India / 10 security guards arrested after BJP leader Wasim Bari shot dead in J&K

Sri Nagar: While blaming Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for killing a local BJP leader and his kin in Bandipora, Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday dismissed all the 10 personal security officers (PSOs) deployed for slain leader’s protection.

The PSOs have also been arrested and an inquiry into the killing of BJP leader Waseem Bari, his father Bahir Ahmad Bari and brother Umar Bari has been initiated. The attack happened at around 8:45 pm on Wednesday when the three were present at their family shop right outside the Bandipora Police station in north Kashmir. 

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, said two LeT militants carried out the “pre-planned” attack on Bari family.  “The BJP leader had visited his ward and returned to his home along with all the PSOs. After entering his house, his PSOs had gone to their room and Bari went to his shop where his father and brother were also present,” he told reporters in Bandipora.

The IGP said as per the CCTV footage, two militants from Lashkar-e-Toiba carried the attack. 

“One is a local who has been identified as Abid and another is a foreigner. Abid fired at the trio from a close range with a pistol, while the foreign militant was guiding him. The trio sustained head injuries and succumbed on the way to the hospital. We will track both the militants soon and eliminate them,” Kumar asserted.

He said all the 10 PSOs of the slain BJP leader have been dismissed from their services and arrested as well. “They are being questioned,” the IGP said.

Junior Bari, who was earlier appointed president of the BJP’s Bandipora district unit, was associated with the saffron party for over four years. After losing the 2014 Assembly elections as an Independent candidate, he joined the BJP and emerged as a leading face of the party in the district.