Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday confirmed that three missing persons from Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir had been killed by militants, calling the incident a conspiracy to disturb peace in the region.
Describing the killings as a matter of grave concern, Singh wrote on X in Hindi (loosely translated), “The brutal killings of three youth by militants in the Bani area of district #Kathua is extremely sad as well as a matter of great concern. There appears to be a deep conspiracy behind spoiling the atmosphere in this peaceful area. We have discussed this matter with the concerned officials.The Union Home Secretary himself is reaching Jammu so that the situation can be assessed on the spot. I am confident that such incidents will not happen again, and the confidence of the people remains strong.”
Security forces recovered the bodies of the three missing civilians on Saturday using drones. Their remains were found in a water body near the Lohai Malhar area, sources said. The exact cause of their deaths will be determined after a postmortem.
Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan is scheduled to arrive in Jammu on Sunday to review the security situation, with a specific focus on eliminating militancy from the Jammu division.
Senior officials from the Intelligence Bureau, BSF, CRPF, J&K Police, and the UT administration will attend the meeting.
The victims, identified as Yogesh and Darshan from Marhoon and Varun from Dehota, all in Billawar, were allegedly killed by militants.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson RS Pathania termed the killings a “cold-blooded murder” and said, “Prima facie, the evidence suggests that this entire mass murder was perpetrated by militants. One thing I want to assure is that the perpetrators will not go unpunished. Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, terrorism is on its last leg.”
Kathua district has remained vulnerable to militancy, witnessing multiple terror attacks in the past two years. This is the second such incident in which civilians have been found dead in the same area.
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