Amid a pall of sadness, the mortal remains of two village defense guards, Nazir Ahmed and Kuldeep Kumar, were buried and cremated respectively in their native village of Ohli Kuntwara in Kishtwar district on Saturday.

The duo had been kidnapped, blindfolded and shot at point-blank range by terrorists on Thursday night. The next day, their bodies were recovered from a deep gorge surrounded by hills at the top of Kuntwara.

“The mortal remains of Nazir Ahmed, 45, and Kuldeep Kumar, 33, were buried and cremated respectively in their native village Ohli Kuntwara on Saturday,” Kishtwar district police chief SSP Abdul Qayoom said.

The last rites of the two VDGs were attended by former BJP local unit president and national executive member Ravinder Raina, Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban DIG rank Shridhar Patil and Kishtwar SSP Abdul Qayoom.

Meanwhile, the duo’s family members demanded adequate compensation and government jobs to sustain their livelihood.

Saima, the daughter of slain VDG Nazir Ahmed, said she had identified her father from the photograph released by the terrorists. “Avenge my father’s murder. We are three brothers and a sister. “Our father was the only breadwinner,” he said.

“What kind of jihad is this? If they want to do jihad, they better go and serve their parents. “We are poor people,” he added.

At Kuldeep Kumar’s house, another VDG Des Raj said, “After his photograph and a letter from the terrorists went viral around 6.30 pm on Thursday, the VDG immediately launched a search operation.”

“On a path to track the kidnapped VDGs, we found a place in the deep jungles where we found utensils where they could have had their food. About half a kilometer away, we found the bodies of Nazir and Kuldeep in a nullah (stream) surrounded by hills. If there had not been locals, the security forces would not have found them,” he said, reporting that the two were found blindfolded.

“We, Hindus and Muslims, live in complete harmony in Kuntwara. We warn Pakistan to desist from such acts of cowardice and will take strong retaliation,” he said, adding, “Nazir and Kuldeep were poor people who had taken their cattle to graze. “What harm had they done to Pakistan?”

Former sarpanch of Ohli Kuntwara and relative of Nazir, Farooq Ahmed, said: “The entire people of Ohli Kuntwara, including Muslims and Hindus, are in a state of shock and grief. On Thursday, around 1:00 p.m., we received information that their mobile phones were switched off and at around 6:30 p.m., we learned that they had been kidnapped and murdered. Around 7:30 pm, a photograph of their dead bodies with a letter (allegedly circulated by the Kashmir Tigers) went viral. We identify them by photography.”

The former sarpanch termed the killings as an act of cowardice.

“This is a backward area where poor people eke out a living through small jobs. They were VDG with paltry fees $4,000 a month. We appeal to Prime Minister Omar Abdullah and the Lieutenant Governor to provide adequate compensation and government jobs to the family members of each VDG because they were the only breadwinners,” Ahmed added, while asking the government to improve VDG fees.

Kishtwar district commissioner Rajesh Kumar Shavan said: “An immediate ex gratia relief of $1 lakh each will be given to the next of kin of the two VDGs. Furthermore, according to SRO (Sadr-e-Riyasat Ordinance) 43, the administration will provide cash relief of $4 lakh each.”

Security forces recovered the bodies of two People’s Defense Guards (VDG) on Friday.

Meanwhile, security forces continued a massive cordon and search operation in Kishtwar and using drones, sniffer dogs and helicopters to track down the terrorists behind the killings.

DG Nalin Prabhat, ADGP Anand Jain and 16 Corps commander were still camped in Kishtwar to review CI operations.