Jammu, November 7 (IANS). On Thursday, terrorists abducted and killed two members of the Village Defense Committee (VDC) in the forest area of Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The VDC members killed in the terrorist attack have been identified as Nazir Ahmed and Kuldeep Kumar.
“The bodies of the slain VDC members have been recovered and a massive search operation has been launched to trace their killers,” an official source said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah have condemned the incident.
He said, “Such barbaric violence remains a major obstacle to maintaining long-term peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased in this hour of grief.”
Former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Kavinder Gupta said that this murder is a matter of concern. He said, “Terrorist incidents are now happening again in areas that were once peaceful. Some political parties had tried to create such an environment earlier also. Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party won there, some of these parties in their speeches Such issues have started being raised, which is unfortunate.”
Jammu and Kashmir Police had set up VDC to prepare the local people living in remote areas to protect their families from terrorists.
VDC members were initially issued with .303 rifles, but have now been issued with automatic weapons.
Militants in remote areas of Poonch, Rajouri, Kishtwar, Doda, Kathua and Udhampur districts consider VDC members as the eyes and ears of the security forces. For this reason VDC members often become their victims.
There are reports of foreign mercenaries being active in the hilly areas of these districts and they are held responsible for several attacks and ambushes in these districts.
To counter this hit and run strategy of terrorists, more than four thousand highly trained para commandos have been deployed in the forests of these districts, who are trained for warfare in the mountainous areas.
–IANS
AKJ/
