J&K: 45-year-old civilian shot dead by militants hours after Centre calls off truce

Hours after Centre called off the Ramzan ceasefire, militants shot dead a 45-year-old civilian when they stormed his house at Kelam village of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Sunday.

The incident occurred on Sunday evening when unknown militants barged into the house of Mohammad Iqbal Kawa and fired indiscriminately at him at Kelam village. He was shifted to the hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

“Iqbal Kawa received gunshot wounds and later succumbed to his injuries”, said Harmeet Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Kulgam.

Police have registered a case and massive hunt has been launched to nab the militants responsible for the incident.

The killing comes hours after Centre called off the Ramzan ceasefire and decided to resume anti-terror operations in the strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir. Centre had declared the suspension of operations against militants from May 17 keeping in view the holy fasting month of Ramzan.

Earlier, five civilians were injured when a low-intensity blast ripped through a busy public park at Manasbal in Central Kashmir district of Ganderbal   

“It is learnt that a low-intensity explosion occurred this evening inside a park at Mansabal.  In this incident five civilians sustained injuries. All of them were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment. The injured are stated to be stable”, said a police spokesman.

Police have started an investigation for ascertaining the cause of this low-intensity explosion.