Jammu and Kashmir: Migrant worker killed by suspected militants in Shopian

A migrant worker from Bihar was killed by suspected militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Friday, The Indian Express reported.

The worker was found dead with bullet wounds near the basin of the Rambiara River during the day. Shopian Superintendent of Police Anayat Ali Choudhary told the newspaper that a bullet-riddled body had been found. Further details were awaited, he added.

The senior superintendent of police in Shopian confirmed that the migrant was killed in an alleged militant attack, the Hindustan Times reported.

The migrant was identified as Ashok Chauhan, a 30-year-old street vendor who used to sell maize in the district, The Indian Express quoted unidentified officials from the Jammu and Kashmir Police as saying.

Suspected militants allegedly abducted Chauhan from Shopian’s Malhura area, the officials said, adding that he was subsequently shot dead.

This is the first suspected militant attack targeting a migrant since National Conference leader Omar Abdullah took over as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday after his party won the Assembly elections.

This is also the first such attack since the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. On April 17, suspected militants killed a migrant worker in Anantnag.

After the body of the migrant worker was found on Friday, Abdullah said that he was “very sorry to hear about the death of Ashok Chouhan at the hands of militants” in South Kashmir.

In a social media post, the chief minister said: “These attacks are abhorrent and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. I send my condolences to the family & loved ones of the deceased.”

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also condemned the “brutal killing of a vendor Ashok Chauhan in Shopian by cowardly terrorists”.

He said: “The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with his family. Our security forces are determined to hunt down the culprits and bring them to justice.”