Protests erupt; bodies found, hunt on to track down terrorists

Kishtwar/Jammu: The bodies of two village defence guards (VDG) killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district were on Friday recovered from near a rivulet during a search operation, officials said.

A massive cordon-and-search operation is also underway in Kishtwar to track down the terrorists responsible for the killings.

According to officials, the two VDGs were executed by terrorists on Thursday after being abducted in the higher reaches of Kishtwar district. Their bodies were spotted lying near a rivulet in the Pondgwari area in Keshwan belt.

The Army and Special Operations Group (SOG), after locating the bodies, carefully conducted an operation to recover them, the officials said, adding that the bodies are being transported to the deceased’s homes in the district. A joint search operation involving the police, Army, and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been launched in a dense forest area following the gruesome killings, which have been condemned by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and leaders from the People’s Democratic Party, Congress, and the BJP.

The operation is concentrated in the Kuntwara, Ohli, and Munzla Dhar hilly areas, with reinforcements dispatched early this morning, the officials said.

Security forces have intensified efforts, deploying drones and sniffer dogs, with a helicopter seen hovering over the forested area this

morning, they added.

“Two VDG members, Nazir Ahmed and Kuldeep Kumar from Ohli-Kuntwara, went missing in the upper reaches while grazing livestock,” a police spokesperson said.

Photographs of their bodies later circulated on social media, and family members have confirmed their identities, the spokesperson added.

The officials reported that Ahmad and Kumar had gone to graze cattle in the Munzla Dhar forest in Adhwari but did not return. Police teams spread out to locate them amid reports of their abduction and subsequent killing by terrorists.

“My brother and Nazir were abducted and killed by terrorists. They were village defence guards and had gone to graze cattle as usual,” Kumar’’s brother Prithvi, said.

He added that the family is in deep shock as Kumar’’s killing follows their father Amar Chand’s death only a week ago.

Meanwhile, there were sporadic protests in the Jammu region over the killings, while a complete shutdown was observed in Kishtwar with demonstrations against Pakistan. People came out in large numbers to give vent to their anger and demanded “immediate elimination” of the terrorists involved in the killings. All shops and businesses were closed and traffic was off the road in the district, while there was thin attendance in schools and other educational institutions.