SRINAGAR: A day after seeking a thorough probe into the killing of two Chhattisgarh labourers in south Kashmir, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Sunday demanded that the attackers be identified and questioned how terrorists were entering Jammu and Kashmir despite the government's claim that all borders are sealed.
"The terrorists killed a police officer and two labourers. Tell us who these killers are. You say terrorism has ended. If terrorism has ended, then who is killing the people," Abdullah told reporters in Bijbehara in south Kashmir.
A police officer and two labourers from Chhattisgarh, Deepak Ratray, 24, and Bhopinder, 30, were shot dead by militants in two separate incidents in south Kashmir within 10 days.
“People are being killed and then it is being said terrorists killed them. But the question is where the terrorists come from when all the borders are sealed,” Abdullah questioned. “Who are people carrying out these killings,” the former J&K CM asked.
In response to a question, Abdullah said, “Has the terrorism ended after 2019. You can see how much the situation has changed”.
The NC president had on Saturday questioned the timing of the attack, saying, “I do not know why such incidents happen whenever we are demanding statehood for J&K.”
“We do not know who killed them and we do not know who the perpetrators are. There should be a thorough and honest investigation to identify those responsible," Abdullah said.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti termed the attack on the labourers a security lapse. “It should be investigated that despite tight security arrangements in place across the Valley for Amarnath Yatra, how such an incident took place,” she said.
It was the first attack on migrant labourers in the Valley in nearly two years.
On October 18, 2024, Bihar resident Ashok Chouhan was shot dead by militants in south Kashmir's Shopian district.
The attack was also the first militant attack on civilians in the Valley since the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack, in which 25 tourists and a local pony handler were killed, prompting India to launch precision missile strikes under Operation Sindoor on nine militant infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.