- Man fired a shot at Farooq Abdullah at close range during a wedding in Jammu
- The attacker, Kamal Singh Jamwal, said he waited 20 years for the moment
- Jamwal was overpowered by NSG commandos, and taken into custody
Without a hint of remorse, the man who attempted to assassinate former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday at point-blank range told the police that he had waited 20 years for the moment. He admitted the attack stemmed from "personal agenda".
The incident occurred at a wedding in Jammu, where videos showed the 63-year-old attacker Kamal Singh Jamwal getting in close range of Z+ security protectee Abdullah before firing a shot from his personal licensed weapon. His shot missed the target and he was quickly overpowered by National Security Guard (NSG) commandos, scripting a miraculous escape for the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president.
Jamwal, who was in an inebriated condition, was thrashed by people and then taken into custody. He was later seen sitting calmly in a chair and telling the police about his background.
Rakesh Singh, an eyewitness, told PTI that Jamwal claimed to be the chairman of some hitherto unknown 'Jagran Manch'. The accused said he lived on the rent from three shops owned by him.
At party leader BS Chouhan's daughter's wedding in Jammu, Abdullah was accompanied by J&K deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary and Nasir Sogami, advisor to the J&K Chief Minister. Sogami said that it was an attempt to kill Farooq Abdullah but God was kind that no one injured in firing. He said they don't know the motive behind assassination attempt and whether it was a security lapse.
The pistol used in the crime has been seized from the accused's possession.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, "Allah is kind. My father had a very close shave. 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 & discharge a shot."
"It was only the close protection team that deflected the shot & ensured that the assassination attempt failed. There are more questions than answers at the moment including but not limited to how someone was able to get this close to a Z+ NSG protected former CM," he added in an X post.
