A former sarpanch of BJP was killed and a tourist couple from Jaipur was seriously injured in two back-to-back terrorist attacks in south Kashmir.

The two terror strikes Saturday night took place in the Anantnag and Shopian districts that are part of the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat which is witnessing a high-pitched election campaign before going to polls on 25 May.

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These attacks came shortly after the campaigning stopped for north Kashmir’s Baramulla Lok Sabha seat where polling will be held tomorrow.

Condition of the injured tourist couple, Tabrez and his wife Farha, is stated serious but stable. They were fired upon by terrorists in the Yannar area near Pahalgam in the Anantnag district.

In the second attack within 30 minutes, ex-sarpanch Aijaz Sheikh was fatally injured in Shopian’s Heerpora at about 10.30 pm and later succumbed to his wounds. His is the first political killing in J&K during the ongoing Lok Sabha election.

Aijaz was targeted by terrorists within days after he described himself a former stone pelter and gave credit of his transformation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a video, he is seen saying that he used to get Rs 500 a day for throwing stones at the security forces. He was impressed with the development in the rural areas that has undergone during Modi’s rule, he said.

Condemning these terrorist attacks, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said that free hand has been given to the security forces to bring the perpetrators to justice. He said J&K Police, Army and Security Forces will hunt down the terrorists and those aiding and abetting them.

“I have already instructed the Administrative and Police officials to provide the best possible treatment to the injured couple. Praying for their speedy recovery. I have complete faith in the bravery of our personnel and the perpetrators of this attack will be punished soon. Our security forces will also hunt down those elements who are helping the terrorists and trying to disrupt J&K’s developmental journey”, Sinha said in a statement.

The BJP in a statement said, “We strongly condemn the killing of Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh. He was a brave soldier of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP firmly stands with the family of Aijaz Ahmad, who lost his life in this terror attack,” it said.

National Conference chief and former chief minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah said an independent enquiry should be held into the recent killings. Such incidents were affecting tourism in Kashmir, he stated.

Former chief minister and PDP candidate Mehbooba Mufti, who is contesting the election for the Anantnag seat, condemned the killing of Aijaz and injuries to the tourist couple. “The timing of these attacks given that the South Kashmir (Anantnag-Rajouri) election was delayed without any reason is a cause of concern. Especially keeping in mind normalcy claims touted by the government of India”.