NC man for Assembly polls gunned down

Two-three unidentified gunmen attacked the Maruti car Fayaz Ahmed Bhat, a revenue official at Awantipore, Shakeel Ahmad Baba, a patwari, and two Personal Security Officers (PSOs) were travelling in.

The PSOs, Farooq Ahmad and Mohammed Yaqoob, were injured and have been admitted to Srinagar hospital.

A police officer said the killing ‘‘looked like any other militancy incident’’ but that they were also exploring ‘‘another angle’’.

The 45-year-old naib tehsildar had been recently recommended by the local party unit as the NC’s nominee for the Tral Assembly segement.

At present, nobody represents the constituency. Local residents said Bhat was very popular in the area.

He had intended relinquishing his government job if he won the elections. Police sources told The Indian Express over the phone that Bhat was the third political casualty in his family: his father, former MLA Mohammad Subhan Bhat, was killed by militants in 1991.

Three years later, they came for his brother, Showkat Ahmad. The Bhat household has also been attacked several times, said police sources.

The NC has bled 3,000 members, including a minister and 22 sitting and former legislators, over the last 13 years.

In 1990, in fact, National Conference activists and leaders would announce their resignation from the party through paid advertisements in local newspapers to save themselves and their families.