The zonal president of Apni Party, Ghulam Hassan Lone was shot in cold blood at his residence at Devsar in Kulgam district of south Kashmir.

This is the first time a worker of the Apni party has been killed by terrorists since the party's foundation in March 2020 - seven months after the centre scrapped Jammu and Kashmir's special status. The party was launched with tacit support from the Centre to create an alternate political structure in Kashmir and replace the traditional regional mainstream parties. Its chief Altaf Bukhari is a former leader of Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party.

Police spokesman said that preliminary investigation revealed that terrorists fired upon the 70-year-old leader near his house in Devsar. “He (Lone) was immediately shifted to nearby hospital where he was declared as brought dead... neither the police records nor the activities of deceased indicated him to be a political worker.

Apni party president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari termed the incident barbaric and conveyed deep anguish over the killings of political activists. Bukhari said Lone was working on the ground for the welfare of people.

Lone had joined Apni Party four months back after resigning from Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

This is the third killing of a political leader in the region in a fortnight, but the earlier deaths were of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. On Monday, BJP leader Javeed Ahmad Dar was shot dead by terrorists in Kulgam. On August 10, BJP village chief Ghulam Rasool Dar and his wife Jawahira Bano were gunned down in Anantnag town.

The incident has sent shock waves among mainstream political workers in Kashmir who have been trying to emerge from political marginalisation following the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status two years ago.