One migrant brick kiln worker died and another was injured after they were shot at by militants in Magrapora of Budgam in central Kashmir on Thursday evening, causing panic in the area.
The condition of the injured is said to be stable. Security forces reached the spot to nab the attackers.
This is the second incident of targeted attacks on civilians in Kashmir on Thursday.
On Thursday morning, the manager of Arreh Mohanpura branch of Elaqahi Dehati Bank was shot dead in Kulgam by militants. The manager was identified as Vijay Kumar of Rajasthan. He was taken to hospital for treatment.
Security forces had cordoned off the area after the incident.
The attacks follow the killing of a teacher, Rajni Bala, by militants on Tuesday morning at Gopalpora in Shopian. She was a resident of Samba district in Jammu and was posted in Kashmir.
She was killed days after Rahul Bhat, a migrant Kashmiri Pandit employed under PM’s Relief and Rehabilitation Package, in Kashmir was murdered. He was shot dead at a tehsil office in Budgam on May 12.
Bhat’s killing triggered protests at several places by migrant Kashmiri Pandits working under the PM Relief and Rehabilitation Package. They took to streets and blocked the Srinagar- Jammu national highway at Indira Nagar near BB Cantt in Srinagar.
The protesters said they were being targeted in Kashmir and demanded to be relocated until the situation improves. They said the government failed to provide them security. They staged protests inside the camps at several locations where they have been provided accommodation in Kashmir, including Sheikhpora in Budgam.
The protesters threatened that unless the government addresses their concerns they would migrate from Kashmir like in the 90s. The government reached out to the protesters and announced that all their demands would be met by June 6.
The government also created a special helpline for them, and decided that all migrant employees would be placed at the safer locations in the district headquarters.
The targeted killings of migrant Kashmiri Pandits and non-locals have emerged as a security threat in Kashmir. Observers say the targeted attacks are a result of growing fears about demographic change in Kashmir due to the revocation of Article 370.
