New Delhi/Srinagar, Jun 8 (IANS): Pakistan's The Resistance Front (TRF), the alternative name of Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the assassination of a Kashmiri Pandit elected representative of a local body in Kashmir on Monday.

40-year-old Sarpanch, Ajay Pandita (Bharti), was shot dead by unidentified terrorists in Anantnag district on Monday, evoking widespread anger among the Kashmiri Pandit community which was ethnically cleansed from the Valley in 1990 by Pakistan-backed terror groups.

The TRF issued a statement, circulated through its online channels, calling Pandita a "political stooge" and "collaborator" who stood alongside India.

The terror group warned, "No political stooge/collaborator who stands alongside the occupational regime will be spared. Ajay Pandita Sarpanch was one of these political leaders who tarnished the image of JK. These are the main reasons of occupational regimes stay on our land the JK."

The TRF said, "No one will be spared who is hand in glove with occupational regime and strengthen their illegal occupation. Innocents won't be touched, so don't drag this with religion."

The outfit, which is mostly a propaganda cell of Lashkar-e-Taiba, has been unsuccessfully claiming that it is secular and native, ever since it came into existence a few months ago.