Alleged assassination attempt; Gunman held at Geelani’s rally

Srinagar, Nov 11: Hurriyat Confrence (G) today claimed that an assassination attempt was made on its chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani by a man carrying a pistol who was nabbed by people at a rally in north Kashmir’s Sopore town. The man was nabbed when he was asked to show his identity card at Geelani’s rally at Sopore, 55 km from here, Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar said. “When they checked him, he was carrying a pistol. They then nabbed him,” the spokesman said, adding “why would a man come to a rally with a pistol. It could possibly have been an attempt to target Geelani.” Superintendent of Police, Sopore, Imtiaz Hussain, however said that it was not an attempt on Geelani’s life as the gunman belonged to Army’s Military Intelligence (MI). “He was carrying his service revolver for protection and had gone there to record Geelani’s speech,” Hussain said. He said the man, Naik Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, was taken to a hospital after he was beaten by the youth at the rally and his weapon snatched.