NEW DELHI: The Centre has directed district commissioners in Jammu and Kashmir to ensure security of political workers and sarpanches (village headmen) by deploying additional forces from central armed police forces. Jammu and Kashmir police, along with the Central Reserve Police Force, will beef up security at accommodations of panches (panchayat members), political workers and elected representatives, said officials.A year after the abrogation of Article 370, militants have stepped up attacks on political workers affiliated to the BJP. On Monday, unidentified terrorists hurled a grenade outside the residence of BJP panchayat member Bhupinder Singh near Pulwama in southern Kashmir. This was the latest incident in a string of attacks targeting BJP workers and leaders in the Valley. It came less than 48 hours after the BJP’s OBC district president Abdul Hamid Najar was shot at by unidentified men at Budgam in central Kashmir. He later succumbed to injuries at the hospital.The ambush on sarpanches had prompted the Union government to review their security last week, after which J&K chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam and director general of police Dilbag Singh were drafted in, said an official. “Many of these workers and elected representatives have been shifted to secure locations, but more than a dozen have reportedly resigned citing fear for their and family lives,” said the official, who did not wish to be identified.Panchayat elections in the newly carved Union territory were held last year after a gap of more than six years. According to the home ministry, Jammu and Kashmir has 3,650 sarpanches and 23,660 panches. The voter turnout was 74% last year, with Kashmir Valley recording 41%. However most of the elected representatives were forced to stay at hotels in Srinagar, Jammu and Delhi due to terrorists’ threat to their lives. Earlier this month, militants killed BJP leader Sajad Ahmad Khanday while critically injuring another sarpanch, Arif Ahmad, both at Kulgam.
