Jammu, March 12 The Jammu and Kashmir Congress strongly condemned the murderous attack on former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah in Jammu on Thursday, stating that "those responsible for maintaining law and order must be held accountable."
Abdullah narrowly escaped when a gunman allegedly opened fire at him from behind while he was leaving a wedding function at Greater Kailash on the outskirts of Jammu on Wednesday night.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and advisor to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Nasir Aslam Wani, were also with Abdullah when the incident occurred.
The accused, identified as 63-year-old Kamal Singh Jamwal, a resident of Purani Mandi in Jammu, was arrested and told police that he had been waiting for an opportunity to target Abdullah for the past 20 years.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress Committee president Tariq Hamid Karra termed the incident shocking and said it raised serious concerns about the prevailing security situation in the region.
"I strongly condemn the shocking firing incident on former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and other senior leaders... Such acts of violence are deeply disturbing and raise serious concerns about the prevailing security situation in the region," Karra said in a post on X.
He said that the increasing criminalization and lawlessness cannot be ignored.
"Those responsible for maintaining law and order must be held accountable. The people deserve safety, stability, and a secure environment, and it is the responsibility of the administration to ensure that such incidents are not repeated," he said.
All India Congress general secretary and Congress Legislative Party leader Ghulam Ahmed Mir also condemned the incident, describing such occurrences at public places as unfortunate.
"Such incidents are unfortunate. The security setup should investigate how this happened. The matter needs to be addressed," Mir said.