A court in Jammu on Thursday remanded the man who allegedly made an assassination attempt on National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah to five-day police custody for questioning.
After questioning, the 63-year-old Kamal Singh Jamwal was presented before at city court in Jammu amid tight security. The police sought his remand for questioning that further interrogation was necessary to ascertain the motive behind the attack and to verify whether the accused had any links with any organisation.
The court allowed five days’ police remand and also asked the police to ensure proper medical checkup of the accused every 24 hours. Later he was taken to hospital in police custody where he went through detailed checkup.
SP City Jammu Ajay Sharma said detailed investigation of the case is underway. “Regarding yesterday’s incident,FIR NO 29 U/S 109 BNS3/25IAA registered, visit by team of officers to SOC was taken,weapon recovered and seized. Medical of accused conducted and a detailed investigation into incident is underway covering all angles.Updates shall be shared periodically,” he wrote on X.
20-year grudge
Preliminary interrogation of Jamwal has revealed a chilling, long-standing obsession. Jamwal, 63, a local businessman who lives off rental income from shops in Jammu’s old city, told officials the attack was the culmination of a two-decade-long animosity toward the NC patriarch.
“My name is Kamal Singh Jamwal, son of late Shri Ajit Singh Jamwal from Purani Mandi. I wanted to kill Farooq Abdullah for the past 20 years. It was my personal agenda. Today, I got the opportunity, but he was lucky to survive. I had my own reasons behind this. I used my personal weapon. I was invited to the wedding ceremony as it was of a relative, ” Jamwal is reportedly seen telling investigators in a which went viral on social media.
On being asked about his livelihood, he said, “I don’t work at all. I have two or three shops from which I collect rent,” he added. However, HT could not independently verify authenticity of the video.
While police noted the accused appeared inebriated at the time of the shooting, they ruled out immediate terror links, focusing instead on a “radicalised personal grievance”. The weapon used was a .32 caliber pistol and was registered in Jamwal’s name.
He later told reporters, after police got his five-day remand said that he took this step on his own and nobody was behind him. “Nobody was responsible for it,” he said.
The incident has shocked the locals of Purani Mandi area, many of whom described Jamwal as a well-behaved person and said they were unable to understand the motive behind the act.
President of the Purani Mandi Traders Association Ritesh Gupta said, “From what we know, he had shops here, and his nature appeared normal, just like any ordinary person. There was nothing unusual about him, and there had never been any such issue earlier,” he added.
Another businessman, Arvind Verma, said he had been living and doing business in the area for nearly three decades and had never heard anything negative about Jamwal.
With PTI inputs
