Kashmir Impulse Desk

Srinagar, Aug 1

A day after the killing of two migrant workers in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha chaired a high-level security review meeting here Saturday.

LG Sinha directed all the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) to conduct a comprehensive review of the Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) established to protect labourers from outside Jammu and Kashmir.

He also directed that the employers must ensure all workers from other states and union territories of the country are provided insurance and that their details are registered with local police and district authorities.

“We must intensify precise, high-impact anti-terror operations to neutralise the terrorists,” the LG said.

He instructed the authorities to ensure dignified last rites for the victims of the Kulgam attack and to provide all the support to bereaved families.

The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Atal Dullo; DGP Nalin Prabhat; Principal Secretary Home Department Chandraker Bharti; Special DG Coordination Police Headquarters S J M Gillani; ADGP CID Nitish Kumar; Commissioner Secretary GAD M Raju; IGPs; Divisional Commissioners; DCs, SSPs, and other senior officials.

The meeting also discussed the security arrangements in place for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra and strengthening of the security grid.

Two migrant workers from Chhattisgarh were killed after suspected militants opened fire at a brick kiln in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Friday.

The victims were identified as 24-year-old Deepak Ratray and 28-year-old Bhupendra, both residents of Chhattisgarh.

The two men were working at a brick kiln in the Kellam area when they came under attack, officials said.

They were rushed to a medical facility, but both later succumbed to their injuries.

The attackers fled the scene, taking advantage of darkness, officials said.

The attack came amid a history of violence targeting migrant workers in Jammu and Kashmir.

In recent years, such attacks have included the killing of two construction workers from Punjab in Srinagar in February 2024, a Bihar-based street vendor in Anantnag in April 2024, and a migrant worker from Bihar in Shopian in October 2024.

Seven people, including migrant workers, were also killed in an attack on a construction camp near Gagangeer in Ganderbal district in October 2024.

Thousands of migrant workers travel to Kashmir each year for seasonal employment, particularly in sectors including construction, agriculture, and brick kilns.