Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina on Thursday (June 3) blamed Pakistan for the killing of party’s councillor Rakesh Pandita a day before.
Calling the terrorists who killed Pandita coward, he said that his martyrdom would not go in vain.
“Pakistani terrorists have once again bled the Kashmir valley. The coward Pakistanis attacked Pandita, a dedicated and committed BJP worker who always dared Pakistanis in the valley, in the darkness of the night. Pandita's martyrdom will not go in vain,” Raina was quoted as saying by PTI.
“The terrorists causing a bloodbath in the valley will be eliminated. It is a murder of humanity and Kashmiriyat,” he added.
Pandita was killed by unidentified militants in the Tral area of Pulwama district late on Wednesday evening. Pandita, the municipal chairman of Tral, was visiting a friend, Mushtaq Ahmad, when three militants opened fire at them. Ahmad's daughter was also injured in the incident.
The mortal remains Pandita reached his Roopnagar residence in Jammu at around 8.45 am. Many people including several BJP leaders gathered at his home amid the chants of "Rakesh Pandita amar rahe" (long live Rakesh Pandita).
MP Jugal Kishore Sharma and former legislator Ajay Bharati were also present.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed anguish over the death of the leader.
"Shocked to hear that BJP leader Rakesh Pandita has been shot dead by militants. These senseless acts of violence have brought only misery to J&K. My condolences to the family and may his soul rest in peace," Mufti tweeted.
Last year, a Kashmiri Pandit sarpanch was shot dead by militants in south Kashmir's Anantnag district.
Ajay Pandit (40), who was a Congress member and the sarpanch of the Lukbawan Panchayat halqa in Anantnag's Larkipora area, was shot dead by the militants in his native village, police had said.
