Farooq Abdullah escapes assassination bid, video shows man firing from point-blank range

FArooq Abdullah, former Jammu and cashmere chief government minister and subject group discussion chairman, had a narrow escape from an assassination attempt at a wedding function in Jammu on Wednesday night.The firing incident happened at Greater Kailash area when Farooq Abdullah and deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary were leaving a marriage function, as HT reported earlier.The shocking attempt was caught on CCTV camera, footage of which showed the gunman approaching Abdullah from behind and firing a shot at him from very close range.Watch The security deployed Abdullah thwarted the attempt and took the accused - identified as 63-year old Kamal Singh Jamyal - into custody."The security deployed with the protectee immediately swung into action, thwarted the attempt and took the accused into custody, who was later identified as Kamal Singh," PTI new agency quoted police as saying in a statement.Who is the attacker?Officials said the accused, Jamwal, has been identified son of Ajit Singh, and a resident of Purani Mandi in Jammu, who told police that he was waiting for an opportunity to target Abdullah for the last 20 years.The accused, who was overpowered by two officers of the security wing of the J-K Police, an inspector and a sub-inspector, was found in an inebriated state, officials said.The incident took place when Abdullah and Choudhary were exiting the function where they had come to greet party leader BS Chouhan for the marriage of his daughter. They were at the wedding venue for more than an hour, the officials said.Police said that the pistol used in the crime was seized from the accused's possession.NC spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said that all the three NC leaders were safe.“I have spoken to Dr. Farooq Abdullah Sahab, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Ji, and Nasir Aslam Wani Sb. Alhamdulillah, they are safe and fine,” the earlier HT report quoted him as saying.Senior National Conference leader and advisor to the chief minister Nasir Aslam Wani told media persons: “He tried to fire his revolver at Dr Farooq Abdullah, but Allah saved him. Allah did a great favour. The Deputy Chief Minister of J&K was also present at the wedding and Dr Farooq Abdullah was there as well,” Wani said.Expressing anguish over the attack, J&K chief minister and Farooq Abdullah's son Omar Abdullah said, "Allah is kind. My father had a very close shave."In a post on X, he said 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."It was only the close protection team that deflected the shot & ensured that the assassination attempt failed. There are more questions than answers at the moment including but not limited to how someone was able to get this close to a Z NSG protected former CM," the chief minister said.