Father, son pay for backing polls

Unidentified militants killed a man and his son last night in this north Kashmir village.

Villagers said the militants killed the two since they had joined Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s People’s Democratic Party’s election campaign last year. Witnesses said at 9.30pm on Tuesday, several masked gunmen wearing Pathan outfits barged into the Sangrampora, Baramulla district house of 40-year-old Abdul Ahad Khan and asked the family members to lie down in a corner. ‘‘They took Khan, a farmer and part-time employee with the Forest Department, his son Aashiq Hussain, with them. They tied Khan’s nephew Riyaz Ahmad Lone with a rope. Next morning, the bodies were found 200 metres from each other,’’ said Abdul Rashid, Khan’s brother.

Khan’s another nephew Ahmad said: ‘‘We heard frantic knocks at the door upon which my uncle told me to open it. As I opened the door, five gunmen pushed me aside, went upstairs and caught hold of my uncle, then grabbed my cousin in the kitchen.’’ Ahmad said 15-20 militants had surrounded the house before the gunmen entered the house.

‘‘No official, no politician or police has visited us to know our fate,’’ he said. Relatives said the murders could have been avoided had the family been provided adequate security.