india

Updated: May 09, 2019 00:06 IST

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday ordered an investigation into all political killings in the state since 2018.

Additional director general of police Muneer Ahmad Khan will conduct the probe, an official statement said. He has been asked to submit a report within 15 days.

The probe was ordered days after militants shot dead Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s state vice president, Ghulam Mohammad Mir, 55, in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Saturday.

BJP workers and leaders held a protest rally in Srinagar on Tuesday and blamed the police for withdrawing Mir’s security. BJP’s state general secretary, Ashok Kaul, surrendered his security in protest.

The probe was ordered after governor Satya Pal Malik reviewed the security situation at a meeting in Srinagar.

“The governor stressed the need for ensuring the safety of protected persons and advised security agencies to give due consideration to the genuine apprehensions of political activists working at the grassroots level,’’ the statement said.

The statement added the governor has asked leaders of political parties to raise their security concerns with the police. “…due diligence of threat perception will be carried out by the Intelligence agencies before arriving at a decision on the provision of personal security to persons with a

perceived threat.”

BJP state spokesman Altaf Thakur on Sunday said Mir’s security was withdrawn despite threats from militants. “He was under constant threat from militants, yet his security was taken back.”

The state government in February announced withdrawal or downgrading of security of 155 people, including 18 separatists. Former bureaucrat Shah Faesal and People’s Democratic Party leader Waheed Parra were among those whose security was withdrawn.

RSS leader Chanderkant Sharma was killed along with his personal security officer in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district last month.