Two civilian members of anti-terror Village Defence Guards (VDGs) have gone missing while grazing livestock at Kuntwara in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)’s Kishtwar district, prompting police and the army to launch a search operation after photographs of what were claimed to be their bodies were circulated on social media amid a spike in terror attacks in the region.
VDGs, earlier known as Village Defence Committees, are part of the anti-terrorism mechanism first set up in the mid-1990s in J&K’s Chenab Valley to defend villages against terrorists. VDGs comprise civilians as well as police officers. There are 4,125 VDGs as of now. The army trains them in weapons handling and intelligence-gathering skills.
Kashmir Tigers, an offshoot of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed to have killed VDGs Kuldeep Kumar and Nazeer Ahmed on Thursday and circulated the photographs of their bodies with a letter.
The letter on the Kashmir Tigers letterhead warned people against becoming VDGs. It added Kumar and Ahmed were chased and caught in the dense forests of Kishtwar. “After they confessed to all the crimes, both were executed.” It claimed their record is clear and that they have not killed a common Hindu to date. “We are fighting against the Indian Army. Some ignorant people are joining the VDGs and becoming tools in the army. Such people should learn from today’s incident and not be part of VDGs. Otherwise, they will also meet the same fate.”
J&K Police cited the photographs of the bodies claimed to be those of Ahmed and Kumar on social media and added the families of the two confirmed their identities. “…a joint search operation by police and army is underway. Updates to follow.”
Police officers aware of the matter said Ahmed and Kumar were blindfolded, abducted, and then killed.
An intelligence report confirmed the killings. “Two village defence guards were killed by terrorists in [the] Kuntwara area of Kishtwar…,” said the report, a copy of which HT has seen.
Ruling National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah and chief minister Omar Abdullah condemned the purported killings, saying such acts of barbaric violence remain a significant impediment to achieving long-lasting peace. “In this hour of grief, their thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased,” NC said on X.
Congress, which is part of the region’s ruling coalition, said such incidents are intolerable and indicate a bad security situation. It sought firm action.
Sanatan Dharam Sabha Kishtwar, a local religious organisation, has given a bandh call in the Kishtwar district on Friday.
There has been a string of attacks after the first elected government since the revocation of the Constitution’s Article 370 that stripped the region of its semi-autonomous status in 2019 was sworn in on October 16. On October 24, two soldiers and two civilian porters were killed in an ambush of an army convoy in the Baramulla district of Kashmir. Four days earlier, seven people were killed when terrorists opened fire on a construction site camp in the Ganderbal district. On October 18, a 37-year-old migrant labourer from Bihar was shot dead in Shopian.