Simmering anger against the killing of BJP and RSS leaders by terrorists spilled on to the streets of Kishtwar on Saturday as thousands of locals, accompanied by women, marched through the deserted streets to give vent to their ire against the delay in punishing the culprits.
Slogan shouting residents ransacked the office of Deputy Commissioner and smashed windowpanes of a few vehicles parked in the office complex. Outside the office premises, angry residents burnt down the effigy of Governor Satya Pal Malik. Kishtwar Deputy Commissioner Angrez Singh Rana was not present in the office when it was vandalised.
While agitating against the unjustified delay in any action against the targeted killings, the locals demanded immediate transfer of the Deputy Commissioner and the Kishtwar SSP. Several protesters claimed the district authorities have failed to deliver justice to the members of the aggrieved families.
A senior RSS functionary Chandrakant Sharma along with his PSO was shot dead inside district hospital, Kishtwar on April 9, 2019.
This apart, BJP leader Anil Parihar along with his elder brother, Ajeet Parihar, was killed from point blank range on November 1, 2018 while they were returning home from the nearby market. NIA was handed over the probe in the matter in the third week of November 2018.
Till date the probe agencies, investigating the matter, remained clueless about the identity of the killers and mastermind behind the political killings in the volatile district of Jammu region.
The massive protest demonstration coincided with the obituary ceremony organised by the family of Anil Parihar to mark six months of their killing. Local representatives of Sanatam Dharam Sabha had separately given a day-long bandh call to show their resentment against the failure of the district and police authorities to identify the killers till date.
To prevent any law and order situation, additional police force along with CRPF and ITBP was deployed in the area to handle the situation. The district administration had earlier imposed restrictions under the Section 144 of the CrPC in the area three days ago to contain the situation.