Jammu, Oct 21 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday visited the house of one of the victims of the Ganderbal terror attack that left seven people dead and said the perpetrators will face severe consequences.
A doctor and six labourers were killed when terrorists struck a tunnel construction site on the Srinagar-Leh national highway in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Sunday.
The lieutenant governor flew from Srinagar to meet the family of Shashi Abrol in the Talab Tillo area of Jammu city. He assured Ruchi Abrol, the widow of Shahi Abrol, of the government's full support.
"Those involved in the killing of these locals and non-locals will not be spared. The police and security forces will eliminate them soon," Sinha said.
He said the attack was a "result of the neighbouring country's frustration", an apparent reference to Pakistan.
"It is an unfortunate incident... Some local and non-local workers were killed by terrorists. Senior officers, including the DGP, visited the spot. I visited the hospital to enquire about the welfare of the injured. They are stable," Sinha told reporters.
Sinha asserted that the government stands with the families of the victims.
"The company has provided Rs 15 lakh compensation, in addition to Rs 6 lakh from the government. Those who are residents of Jammu and Kashmir will also be facilitated with jobs," he said.
Referring to the previous selective killings, he said the police and security forces would be more forceful in eliminating terrorists.
Security forces have been given full powers to eliminate these threats, he added.
The unidentified terrorists carried out the attack when the labourers and other staff working on the tunnel project at Gund in Ganderbal had returned to their camp late in the evening.
They said the terrorists -- believed to be at least two -- opened indiscriminate fire on the group of labourers that included both locals and non-locals.
While two labourers died on the spot, four others and the doctor succumbed to their injuries subsequently, the officials said, adding that five people are undergoing treatment for injuries.
This was the deadliest attack on non-local labourers in Kashmir since the June 2006 attack in the Yaripora area of Kulgam district which left nine labourers -- hailing from Nepal and Bihar -- dead.