Assailants kill Indian ruling party politician in Kashmir

Unidentified assailants fatally shot a politician of India’s ruling political party in disputed Kashmir, police said on Thursday.

Suspected militants carried out a string of deadly attacks last year on Bharatiya Janata Party members in Kashmir.

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The assailants fired at Rakesh Pandita late on Wednesday in the southern town of Tral where he was visiting a friend, police said. He was declared dead in a hospital.

The wife of Rakesh Pandita, a politician who was killed late Wednesday, mourns at their residence in Jammu. AP

Pandita had a secured accommodation in the region’s main city of Srinagar and was protected by two police guards but he went to Tral without his guards, a police statement said.

Manoj Sinha, New Delhi’s top administrator in Kashmir, and BJP leaders condemned the killing. "Terrorists will never succeed in their nefarious designs, and those responsible for such heinous acts shall be brought to justice,” Sinha said in a tweet.

No rebel group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The mother of a politician Rakesh Pandita mourns at their residence in Jammu, India, on Thursday. AP

Last year, a top BJP politician along with his father and brother, who were also BJP members, were killed.