Farooq Abdullah miraculously escapes gunshot in Jammu; accused arrested

Farooq Abdullah, president of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, had a narrow escape on Wednesday night when a gunman fired at him from close range as he was leaving a wedding function in Jammu, officials said.

The incident occurred at a marriage ceremony at Royal Park in the Greater Kailash area of the city, where Abdullah had gone to attend the wedding of the daughter of party leader B.S. Chouhan. According to officials, Abdullah and other guests had been at the venue for more than an hour and had just finished dinner when the firing took place.

Abdullah was accompanied by Surinder Choudhary, deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and Nasir Aslam Wani, adviser to chief minister Omar Abdullah, when the attack occurred.

Police said the accused approached Abdullah from behind and fired a shot at point-blank range. The close protection team immediately reacted, deflecting the shot and overpowering the gunman before he could cause harm.

“The security deployed with the protectee immediately swung into action, thwarted the attempt and took the accused into custody,” police said in a statement, adding that the pistol used in the crime had been seized and further investigation was underway.

The accused was identified as 63-year-old Kamal Singh Jamwal, son of Ajit Singh and a resident of the Purani Mandi area of Jammu. During initial interrogation, Jamwal told police that he had been waiting for an opportunity to target Abdullah for the past 20 years.

CCTV footage from the venue showed the man approaching Abdullah from behind and firing a shot from very close range. Officials said the accused was subdued by two officers of the security wing of the Jammu and Kashmir Police—an inspector and a sub-inspector—and was found to be in an intoxicated state.

Reacting to the incident, Omar Abdullah thanked the Almighty for saving his father’s life. In a post on social media, he 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 and discharge a shot.”

He credited the close protection team with preventing a tragedy. “It was only the close protection team that deflected the shot and ensured that the assassination attempt failed. There are more questions than answers at the moment, including how someone was able to get this close to a Z+ NSG-protected former chief minister,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary also expressed concern over the incident and questioned the security arrangements. “It is a very serious security lapse. When the former chief minister, deputy chief minister and adviser are present at a function and a person can enter with a gun, you can imagine what the security arrangements were like,” he told reporters.

Superintendent of Police (City South) Ajay Sharma said in a post on X that the firing took place using a licensed weapon and ruled out any terror angle. “The accused has been arrested, and a detailed investigation is going on,” he said.

An eyewitness, Rakesh Singh, said Abdullah had just finished dinner and was leaving the venue with other guests when the shot was fired. According to him, the accused claimed to be the chairman of an obscure group called “Jagran Manch” and appeared to be intoxicated.

Chief Minister’s adviser Nasir Aslam Wani also thanked the Almighty for Abdullah’s safety, saying the situation could have turned serious had the gunman not been quickly overpowered. He added that it was too early to draw conclusions as police continued their investigation.

Officials said Jamwal told investigators that he had long harboured the intention to kill Abdullah and believed he finally got the opportunity at the wedding function. The accused also said he lives off rental income from several shops he owns.

Police said further investigation is underway to determine the full circumstances behind the attack and how the accused managed to approach the Z+-protected leader at such close range.

With PTI inputs