Jammu, Mar 11 — National Conference (NC) president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah escaped an assassination attempt at a wedding function in Jammu on Wednesday after a man allegedly tried to shoot him with a revolver, police said.
The suspect, identified as Kamal Singh Jamwal of Purani Mandi in Jammu, has been taken into custody. Police said a licensed .32 revolver allegedly used in the incident was recovered from him and a case of attempt to murder has been registered at Gangyal police station.
A senior police officer said Abdullah was attending a wedding at Royal Park in the Greater Kailash area of Jammu along with Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and Nasir Sogami, adviser to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, when the incident occurred.
Superintendent of Police (Jammu South) Ajay Sharma said the accused had been detained and the weapon seized. “It was a licensed weapon. A case of attempt to murder has been registered and further investigations are underway,” he said.
Videos circulating on social media show the suspect approaching Abdullah from behind and striking him on the head with a revolver before allegedly attempting to fire. Security personnel immediately overpowered him.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the attack raised serious concerns about security arrangements around his father, who is under Z+ protection.
“One gunshot was fired by the assassin and the security personnel escorting his father’s team deflected the shot and ensured that the assassination attempt failed,” Omar Abdullah said in a post on X.
“There are more questions than answers at the moment, including how someone was able to get this close to a Z+ NSG protected former CM,” he added.
In another video that surfaced online, Jamwal can be heard telling investigators that he had been planning to kill Farooq Abdullah for years. “I have been trying to kill Farooq Abdullah for the last twenty years. It was my personal mission to kill him. Today I got the opportunity but he survived,” he said.
Police sources said the accused appeared to be in an inebriated condition at the time of the incident and had reportedly attended the wedding as an invitee.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary termed the incident a “serious security lapse.”
“When the former chief minister, deputy chief minister and the adviser to the chief minister are attending a function and a person enters the venue with a gun, one can imagine the security arrangements that have been made,” Choudhary told reporters.
Nasir Sogami said Abdullah was safe and no one was injured. “Investigations are underway. It is too early to arrive at any conclusions. No one was hurt in the incident,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra also condemned the incident. “Strongly condemn the shocking firing incident on former CM Farooq Abdullah and other senior leaders reported in Jammu today. Such acts of violence are deeply disturbing,” he said in a post on X.
Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also condemned the attack and called for an investigation.
Police said further investigation into the motive behind the alleged assassination attempt is underway.