UP Worker Killed By Terrorists In J&K Was To Visit Home On Diwali: Father

A 40-year-old labourer from Uttar Pradesh, shot dead by terrorists on Monday in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, had gone there five months ago to work at a brick kiln, his family said. The man is survived by his wife Kushma and four children - daughters Nisha (19) and Khushi (12), and sons Pankaj (14) and Ankush (9).

The victim, Mukesh Kumar, had recently told his family that he would come home, in UP's Bhatpura village, on Diwali, his father Ganga Prasad said.

Kumar's other relatives also worked at same the brick kiln in Pulwama and it was through them, the family came to know about the incident, police officer Gyanendra Kumar said.

Ganga Prasad said that his son has been going to Kashmir for the past several years to work as a labourer.

"At around 2:30 pm on Monday, we received information from a relative who was staying with my son there that he has been killed by terrorists," Mr Prasad said.

Speaking to news agency PTI, Kumar's brother Hariram said, "My brother had gone there around five months ago. He was regularly in touch with us."

Kumar was the youngest of his three brothers.

The family is now waiting for Kumar's body to arrive from Kashmir.

Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists fired upon Mukesh Kumar in Pulwama's Tumchi Nowpora area. He later died of to injuries, a police spokesman said, adding that a hunt has been launched for the terrorists involved.

This was the second terror attack in the Kashmir Valley in less than 24 hours as terrorists shot at and critically injured police inspector Masroor Ahmad Wani at the Eidgah ground in the city when he was playing cricket with local boys.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)