A Jammu and Kashmir government employee was killed during an anti-insurgency operation in the Kulgam district of the state on Friday night, PTI reported. Security forces began the operation after they received intelligence inputs about the presence of a group of militants in the Chancer area of the district.

The police said the employee of the Fisheries Department was killed only minutes after the exchange of fire broke out between the militants and security forces. However, the militants managed to escape from the area. Local residents later staged protests against the employee’s death and blocked the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway at Vessu.

This is the second reported civilian death in the state in the past 24 hours, according to NDTV. On Thursday, a Congress worker and a village sarpanch were killed during an encounter in the Anantnag district. The Congress has claimed the encounter was staged and has demanded a judicial probe into the incident. But the Army said they managed to kill a militant during the encounter.