Two migrant labourers hailing from Kannauj district of Uttar Pradesh were killed after terrorists lobbed a grenade inside a tin roof shed in the South Kashmir district of Shopian in the early hours of Tuesday. This is the second incident of targeted killing of members belonging to the minority community in the Kashmir Valley since Saturday.
A Kashmiri Pandit fruit grower Puran Krishan Bhat was shot dead outside his residence in the Chowdari Gund area of Shopian on Saturday.
The deceased labourers have been identified as Monish Kumar & Ram Sagar, both residents of Kannauj. They were earning their livelihood by working as “packers” in one of the apple orchards.
According to initial reports, around midnight terrorists lobbed a grenade inside a tin roof shed where both the labourers were sleeping after a day’s hard work. The incident was reported from Harmen village of Shopian district. On receipt of information the local police teams rushed to the spot and shifted both the migrant labourers to the nearby hospital where doctors declared them dead. Panic stricken migrant labourers working in the Shopian district on Tuesday decided to shift to safer places. They hired private vehicles and left the place in a hurry to ensure their safety.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant- Governor Manoj Sinha’s scheduled visit to Shopian was also cancelled after a spate of attacks in the area on Tuesday.
According to a police spokesman, a local “hybrid terrorist” of the proscribed outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was among two people arrested for the attack during a search and cordon operation launched in the area.