Bodies of the two Village Defence Guards (VDGs) abducted and brutally killed by terrorists on Thursday were found near a rivulet on the highlands of Kishtwar on Friday during a massive joint search operation by the Army, CRPF and J&K Police.

The hands of both victims were tied on their backs and eyes gouged out indicating that they were brutally tortured before being gunned down by the terrorists.

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A police officer said, “In an intensive joint search operation, police successfully recovered the bodies of two Village Defense Guards (VDGs), Nazir Ahmed and Kuldeep Kumar, from Ohli Kuntwara, who were abducted and killed in a terror attack in the Kishtwar district. The operation, led by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in collaboration with the CRPF and the Army was conducted to search the forested areas where the bodies were recovered”.

J&K DGP Nalin Prabhat, ADGP (Jammu) Anand Jain, and senior officers of the Army and CRPF were camping in Kishtwar to supervise the anti-terror operation that had been launched in the area.

Meanwhile, people in various areas of Kishtwar took to the streets to protest against the killings. The protesters demanded the ‘immediate elimination’ of the terrorists involved in the killings to restore confidence among the local population.

Hundreds of people gathered in the Drabshalla area of the district burning tyres and blocking roads.

A massive cordon and search operation is also underway in Kishtwar to track down the terrorists responsible for the killings. The operation is concentrated in the Kuntwara, Ohli, and Munzla Dhar hilly areas, with reinforcements dispatched early this morning, officials said.

According to officials, the two VDGs were executed by the terrorists on Thursday after being abducted in the higher reaches of the Kishtwar district. Their bodies were spotted near a rivulet in the Pondgwari area in the Keshwan belt, the officials said.

Security forces have intensified efforts to track down the terrorists, deploying drones and sniffer dogs, with a helicopter hovering over the forested area this morning.

The VDG members, Nazir Ahmed and Kuldeep Kumar from Ohli-Kuntwara had gone missing while grazing their livestock in the upper reaches, a police spokesperson said. As the Kashmir Tigers terror outfit released photographs of their bodies and later circulated on social media, their family members confirmed their identity, the spokesperson added.

“My brother and Nazir were abducted and killed by terrorists. They were VDGs and had gone to graze cattle as usual,” Kuldeep’s brother Prithvi, told mediapersons.

He added that the family was in deep shock as Kuldeep’s killing followed their father Amar Chand’s death only a week ago. The village learned about the killings when terrorists used the victims’ phones to share pictures of their execution, according to a local source who did not wish to be named.

The Kashmir Tigers, an offshoot of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed responsibility for the killings, sharing images of the bleeding victims.