Jammu, Dec 3 : A former village defence guard (VDG) was found dead on Tuesday under mysterious circumstances in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district.

Officials said the body of 45-year-old Ashok Kumar, a native of Chapper village in Udhampur, was found in the forest area.

'He had been previously disengaged as a VDG. His body was found with a point 303 rifle by his side. The body has been taken into possession by police for the completion of medico-legal formalities after a case was registered in this incident,' the officials said.

The village defence guards are provided with weapons by the police after giving them basic training in handling weapons. These guards protect their families and villages against the terrorists in remote inaccessible areas of the Jammu division.

The J&K Police have decided to provide automatic weapons to the VDGs to equip them better to face terror threats.

Terrorists view the village defence guards as the eyes and ears of the security forces and this makes the VDGs highly vulnerable to attacks by the terror groups.

Some members of the village defence committees, even women, have been rewarded for extraordinary bravery while protecting their honour and families from the terrorists.

It must be mentioned that terrorists have carried out a number of dastardly attacks against the army, security forces and civilians during the last four months.

On October 20, two terrorists fired indiscriminately inside the workers' camp of an infrastructure company in the Gagangir area of the Ganderbal district in Kashmir. Seven people, including six non-local workers and a local doctor, were killed in the attack.

On October 24, terrorists attacked an army vehicle in the Botapathri area of Gulmarg hill station. Three soldiers and two civilian porters were killed in that attack.

On November 2, terrorists hurled a grenade at the busy Sunday Market near the tourist reception centre (TRC) in Srinagar city. A 42-year-old mother of three children was killed and nine other civilians were injured in this attack.

/IANS