Seven people including a doctor and six workers were killed in a terrorist attack on a tunnel construction site at Ganderbal district, Jammu & Kashmir on Sunday evening. The incident took place at a camp on Srinagar-Leh national highway to where workers had come back from work. Authorities pledged two or more terrorists fired at people in the street and the face of dead two persons and others wounded. People who died included Dr. Shahnawaz, Faheem Nazir, Kaleem, and others. Another five people are in hospitals with critical injuries since the time of the shooting.
Shooting to panic the security forces immediately sealed off the area and began the search operation. Important officers including the IG PKR Kashmir V. K. Birdi also visited the scene of accident.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the attack was done in a cowardly manner and assured of action. J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah described the attack as sad, and added that the death toll could go up. He extended his sympathies to the families of the dead and described the attack as ‘despicable’ which targeted outsiders among employees.
The Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, provided the citizens with the guarantee that the guilty will be punished and handed over security forces “complete freedom of operation”. The former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti described the violence as “meaningless” and extended condolence to the families. Other leaders who extended sympathies are Sajad Gani Lone, leader of the People’s Party of Jammu and Kashmir; Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Political advisor to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi; and Tariq Hameed Karra, state president of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee.
This attack occurs within days of a Bihar based labourer was found murdered in Shopian which further lead to a heighten security threat to non-local employees in the region.
