India, March 12 -- National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah narrowly escaped a gunshot attack when a man opened fire at him while he was leaving a wedding function in Jammu on Wednesday night, officials said.

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's advisor Nasir Aslam Wani were accompanying Abdullah at the time of the incident.

The accused, identified as 63-year-old Kamal Singh Jamwal, a resident of Purani Mandi in Jammu, was immediately overpowered by security personnel and taken into custody. Police said Jamwal told investigators that he had been waiting for an opportunity to target Abdullah for nearly two decades.

According to police, the incident o...