Kin perform last rites for slain VDGs in Kishtwar

Amid a pall of gloom, the mortal remains of two village defence guards, Nazir Ahmed and Kuldeep Kumar, were buried and cremated respectively at their native Ohli Kuntwara village in Kishtwar district on Saturday.
The duo had been abducted, blindfolded and shot from point blank range by terrorists on Thursday evening. The next day, their bodies were recovered from a deep gorge surrounded by hills in the upper reaches of Kuntwara.
“The mortal remains of Nazir Ahmed, 45, and Kuldeep Kumar, 33, were buried and cremated respectively at their native village Ohli Kuntwara on Saturday,” said Kishtwar district police chief, SSP Abdul Qayoom.
The last rites of the two VDGs were attended by former BJP local unit president and national executive member Ravinder Raina, DIG Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban range Shridhar Patil and Kishtwar SSP Abdul Qayoom.
The duo’s kin, meanwhile, demanded adequate compensation and government jobs to sustain their livelihoods.
Slain VDG Nazir Ahmed’s daughter Saima said she had identified her father from the photograph released by the terrorists. “Avenge the killing of my father. We are three brothers and a sister. Our father was the only bread earner,” she said
“What sort of jihad is this? If they want to do jihad, they should better go and serve their parents. We are poor people,” she added.
At Kuldeep Kumar’s house, another VDG Des Raj said, “After their photograph and a letter by terrorists went viral around 6.30 pm on Thursday, the VDGs immediately launched a search operation”.
“On a trail to trace the abducted VDGs, we came across a spot in the deep jungles where we found utensils where they might have had their food. Around half a km away, we found dead bodies of Nazir and Kuldeep in a nullah (rivulet) surrounded by hills. Had there been no locals, security forces would not have found them,” he said, informing that the two were found blindfolded.
“We, Hindus and Muslims, live in total harmony in Kuntwara. We warn Pakistan to desist from such cowardice acts and we will retaliate strongly,” he said, adding, “Nazir and Kuldeep were poor people, who had taken their livestock for grazing. What harm had they done to Pakistan?”
Former Ohli Kuntwara sarpanch and Nazir’s relative Farooq Ahmed said, “The entire village of Ohli Kuntwara including Muslims and Hindus are in a state of shock and grief. On Thursday, around 1 pm we received information that their mobile phones were switched off and around 6.30 pm we came to know that they had been abducted and killed. Around 7.30 pm, a photograph of their dead bodies with a letter [purportedly released by Kashmir Tigers] went viral. We identified them from the photograph.”
The former sarpanch called the killings an act of cowardice.
“This is a backward area where poor people eke out their living doing petty jobs. They were VDGs on a paltry honorarium of ₹4,000 a month. We appeal to chief minister Omar Abdullah and lieutenant governor to provide adequate compensation and government jobs to the next of kin of each VDG because they were the only bread earners,” Ahmed added, while appealing to the government to enhance honorarium of the VDGs.
Kishtwar district commissioner Rajesh Kumar Shavan said, “An immediate ex-gratia relief of ₹1 lakh each is being given to next of kin of the two VDGs. Further, under SRO (Sadr-e-Riyasat Ordinance) 43, the administration shall provide a cash relief of ₹4 lakh each.”
Security forces on Friday recovered the bodies of two village defence guards (VDGs).
Meanwhile, security forces continued with a massive cordon-and-search operation in Kishtwar and using drones, sniffer dogs and helicopters to track the terrorists behind the killings.
Director general Nalin Prabhat, ADGP Anand Jain and 16 Corps commander were still camping in Kishtwar to review the CI operations