Farooq Abdullah narrowly escapes gunshot in Jammu; accused arrested

Jammu: National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah narrowly escaped a gunshot when a man opened fire at him from behind while he was leaving a wedding function here on Wednesday night, officials said.

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s advisor Nasir Aslam Wani were accompanying Abdullah when the incident occurred.

Police identified the accused as 63-year-old Kamal Singh Jamwal, son of Ajit Singh and a resident of Purani Mandi in Jammu. During interrogation, Jamwal reportedly told police that he had been waiting for an opportunity to target Abdullah for the past 20 years.

According to police, the attack occurred when Abdullah was attending a marriage ceremony at Royal Park in Greater Kailash, Jammu.

“The security deployed with the protectee immediately swung into action, thwarted the attempt and took the accused into custody,” police said in a statement, adding that the pistol used in the incident had been seized.

Further investigation is underway, police said.

CCTV footage showed the gunman approaching Abdullah from behind and firing a shot from close range. Officials said the accused was overpowered by two officers from the security wing of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, an inspector and a sub-inspector, and was found to be in an inebriated state.

Abdullah and Choudhary had attended the function to greet party leader B S Chouhan on the occasion of his daughter’s wedding. They had been at the venue for more than an hour, officials said.

SP (City South) Ajay Sharma said in a post on X that a firing incident involving a licensed weapon had taken place at the wedding where Abdullah was present, and that there was no terror angle.

Reacting to the incident, Omar Abdullah thanked Allah for saving his father’s life. “The details are sketchy at the moment, but what is known is that a man with a loaded pistol was able to get within point-blank range and discharge a shot,” he said on X.

“It was only the close protection team that deflected the shot and ensured that the assassination attempt failed. There are more questions than answers at the moment, including how someone was able to get this close to a Z+ NSG-protected former chief minister,” he added.

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary described the incident as a serious security lapse.

“When the former chief minister, deputy chief minister and advisor are present at a function and a person can enter with a gun, you can imagine the security arrangements,” he told reporters.

An eyewitness, Rakesh Singh, said the incident occurred when Abdullah and other guests were leaving the venue after dinner.

“He was moving out when the gunman opened fire, but fortunately he was not injured. The accused claimed to be the chairman of some unknown ‘Jagran Manch’ and appeared intoxicated,” Singh said.

Chief minister’s advisor Nasir Aslam Wani thanked the almighty for saving Abdullah’s life and said the situation could have turned serious had the gunman not been overpowered in time. He added that it was premature to draw conclusions as police were investigating the matter.

Officials said the accused told interrogators that he had wanted to kill Abdullah for two decades and had finally got an opportunity, but the attempt failed.