex CM Farooq Abdullah by an individual. He forced his way through the VIP gate in an SUV but he was unarmed,”
In the incident, the man suffered injuries and died on the spot after the guards opened fire, IGP said.
“We can’t rule out anything that the man might be disturbed and we also found nothing inside his vehicle”, IGP said.
He further said that investigations with regard to the incident has been launched and it will be ascertained once investigations will be completed as to why the man rammed his car inside the residence.
The slain intruder was identified as Murad Ali Shah, whose father runs a gun shop at Bantalab in Jammu. The family hails from border area of Mendhar and was settled in Jammu city for some years.
Giving details, the witnesses said that after ramming his car against the iron gate, Murad 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.
“Murad was here with me at our house last night. He left for the gym at Parade Ground around 5 am, as is his daily routine. I do not know how he reached Farooq Abdullah’s house, or why he was killed by security personnel. Was he carrying a weapon?” questioned his father, Imzaz Hussain Shah.
Imzaz insisted that his son, who was preparing for his graduation as a private student, would have come armed if he was doing it at the behest of militant groups. He expressed ignorance when told that the authorities believed he could have committed the act under the influence of narcotics. “I am not aware if he was using drugs. These days, no parent can be sure if their child has fallen victim to drug abuse,” he said.
Imzaz runs a gun shop at Ban Talab in the temple city.
Murad’s cousin, Sartaj Din Shah, dismissed all suggestions about Murad being a drug user. “Why would he take drugs? He was a pursuing his graduation. Security personnel could have easily arrested him. Why did they have to kill him? Did they find any explosives in his car?” he asked.
Why kill an innocent, unarmed man, asks family
Press Trust of India
Jammu, Aug 04: 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.
Syeed Murfad Shah, 25, a resident of Chinore locality in the outskirts of Jammu, was killed when he drove his XUV into the heavily fortified residence of the former chief minister at Bhatindi before being shot dead by security forces, according to witnesses.
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 Government Medical College hospital for postmortem, 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 postmortem 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.
