Farooq Abdullah survives attempt on his life; one man detained

The National Conference (NC) on Wednesday (March 11, 2026) said there was an attempt on the life of party president Farooq Abdullah at a wedding ceremony in Jammu. One person has been detained, officials said.

“He [the accused] tried to kill Dr. Sahib. Allah has been kind and he survived [the attack]. Dr. Sahib is fine and in good health,” said Nasir Aslam Wani, NC leader and adviser to J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, in the evening.

Besides Dr. Abdullah and Mr. Wani, J&K Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary was also present at the event held at Royal Park, Greater Kailash, Jammu.

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Initial reports said the accused brandished a pistol and tried to go near Mr. Abdullah. He was overpowered by the security personnel guarding the NC president. Eyewitnesses said he opened fire. However, the police have not confirmed it.

The J&K Chief Minister said it was only the NC president’s “close protection team that deflected the shot and ensured that the assassination attempt failed”. “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 able to get within point-blank range and discharge a shot. 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,” he said in a post on X.

Terming the incident a major security lapse, Mr. Choudhary said: “One should ask the police how such a big lapse has happened. No one from the local police was present there.”

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J&K Police issue statement

The J&K Police, in a statement, said there was “an attempt made on the life of Dr. Farooq Abdullah when he was attending a marriage ceremony at Royal Park Greater Kailash, Jammu.

“The security personnel of J&K Police and NSG, who were deployed with the protectee, immediately swung into action and thwarted the attempt,” the statement read.

The accused taken into custody, has been identified as Kamal Singh, a resident of Purani Mandi, Jammu. “The firearm, used in the crime, has also been recovered from the possession of the accused,” the police added.

Further investigation is under way.