New Delhi [India], March 12 (ANI): Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on Thursday strongly criticised the central government following an assassination attempt on National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah at a wedding in Jammu, asserting that the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Government of India are directly responsible for lapses in security measures.

'In Kashmir, which is a UT, the law and order is directly under the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Lieutenant Governor (LG) there. It is a complete failure of both. After the removal of Article 370, it was transformed into a Union Territory from a State. However, neither is there a complete stoppage of terrorism, nor is law and order improving there. The Government of India has failed,' Tiwari said.

Tiwari added, 'Farooq Abdullah, his father Sheikh Abdullah and the current Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah have served the people of the State with full dedication. They are loved by the people. It is noteworthy how the security measures have failed. The Government of India and the Home Ministry are directly responsible for this.'

The attack occurred when a man, allegedly carrying a loaded pistol, attempted to shoot Farooq Abdullah at a marriage party in Jammu's Royal Park in the Greater Kailash area. According to the police, the security personnel of the National Security Guard (NSG), who were deployed with the protectee, immediately swung into action and thwarted the attempt.

The accused, identified as Kamal Singh, was taken into custody. The accused is a resident of Purani Mandi in Jammu. The firearm, used in the crime, has also been recovered from the possession of the accused, police said, adding that cognisance has been taken and further investigation is ongoing.

On Wednesday, Omar Abdullah labelled the attack against his father as an assassination attempt and questioned how the attacker managed to get so close despite the former CM being under Z+ security cover by the NSG.

'Allah is kind. My father had a very close shave. The details are sketchy at the moment, but what is known is that a man with a loaded pistol was asked to get within range to discharge a shot. It was only the close protection team that deflected the shot & ensured that the assassination attempt was foiled. There are more questions than answers at the moment, including but not limited to how someone was able to get this close to a Z+ NSG-protected former CM,' Omar Abdullah posted on X. (ANI)