J-K: Bhupinder Singh didn't stop serving people despite terror threats, says family

The killing of Bhupinder Singh, who was receiving terror threats after he unfurled the tricolour on Independence Day, was "planned", the block development committee chairman's son claimed on Friday and demanded a probe.

The killing of Bhupinder Singh, who was receiving terror threats after he unfurled the tricolour on Independence Day, was "planned", the block development committee chairman's son claimed on Friday and demanded a probe. Bhupinder was shot dead by militants in his ancestral village Dalwash in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district on Wednesday.

"He had unfurled the tricolour on Independence Day in his ancestral place. He was getting threats. There is a security lapse. I see his killing as planned," Bhupinder's elder son Amandeep Singh said. "There is a conspiracy behind his killing. We want a probe into it," he said at his house at Sainik Colony here.

Police, on Wednesday, had said that Bhupinder, who was given two PSOs for personal security, had dropped the security personnel at Khag police station and proceeded towards his house at Aloochibagh. Without informing police, he went to his ancestral village where he was attacked by militants, an official had said.

The government has failed to protect those who are working to bring democracy to Jammu and Kashmir's hinterlands, claimed family members of Bhupinder, who was the chairman of the block development committee (BDC) of Khag. Militants had killed a 40-year-old sarpanch, Ajay Pandita in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, on June 8.

Amandeep said," My father loved his country. He used to get threats. He defied those threats and worked for the people and for strengthening democracy, for which he was martyred." "If Kangana Ranaut is given high security for just one threat, why those risking their lives for democracy and Indian flag in Kashmir, get just two PSOs. It is shameful," Simrandeep Singh, a relative said. Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut was given Y-plus category security by the government amid a controversy over her comment that she feared the Mumbai Police.

Bhupinder had left Khag in central Kashmir in 1990 to escape the emergence of terrorism in the Kashmir Valley, but eventually went back to serve the community, his family members said. "We told father that there is a huge risk. Please don't go to Kashmir. But he said that he has taken responsibility and he cannot back off. He said people trusted him and have expectations," Bhupinder's daughter Namrita said.

He did not listen despite the threats, she said. It is a "clear conspiracy" and a "planned murder", Bhupinder's son and daughter alleged.

The BDC chairman's wife Balvinder Kour said, "He was popular among the people and this led to his killing." Bhupnder Singh was cremated here on Thursday. The All Jammu Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) on Thursday had said that such mindless killings would not deter elected Panchayat members from serving the people at grassroots level.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)