4 min readSrinagarUpdated: Aug 3, 2026 05:06 AM IST
Stepping up surveillance, area domination exercises and night patrolling, and relocating migrants to specific clusters — these are among the measures that Jammu and Kashmir Police has decided to implement a day after two brick kiln workers from Chhattisgarh were shot dead by terrorists in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
The decision, taken at a high-level security review chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, comes two days after two migrant workers were shot dead by terrorists in Kulgam. Almost immediately after the attack on Friday evening, a joint team of police, Army and paramilitary forces had cordoned off the village and launched massive search operations.
According to sources, Lt Governor Sinha took a serious view of the incident, saying the security establishment should have been more alert after the killing of a policeman in Anantnag 10 days ago, and calling for a “comprehensive review” of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the safety of non-local workers.
Following the meeting, police top brass is learnt to have asked field officers to strengthen security on the ground, especially to ensure the safety of non-local workers, tourists and Amarnath pilgrims. Police officers have been told to consolidate brick kiln workers in specific locations instead of allowing them to live in scattered accommodations, sources said.
There are hundreds of brick kilns in the Valley, most of them in Budgam district in central Kashmir and the three south Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Kulgam and Pulwama. In Budgam district alone, there are 199 registered brick kilns. The majority of the labourers working at these brick kilns hail from outside Jammu and Kashmir, especially from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Bhupendra Bhaina (L) was first admitted to Government Medical College, Anantnag, and later referred to SKIMS Srinagar.
The other victim, Deepak Ratre, 24, was the sole earner for his family. (Special Arrangement, Enhanced using AI)
These workers live in huts at the brick kilns, most of which are in secluded areas.
A police officer admitted that it was a challenging task. “It’s almost impossible to provide security to every non-local worker, but we are taking measures to create a safe environment for them,” he said. “There are thousands of non-local labourers working at the brick kilns, and many of them have come along with their families. These kilns are scattered across villages. What we plan to do is move them and their families to a single location in the same village for the night, so that it is easier to secure them. But our overall focus is to create an environment where everyone feels safe,” he said.
Story continues below this ad
Field officers have also been asked to increase the security presence through surveillance, night patrolling and area domination in areas inhabited by non-local workers, sources said. As a precautionary measure, some police officers have also asked non-local workers to restrict their movements, especially during the night.
To ensure the safety of workers and tourists, police have set up checkpoints on roads that lead to major tourist destinations and intensified vehicle checks and passenger frisking.
On Friday evening, two brick kiln workers from Chhattisgarh were killed in a terror attack at Kilam village in South Kashmir’s Kulgam. Police sources say a man entered a brick kiln at Kilam, struck up a conversation with the labourers and shot them dead at point-blank range. They say around 250 non-local workers were present near the site at the time of the attack. The attack, the first on non-local workers since 2024 and the second terror attack in 10 days, has sent the security agencies into a tizzy.
The killing of the two migrant workers from Chhattisgarh was the first attack on seasonal migrant workers since October 2024. Police are yet to establish who carried out the attack, but are investigating the anonymous social media posts in which The Resistance Front (TRF), which police say is a shadow group of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, has claimed the attack.