The bullet-riddled body of a migrant labourer from Bihar was found near the Rambiara river in Shopian district of south Kashmir on Friday.

This is the first suspected militant attack on a migrant worker since the new government took office here although police have not officially confirmed it as a terror strike.

Officials identified the deceased as Ashok Chauhan, a 30-year-old roadside vendor selling maize in the main town of the district.

A fellow migrant said they had gone to a village in Shopian in the morning to collect corn.

“There was not much corn here. He received a call to collect it from somewhere else. When he did not return, we called him on his phone but it was switched off,” he said. “Later, we learnt his body has been found.”

Militants have targeted several migrant labourers following the 2019 scrapping of Article 370.

Before Friday’s incident, two non-local labourers were killed by militants this year.

Earlier this month, an army soldier was found dead with bullet injuries on his body after he was abducted by militants in Anantnag district.

Two soldiers belonging to the 161 unit of the Territorial Army were abducted during an anti-militancy operation. The other soldier was injured but had managed to escape.

Poonch grenades

The security forces on Friday arrested a person and recovered four grenades from his possession in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, officials said.

The suspect, identified as Abdul Aziz, was stopped at the Dundak checkpoint in Surankote by security personnel, they said. During the search, four grenades were recovered from Aziz’s possession, the officials said.