Bullet-riddled body of migrant labourer found in J&K’s Shopian

Officials familiar with the matter said suspected terrorists shot dead the non-local worker, who was living in Sangam area of Anantnag; he was identified as Ashok Chauchan, of Bagusaria Banka district in Bihar

A bullet-riddled body of a 37-year-old labourer hailing from Bihar was recovered in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Friday, officials said.

Migrant labourer Ashok Chauchan, of Bagusaria Banka district in Bihar, is survived by his wife and two children. (Getty image)

Officials familiar with the matter said suspected terrorists shot dead the non-local worker, who was living in Sangam area of Anantnag. He was identified as Ashok Chauchan, of Bagusaria Banka district in Bihar.

Officials said Ashok used to cut maize in Anantnag and Shopian districts. In the morning, he had gone to cut maize with his colleagues at Wandana Shopian.

“We were cutting maize in the Anantnag and Shopian. In the morning, as we were busy, Ashok received a call and left the place. We later started looking for him and found him lying dead at a distant place at in Wandana,” said one of his associates.

He said Ashok is survived by his wife and two children. The body was sent for postmortem. “This is handiwork of militants and we are investigating this case,” said a senior police officer.

Soon after the body of the migrant worker was recovered, J&K Police and Indian Army began the search operation in the area to trace the killers. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the migrant worker.

Hundreds of non-local workers are working in different parts of Kashmir and after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, the militants have been targeting them.