J&K BJP leader’s killing to be probed by NIA

New Delhi, Nov 19: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to take over investigation into the killing of senior BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother Ajeet Parihar in Kishtwar district earlier this month.

A team of NIA experts visited Kishtwar town last week to assist the state police in the ongoing probe. It later sought permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs for taking over the case for a thorough investigation, the officials said.

The Parihar brothers were shot at point-blank range outside their house on November 1 when they were returning home after closing their shop in the town.

Officials said that the Home Ministry was likely to give its nod to the NIA for taking over the probe from the special investigation team (SIT) set up by the government.

The SIT has arrested some people, including the sister of a local militant, who along with his Kashmiri associate is believed to have carried out the target killing in an attempt to revive militancy in the district.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav visited the bereaved family last week and said, "Right now our main challenge is to track down the terrorists (behind the killings) and neutralise them. That will be done very soon."

"That (neutralizing of terrorists) is the important thing here. Of course, we will not allow these kinds of activities to create instability and violence in Kishtwar or Doda, the peaceful areas of Jammu region. That is our priority and we are focusing on that," Madhav had said.

On November 5, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik had said that the persons involved in the killing of the Parihar brothers had been identified and would be brought to book soon.

"It has been proved that it was an incident of militancy," Malik had said, adding that it "was an act of frustration on the part of militants and Pakistan."