This Article is From Dec 20, 2014

Sarpanch Shot Dead By Suspected Terrorists in Sopore

Sarpanch Shot Dead By Suspected Terrorists in Sopore

Family members of Ghulam Mohammad Bhat who was killed in a market place.

Sopore: A village sarpanch was shot dead by suspected terrorists in Sopore area of Jammu and Kashmir today.

Ghulam Mohammad Bhat was killed in a market place in Bomai after two suspected terrorists on a bike fired at him from point blank range, said police sources.

Bhat is the fourth Panchayat member to have been killed during the past one month in Jammu and Kashmir.

Last week the body of a sarpanch, who was kidnapped by suspected militants, was found in the fields in Sopore in north Kashmir's Baramulla district.

Police sources said multiple gunmen barged into the house of 62-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Mir in Tarazoo village in the district and kidnapped him.

Militants have been targeting village headmen in Jammu and Kashmir ever since the Panchayat polls were held in the state after 20 years in 2011.

Polling for the fifth and last phase of assembly elections is currently underway in Jammu.

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