SRINAGAR, Feb 8 (2005) – Separatist guerrillas, who have tried to derail Kashmir’s first municipal polls in almost three decades, shot dead a candidate of the region’s ruling party on Tuesday, police said.
Separatist politicians and Muslim militants fighting New Delhi’s rule in the Himalayan region have called for a boycott of the elections to choose town councils and mayors for the first time in 27 years.
A police spokesman said Ghulam Mohuiddin, candidate of Kashmir’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was shot dead in Budgam district west of Srinagar.
“It is a highly condemnable act … These killings only increase the number of orphans and widows in the state,” Mehbooba Mufti, chief of the PDP, said in a statement.
The civic poll in Kashmir, the cause of two of three India-Pakistan wars, is being held in four phases. Thursday is the last stage of voting.
Separatist militants staged a string of deadly attacks on candidates, party workers and rallies before the elections, killing two candidates and wounding dozens of people.
