Unidentified gunmen abducted a senior engineer of Indian Railways Construction (IRCON) International Limited along with his brother and two locals from near Awantipore, 40km from Srinagar, in south Kashmir's Pulwama district late on Wednesday afternoon.

The abductors stopped the vehicle carrying Sudhir Kumar and the three others near Charsoo village. They then called up another senior IRCON engineer in the evening demanding a ransom of Rs 50lakh for the safe release of the hostages failing which they have threatened of dire consequences.

This is for the first time that someone has been abducted for ransom in the Kashmir region.

No group has yet claimed responsibility. Police in Pulwama district have launched a massive hunt to trace the hostages.

IRCON has been entrusted with laying a railway line across the Pir Panjal Range to connect the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country. The project is scheduled to be commissioned in 2007.

The ambitious project includes a 120km-long rail track plus state-of-the-art railway stations at Qazigund, Srinagar and Baramulla at an estimated cost of Rs 710 crore. Besides boosting trade and industry in the region, it is expected to generate employment.

As part of this project, IRCON is laying a railway line between Qazigund in south Kashmir and Baramulla in the north, which is scheduled to be commissioned in 2005. 

External Link: IRCON International Limited website