MC member affiliated with BJP abducted in north Kashmir

Srinagar: Meraj-ud-Din Malla, Vice-President of Watergam Municipal Committee in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, was abducted on Wednesday by unidentified persons, police sources said.

Malla, a BJP worker as well, was bundled into a vehicle in Watargam area of the district.

J&K BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur told local news agency KNT that Malla had come out from his house and was walking on the road when a vehicle stopped near him and the men inside the vehicle came out and bundled him away.

“After lodging him forcibly into the Santro vehicle, the kidnappers threw away his cell phone on the road,” Thakur said adding that Malla “might be kidnapped by militants”.

Malla is the son of senior BJP leader Ghulam Muhammad Malla, who joined BJP in 2012 and since then his son was also part of the party and at present he is the Constituency President Rafiabad.

A police official said that manhunt has been launched to trace the abducted man. “We are investigating the matter and at this point, it will be premature to say anything about the incident,” the official said.

The incident comes just days after suspected militants killed BJP leader Wasim Bari, his father and brother in Bandipora district.

The demands for providing security to political activists have become stronger after the assassination of Bari and his kin.