Security forces find bodies of 2 missing Kishtwar VDGs, continue op to track terrorists
A J&K police officer said it took several hours to reach the two VDGs as the forces had to move cautiously due to the possibility that terrorists had laid traps
JAMMU: A massive search operation to trace two village defence guards (VDGs) who had gone missing ended less than 24 hours later on Friday when security forces found their bodies in the upper reaches of Kishtwar district of Jammu.
The operation was launched on Thursday evening after an offshoot of the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed to have killed Nazir Ahmad and Kuldeep Kumar, residents of Ohli-Kuntwara who had gone to graze their cattle in the Munzla Dhar forest of the Adhwari area in the morning but hadn’t returned.
Officials said that security forces were conducting a massive cordon-and-search operation in Kishtwar to track down the terrorists behind the killing.
Kashmir Tigers, an offshoot of Pakistan-based JeM said that it killed the two men to punish them for joining the VDGs. “They (others) should learn from today’s incident and not be a part of VDGs. Otherwise, they will also meet the same fate,” the terror group said in a statement. It also shared a photo of the bodies of two blindfolded men.
Police said the search operation led by the J&K police and comprising the army and the Central Reserve Police Force was launched after the families of the two men confirmed that it was their photograph.
Anand Jain, Jammu’s additional director general of police (ADGP), said that the bodies of the two VDGs were recovered from the jungle.
A J&K police officer said it took several hours to reach the two VDGs as the forces had to move cautiously due to the possibility that the terrorists had laid traps on the way to the area where the bodies were located, and even the bodies.
“It took nearly six hours for the security forces to trek the hilly terrain from the nearest road to reach the upper reaches of Ohli Kuntwara where the terrorists killed the two men in a jungle. The bodies are being brought back and will be taken to their respective houses,” the officer said on condition of anonymity.
VDGs were first floated in the 1990s, during the peak of militancy in the restive region. They were disbanded in 2000 but revived in August 2022 in the wake of a series of attacks in the UT. There are 4,125 VDGs in the UT, according to the latest official figures.
In a post on X, J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah expressed said, “Deeply saddened & concerned by the attack that resulted in the deaths of Kuldeep Kumar & Nazeer Ahmed Padder of Kuntwara in Kishtwar, members of the local village defence committee. The terrorists killed two innocent men who had taken their livestock to graze. I condemn this attack unequivocally & send my condolences to the families. At the same time, I expect the security forces to move quickly to plug any gaps in our counter-terror grid & ensure that attacks like this stop completely.”
Ahmad and Kumar’s killings triggered protests across Jammu and a complete shutdown in Kishtwar as business establishments largely remained closed.