Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday condemned the killing of a migrant labourer, hailing from Bihar, in the Shopian district of South Kashmir.

Abdullah expressed grief over the killing of a non-local labourer whose body was found in the Shopian district and said such attacks must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

The body of the labourer, who was identified as Ashok Chauhan, was found in a field in the Wachi area of Zainapora in the south Kashmir district on Friday. Chouhan’s body bore two bullet wounds, according to police.

“Very sorry to hear about the death of Ashok Chouhan at the hands of militants in South Kashmir. These attacks are abhorrent & must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. I send my condolences to the family & loved ones of the deceased,” Abdullah said in a post on X.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said the entire nation stands united against such acts. The killing of a labourer from Bihar by terrorists in the Shopian district is extremely disgusting and condemnable, Gandhi said.

“The violence and target killings being carried out by terrorists are unacceptable,” the Congress leader said.

According to reports, the bullet-riddled body of Chauhan was discovered by the locals and they reported it to the police. The police arrived at the scene, assessed the situation, and then took the deceased’s body to the hospital for post-mortem examination. Chauhan was living in the Sangam area of Anantnag.

According to one of Chauhan’s colleagues, they left their rented room at 7 a.m., and he was with them for about an hour. Chauhan received a phone call while they were harvesting corn and informed them that he was going somewhere.

After he didn’t return for some time, they went to look for him. When they called his phone, it kept ringing with no answer, and they later found his body.

A bullet-riddled body of a labourer from Bihar’s Banka district was recovered in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Friday.

The body was found in the Wachi area of Zainapora in the south Kashmir district. The laborer, identified as Ashok Chauhan, was living in the Sangam area of Anantnag.

Locals discovered the body and reported it to the police. The police arrived at the scene, assessed the situation, and then took the deceased’s body to the hospital for post-mortem examination.

According to one of Chauhan’s colleagues, they left their rented room at 7 a.m., and he was with them for about an hour. Chauhan received a phone call while they were harvesting corn and informed them that he was going somewhere.

After he didn’t return for some time, they went to look for him. When they called his phone, it kept ringing with no answer, and they later found his body.

“He got a phone call while we were harvesting corn. He told us that he is going somewhere. When he did not return for sometime, we went to look for him. We called his number which kept ringing, but there was no answer. Then we found his body,” the colleague told PTI.

The body has been taken to a hospital for medico-legal formalities, and an investigation has been initiated.

In December 2023, the Indian Army ordered a thorough internal investigation into the deaths of three civilians in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir after allegations that they died in its custody. 

The three civilians were allegedly picked up by the Army for questioning in the wake of the killing of four Army Jawans in an ambush by unidentified terrorists in Poonch on December 21. The aforesaid civilians, aged between 27 and 42, were found dead on December 22.

Following their death, their relatives and political leaders alleged that the three died due to custodial torture as they were among the eight people picked up by the Army for interrogation.

A few days after the incident, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met the Indian Army in Poonch. The Defence Minister had said that the Army must not just win the nation but also the hearts of the people.

Singh emphasised that the Army not only has to save the nation from enemies but also has the responsibility to win the hearts of people. He asked the Army to ensure that such things as civilian killings don’t happen again. He added that there should be an end to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. He also asked the army to move forward with the commitment to stamp out terrorism. 

Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group announced on Friday that it was entering a new and escalating phase in its conflict with Israel. Iran also stated that the spirit of resistance will be strengthened following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Sinwar, who was a mastermind of the October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the Gaza war, was killed during an operation by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave on Wednesday, a significant development in the year-long conflict.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s death was confirmed by Hamas official Basem Naim on Friday, as reported by Israeli media. Naim serves as the political bureau head of the organization.

Upon confirming Sinwar’s death, Naim stated, “Hamas becomes stronger and more popular with each elimination of its leaders. It hurts to lose people, especially unique leaders like Yahya Sinwar, but we are sure we will win in the end.”

Naim also expressed doubt about Israel’s ability to dismantle the organization by targeting its leadership.

“Israel seems to believe that killing our leaders means the end of our movement and the struggle of the Palestinian people. They can believe what they want, and this is not the first time they have said that,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the killing of Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip marked the beginning of the end of the year-long war in the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli military announced that after a lengthy pursuit, troops had eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organization, in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip.

Shortly after, around 7:45 pm, confirmations came from the IDF, Shin Bet, Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, and others, confirming Sinwar’s death. Evidence that Sinwar was dead included matching both his dental records and fingerprint records, which Israel had from the period when he was in Israeli prisons until 2011.