Another Truck Driver Killed By Militants In Jammu And Kashmir's Anantnag

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.
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.

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