OCCUPIED SRINAGAR: Indian paramilitaries shot dead a civilian in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on Sunday, residents said, as authorities tightened security across the disputed territory for a visit by a top Indian minister.
The victim, a milk seller in the southern IIOJK Valley, is the 12th civilian killed by freedom fighters or security forces this month as attacks increase in the Muslim-majority region.
New Delhi has about 500,000 troops and paramilitaries in IIOJK seeking to contain a rebel movement agitating for independence or the region's merger with Pakistan. Police said the man was hit in "crossfire" during "militant action" near a police paramilitary camp in the village of Zainapora and that the incident was being investigated.
Villagers told AFP the man had been fatally shot without provocation. Amit Shah, India's home minister and effective deputy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been in IIOJK since Saturday, adding to security concerns. It is Shah's first trip to the Himalayan region.
His visit follows a series of targeted killings by fighters, with minority Hindus and Sikhs as well as migrant workers from elsewhere in India the main targets. Sandbag bunkers have been erected across occupied Srinagar and snipers positioned on rooftops around the building where Shah is staying.
Police have in recent days impounded hundreds of motorbikes in the city and intensified checks on pedestrians including women and children. Motorbikes have been used for drive-by killings. India's chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat said security monitoring was being intensified to thwart attacks by rebels.
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