Overview
- Police said that gunmen opened fire on two non‑local workers at a brick kiln in Kellam (Kelam), Kulgam, with officials confirming the attack late Friday, July 31.
- Both victims were migrant labourers from Chhattisgarh identified as Deepak Ratray and Bopinder (also reported as Bhupendra), and both died after being taken to hospital.
- The J&K administration ordered a large cordon‑and‑search operation and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha directed stepped‑up anti‑terror action while security teams sealed the area to trace the assailants.
- Investigators are probing whether the workers were singled out after identity checks and are examining possible links to Lashkar‑e‑Taiba/The Resistance Front and a named suspect, Mohammed Lateef, as inquiries remain under way.
- The killings have revived long‑running fears about targeted attacks on non‑local labourers in the Valley, prompted cross‑party condemnation, and led the chief minister to announce ex‑gratia payments for the victims’ families.