Kulgam: Two killed after terrorists open fire on non-local labourers

According to the Jammu & Kashmir police, two non-locals were killed and one was injured in the incident. The security forces in Kulgam have cordoned off the area.

Srinagar: Two non-local labourers were killed by unidentified militants in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Sunday evening, while one has been injured.

The incident follows a day after two non-local labourers were killed in Srinagar and Pulwama on Saturday evening taking the number of non-local labourers killed in the Valley in the last 10 days to five.

Police said that militants fired on non-local labourers in the Wanpoh area of Kulgam killing two of them while one has been injured.

"Terrorists fired indiscriminately upon nonLocal labourers at Wanpoh area of Kulgam. In this terror incident, two non-locals were killed and one injured. Police and security forces gave cordoned off the area," police said in a statement on Twitter.

The officials identified the slain labourers as Raja Reshi Dev and Jogindar Reshi Dev, both from Bihar, while the injured has been identified as Chun Chun Reshi Das son of Teju Das of Bihar.

“The injured labourer has fire arm injury in back and arm. His condition is stated to be stable,” said Medical Superintendent GMC Anantnag Dr Iqbal Sofi.

The first non-local labourer killed in Kashmir was Virender Paswan, a panipuri vendor. On Saturday two non-local laborers, Arbind Kumar Sah, from Bihar was shot dead in Srinagar, while Sagir Ahmad, a Muslim carpenter was shot dead in Litter area in Pulwama.

The spate of killings of civilians from the last week has sent shockwaves among non-local labourers.

Thousands of non-local labourers arrive in Valley during summers to work in farms, factories and for other labour. Most of the workers are from Bihar and UP.

The killings have evoked condemnation from political parties in the Valley.

The former chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah today said that such killings are unfortunate and aimed to defame the people of Kashmir.

"These killings are unfortunate and done under a conspiracy. Kashmiris are not involved in these killings. It is an attempt to defame Kashmiris," Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar.

Meanwhile, an 'advisory' for non local labourers has gone viral on social media. The 'advisory' directed non-local labourers in the valley to go to their nearest police stations/CRPF/ Army camps.

However, the police have denied issuing any such advisory, saying that all such reports are baseless. IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said that the order is fake and no such order had been issued by the police.