Was Border Roads Organisation commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Ajay Verma killed by militants because he did not pay heed to their demands and the government failed to provide him adequate security?

Verma had written two letters to the district administration and police in Kishtwar about threats from militants and also demanded security cover for the men of the organisation, official sources told PTI. But the state failed to provide them security.

Verma, his second-in-command Major S P Singh, sepoy Punjba Singh and their driver were killed by militants during an ambush at Chatru area of Kishtwar on June 13.

Verma, who was looking after the construction of the prestigious Kishtwar-Simthantop-Kokernag road connecting Kashmir with Jammu, wrote the first letter to Kishtwar deputy commissioner on February 26 and demanded adequate security for his men, sources said.

"But the district administration and police failed to act and provide him with security," a source said.

He wrote another letter on March 28 to the DC and SSP, in which he mentioned that someone was threatening him on his mobile phone.

The sources said he and his men were killed as they did not concede to the militants' demand for ransom and contracts.