Man shot dead in Kashmir as security tight for minister’s visit

SRINAGAR: Indian paramilitaries shot lifeless a civilian in Kashmir on Sunday, residents stated, as authorities tightened safety throughout the disputed territory for a go to by a prime Indian minister.
The sufferer, a milk vendor within the southern Kashmir Valley, is the twelfth civilian killed by militants or safety forces this month as assaults enhance within the Muslim-majority area.
New Delhi has about 500,000 troops and paramilitaries in Kashmir in search of to include a insurgent motion agitating for independence or the area’s merger with Pakistan.
Police stated the person was hit in “crossfire” throughout “militant motion” close to a police paramilitary camp within the village of Zainapora and that the incident was being investigated.
Villagers instructed AFP the person had been fatally shot with out provocation.
Amit Shah, India’s dwelling minister and efficient deputy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been in Kashmir since Saturday, including to safety considerations.
It’s Shah’s first journey to the Himalayan area — additionally claimed by Pakistan — since New Delhi canceled Kashmir’s semi-autonomy in August 2019 and positioned it beneath direct rule.
His go to follows a collection of focused killings by militants, with minority Hindus and Sikhs in addition to migrant employees from elsewhere in India the primary targets.
Sandbag bunkers have been erected throughout Kashmir’s major metropolis of Srinagar and snipers positioned on rooftops across the constructing the place Shah is staying.
Police have in latest days impounded a whole lot of motorbikes within the metropolis and intensified checks on pedestrians together with girls and kids. Motorbikes have been used for drive-by killings.
India’s chief of protection employees Basic Bipin Rawat stated safety monitoring was being intensified to thwart assaults by rebels.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947.
Rebels launched an insurgency in 1989 and the preventing has left tens of hundreds lifeless, primarily civilians.