Srinagar, July 31 -- A labourer from Chhattisgarh was killed and another from the same state was injured in a terrorist attack at a brick kiln in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district on Friday, officials said.

The assailants targeted the labourers at the brick kiln in the Kelam area of the south Kashmir district late in the evening.

Officials stated that two labourers were injured in the attack, and one of them succumbed to his injuries before he could be transported to a hospital.

The deceased has been identified as Deepak Ratray (24), and the

injured labourer is Bopinder (28), both hailing from Chhattisgarh.

Bopinder was first taken to GMC Anantnag and later referred to

SKIMS Hospital in Soura, officials added.

The attack follows closely on the heels of another incident less than ten days ago, in which terrorists shot and killed a police officer in Anantnag town.

Before this, two labourers were killed here in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir in 2024.

On February 7, 2024, two non-local workers from Punjab, Amritpal Singh and Rohit Masih, were shot dead by a terrorist in the Shaheed Gunj area of Srinagar.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday condemned the terror attack on non-local labourers in Kulgam district and directed security forces to step up operations to eliminate terrorists.

"I spoke with the DGP, Shri Nalin Prabhat and top security officials following the brutal terrorist attack in Kulgam in which a labourer from Chhattisgarh was killed. I strongly condemn this cowardly act. I have directed our security forces to step up their operations and eliminate the terrorists," the L-G said in a post on X.

He said the J-K Police and security forces have cordoned off the area and launched an operation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti described the attack as "unimaginably cruel".

"Unequivocally condemn the killing of two labourers from Chhattisgarh in Kulgam today. They work themselves to the bone far

away from home only to feed their families. Unimaginably cruel to target them in such senseless acts of violence," Mehbooba said on X.

Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari said the attack was tragic and inhuman.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.