Two VDGs killed by militants in Kishtwar

JAMMU: Two Village Defence Guards were on Thursday executed by militants after their abduction in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, officials said.

Sanatan Dharam Sabha called for a complete bandh in Kishtwar in protest against the killings on Friday.

A massive joint search operation has been launched by police and the Army in a dense forest area following the gruesome killings, which were condemned by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and leaders of the National Conference, People’s Democratic Party, the Congress and the BJP.

The officials said Nazir Ahmad and Kuldeep Kumar, both residents of Ohli-Kuntwara, had gone to graze their cattle in the Munzla Dhar forest of the Adhwari area in the morning but did not return.

They said police parties fanned out to find them amid reports that they had been abducted and killed by militants.

“We have received information that my brother and Ahmad were abducted and killed by militants. They were Village Defence Guards (VDGs) and had gone to graze cattle, as usual,” Kumar’s brother Prithvi told PTI.

He said a massive search operation was underway but the bodies were not yet recovered.

Prithvi said his father Amar Chand died a week ago and the reports of his brother’s killing came as another big shock for the family.

The village came to know about the killings when the militants used the victims’ phones to share pictures of their execution, said a local who wished to remain anonymous.

Kashmir Tigers, an offshoot of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, has claimed that it killed the VDGs. It also shared pictures of the victims’ bodies with their eyes blindfolded. (PTI)