Security forces intensify operation to track militants involved in Ganderbal attack

Security forces have intensified the operation to track down the militants responsible for the killing of seven workers, including a local doctor in the Ganderbal district of central Kashmir. 

The attack, which occurred near Gagangeer on October 20 evening, left dead seven employees of APCO Infratech, an infrastructure company working on the Z-Morh tunnel along the Srinagar-Leh highway. The project is strategic and connects Ladakh to the rest of India in all seasons. 

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Senior police officials stationed in the area are monitoring the operation against the attackers. Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Law and Order Vijay Kumar, and Inspector General of Police V.K. Birdi have visited the site to analyse the situation. 

Investigations by police have revealed that two militants were involved in the attack. The injured have also confirmed that two militants opened indiscriminate fire. The security forces are working round the clock to track the attackers, using drones and sniffer dogs in the forests and the mountains near the site of the attack. Samples have also been collected for forensic analysis. The NIA has also joined the probe and is supervising it.

Among the seven victims, two were from Jammu and Kashmir, including Dr Shahnawaz Dar, a physician from Budgam district in central Kashmir. Others hailed from Bihar, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh. The attack happened around 8.30pm on Sunday, when the workers were returning to the camp after the day’s work. One of the workers who escaped unharmed said they mistook the firing for crackers. “We thought some people were bursting crackers to celebrate a marriage in a neighbouring village,’’ he said. 

After the attack, the security forces intensified area domination patrols and surveillance in vulnerable areas. This is the second such incident in three days, following the killing of Ashok Kumar, a labourer from Bihar, in Shopian on October 18. His bullet-riddled body was found in a field some distance from where he had been harvesting maize with other migrant labourers.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the attack that occurred days after his swearing-in. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, People's Conference President Sajad Lone, and JKPCC President Tariq Hameed Karra also expressed condemnation, calling for immediate measures to prevent further attacks on innocent workers. Reacting to the incident, Home Minister Amit Shah described the attack as a “despicable act of cowardice” and said the attackers would face the “harshest response from security forces”.