Municipal Council Vice-President of J-K’s Watergam kidnapped

Mehrajudin Malla, vice-president of Municipal Council, Watergam, was kidnapped by some unknown people from a kilometre away from the small town in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Wednesday morning, locals said.

Some unknown people purportedly pushed Malla into a car and sped away, they added.

Malla is associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and he is vice-president, Rafiabad.

“A manhunt has been launched to trace the abducted person,” said a police official.

It’s not immediately known, whether Malla enjoyed any security cover.

BJP state spokesman Altaf Thakur has blamed terrorists for the abduction of Malla. “He is the vice-president Watergam Municipal Council. His father was also with BJP and acted as a general secretary. This family is loyal to the BJP for many years,” Thakur alleged.

Malla’s kidnapping abduction comes days after two BJP leaders resigned from the party.

Last week, BJP former district president, Bandipore, Waseem Bari, was killed, along with his father Basheer Ahmad and brother Suhail Basheer, inside his shop.

Jammu & Kashmir Police had said that two outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were involved in the killing of Bari and his kin.

Last Sunday, Union Minister Jitendra Singh and BJP general secretary Ram Madhav visited Bari’s place and met his next of kin.