The Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Monday that a civilian was killed by militants in Nildora area of Shopian district in the evening. The deceased was an employee of the Block Development Council, PTI reported.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that terrorists had fired upon one civilian at his residence in Nildora area of Shopian,” the police said in a press release. “He has been identified as Sabzar Ahmad Naikoo son of Abdul Rashid resident of Nildora Shopian. He has received gunshot injuries in this incident. The injured civilian has been evacuated to nearby hospital for treatment of his injuries where he succumbed to his injuries.”
The Shopian Police said they have registered a case in the matter. The area was cordoned off and a search operation is under way. “Investigation is in progress and officers continue to work to establish the full circumstances of this terror crime,” the police said.
This is the third killing attributed to suspected militants in a week. A Block Development Council member was shot dead in Budgam district on September 23, and an advocate was killed in Hawal area of the city the following day.
A controversy had recently emerged in Shopian over the killing of three youth. Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh on Monday said that the investigation into the killing of the three men by security forces in Shopian in July was in its final stages.
The police had said last week that the deoxyribonucleic acid samples of the three men – 20-year-old Imtiyaz Ahmad and 16-year-old Ibrer Ahmad, both from Dharsakri village, and 25-year-old Mohammed Ibrar of Tarkasi village – had matched with those of their parents in Rajouri district. The three young men were related to one another. Their families had claimed that they were labourers, not militants, as labelled by the security forces.
The Army had said on September 18 that it had found evidence that its personnel misused the powers under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1990, in the episode. It launched a formal inquiry into the deaths last month.
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