Post-Kulgam attack, 138 labourers return to Kolkata from Kashmir

The state government had arranged for a special coach for the workers, who expressed their desire to return in the wake of the brutal killing of labourers in Kashmir on October 29, the official said.

Soldier talks to Kashmiri villages who where ordered to assemble at one place for questioning near the spot where Indian laborers were killed by gunmen in Katrasoo village. (Photo | AP)

KOLKATA: A total of 138 labourers, working in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir, arrived in the city on Monday by Jammu Tawi Express, an official said.

Of them, five are from Assam, he said. The labourers were received by Kolkata mayor and minister Firhad Hakim at Kolkata railway station.

The state government had arranged for a special coach for the workers, who expressed their desire to return in the wake of the brutal killing of labourers in Kashmir on October 29, the official said.

Five state-run buses have been pressed into service to take the labourers to their respective hometowns -- most of them being residents of Birbhum, Jalpaiguri and Dakshin Dinajpur districts, he said.

Arrangements were also being made to send the Assam labourers home, the official added.

On October 29, five men from Bahalnagar village in West Bengal's Murshidabad district were gunned down by terrorists in Kulgam district of the Valley.

One labourer who sustained bullet injuries in the attack is undergoing treatment at Srinagar hospital.