The gunning down of six migrant labourers working on the Z-Morh tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal is a direct attack on the infrastructure development in the region, say top intelligence sources.
These are around 20-25 tunnels in Jammu and 10-11 in Leh Ladakh side, all of which are being built on NH1. The Z-Morh tunnel is crucial tunnel, with several companies, including Amco, whose workers were attacked, working on it.
Two attackers came around 7:30 pm and started indiscriminate firing, killing the six men and a doctor. “They have clearly said they want to attack the infrastructure as it will increase the strength of the military. Most striking factor is the elections were held for almost 45 days, during which the vulnerability was its peak, but not a single attack was reported. However, within days of the results, two attacks have been reported,” said sources.
According to initial assessment, the terrorists don’t want the Indian government to bring back normalcy in the region. “After the successful abrogation of Article 370, in which Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) failed to do anything major, the bar is now lowered to hybrid killing, so that something is visible to disturb peace. The ISI is so desperate that they want to kill anyone with the help of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The use of sophisticated weapons such as M4 and AK 47 clearly suggest the role of handlers,” sources said.
#BreakingNews: L-G Manoj meets those injured in Ganderbal attack in which migrant workers were targeted; L-G said, ‘punishment that will be remembered by the terrorists will be given…’ @TejinderSsodhi shares more with @GrihaAtul | #JammuKashmir #GanderbalTerroristAttack pic.twitter.com/zJn5MbzqEW— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 21, 2024
POLITICAL REACTIONS
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said those involved in the heinous act will not be spared. “The dastardly terror attack on civilians in Gagangir, J&K, is a despicable act of cowardice. Those involved in this heinous act will not be spared and will face the harshest response from our security forces,” Shah said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the number of casualties in the attack may go up. “The casualty figure from the Gagangir attack is not final as there are a number of injured labourers, both local and non-local. Praying that the injured make a full recovery as the more seriously injured are being referred to SKIMS, Srinagar,” he said in a post on X.
The dastardly terror attack on civilians in Gagangir, J&K, is a despicable act of cowardice. Those involved in this heinous act will not be spared and will face the harshest response from our security forces. At this moment of immense grief, I extend my sincerest condolences to…— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) October 20, 2024
Abdullah condemned the attack, which came barely four days after he was sworn in as the chief minister of the Union Territory. “Very sad news of a dastardly and cowardly attack on non-local labourers at Gagangir in Sonamarg region. These people were working on a key infrastructure project in the area. 2 have been killed and 2-3 more have been injured in this militant attack. I strongly condemn this attack on unarmed innocent people and send my condolences to their loved ones,” he said in another post on the microblogging platform.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha strongly condemned the heinous terror attack on civilians. “I assure the people that those behind this despicable act will not go unpunished. We have given full freedom to J&K Police, Army and security forces,” Sinha said in a post on X.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the attack.
With PTI Inputs
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