Terrorists Shoot Right-Wing Hindu Leader Dead in Jammu & Kashmir

New Delhi (Sputnik): Mass protests erupted in the Jammu and Kishtwar region after terrorists killed Hindu leader Chandrakant Sharma on Tuesday. Sharma belonged to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu organisation and political ideologue of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

​Authorities suspended mobile and data networks in the area in a bid to stop the protests from spilling over into new areas. Police have also imposed curfew in the area to control the mob.

A gunman earlier opened fire in broad daylight on Sharma in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. Sharma's personal security officer was also killed in the attack. Kishtwar Angrez Singh Rana, a senior police officer of Jammu, said that Sharma succumbed to his injuries even though he was airlifted in a special helicopter arranged by the district administration for treatment.

A curfew has been imposed in Kishtwar, Doda and Bhadarwah towns as a precautionary measure, said a police official.

Sharma worked in the OPD of a local hospital in which he was shot dead. Police stated that terrorists snatched the weapon of the RSS leader's security guard and fired point-blank towards the duo, causing multiple injuries to both. 

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"This is an attempt to restrict the voice of nationalists in the region. We are sure that nationalists people will not allow them to succeed them," Suchet Singh, a local RSS official, said in a statement.

Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, in its manifesto, has promised to abolish the law which provides special treatment to Kashmir under the Indian Constitution. The announcement has been aggressively opposed by Kashmiri leaders.