Another truck driver killed by militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag; fourth such attack in two weeks

Srinagar: A truck driver was killed by suspected militants on Monday in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district, police said, a day before a delegation of European Union (EU) MPs is scheduled to visit the Valley.

Narayan Dutt, a resident of Katra in Udhampur district, is the fourth truck driver to be killed by militants since 5 August, a move accompanied by a crackdown on dissent by security forces there, when the Centre abrogated Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and split the state into two Union Territories.

Representational image. Reuters

Dutt was fired upon by the militants in the evening in the Kanilwan area of Bijbehara in the south Kashmir district, a police official said.

According to officials the truck driver died on spot. The area was cordoned off and a hunt was launched to nab the attackers.

A senior police official, who was nearby, rushed to the spot and managed to save two other truck drivers who were in the vicinity, police said.

The incident comes a day prior to the visit by the delegation of 27 European Union MPs to the Valley. The delegation seeks to talk to locals and ask them about their experience after the Centre's move.

The government has expressed confidence and said the diplomatic outreach will allow EU leaders to "see things for themselves" in Kashmir and help it counter Pakistan's narrative.

Dutt's killing was followed a series of attacks by militants on truck drivers and non-locals in over two weeks.

On 24 October, militants killed two non-Kashmiri truck drivers in Shopian district when they had gone to ferry loads of apples.

On 14 October, two militants, including a suspected Pakistani national, shot dead the driver of a truck having Rajasthan registration number and assaulted an orchard owner in Shopian district. The driver was identified as Sharief Khan.

Two days later, Punjab-based apple trader Charanjeet Singh was killed and another identified as Sanjeev was injured in Shopian district. The same day, a brick kiln worker from Chhattisgarh was shot dead by militants in Pulwama district.

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