Militants brutally killed a gujjar couple in a remote hamlet in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir apparently for not supporting them, official sources said on Sunday.
A group of heavily armed militants struck at remote Gulati village in Manjakote area late on Saturday night and abducted a couple. The duo was tortured with sharp edged weapons and subjected to cigarette burns before being slaughtered.
Police recovered the bodies of the couple, identified as Muneer Hussain and his wife Sayeda Begum, from the outskirts of the village on Sunday morning. The reason behind the killing was not known.
Police and security forces have launched a combing operation in the hilly belt to track down militants responsible for the act, the sources said.
They said militants had been targetting gujjars in the Rajouri-Poonch belt of Jammu and Kashmir for the past three months, as the community does not support militancy. As many as 52 gujjars have been killed in the last four months in the two districts.
Meanwhile, the Kashmir valley observed a complete shutdown on Sunday with vehicles off the roads following a strike call given by various separatist organisations, including both faction of the Hurriyat conference on the occasion of Independence Day.
Although most of the markets are closed on Sundays, even the roadside stalls, commonly known as Bangladesh market, were also shut in view of the bandh call.
Similar reports of a shutdown came in from Baramulla, Anantnag, Kupwara, Budgam and Pulwama.
In Baramulla district, militants attacked a school in Dangiwachi area where Independence Day was being celebrated, injuring at least 10 civilians, official sources said in Srinagar.
This is the first militant attack aimed at disrupting this year's Independence Day celebrations. No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
The annual Amarnath yatra remained suspended for the second day on Sunday following intelligence inputs of a possible militant strike, official sources said in Jammu.
Pilgrims will be allowed to proceed to the Pahalgam base camp from Jammu on Monday.
So far, 27 batches comprising 79,186 pilgrims have left Jammu for Amarnath. Over 278,000 yatris visited valley in connection with the Amarnath pilgrimage of which nearly 271,000 had performed darshan at the holy cave shrine till Saturday evening.