Two villagers were allegedly shot dead by troops of a counter-insurgency force in Jammu and Kashmir Monday following a reported altercation, police officials said.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident occurred near Chadoora, a village in Budgam district located about 25 km from here, when troops of the Rashtriya Rifles were conducting a search operation.
The troops surrounded Dangerpora village near Chadoora and ordered the men to collect in a playfield.
"The troops had surrounded the village on specific information about the presence of militants there. House-to-house searches were conducted but no one was arrested," said a police officer here.
After the searches, the village headman asked the soldiers to allow him and others to return to their homes as the temperature had dipped drastically.
The soldiers did not allow them to leave and instead allegedly beat the headman and others with rifle butts and sticks.
This led to tension and the villagers responded by hurling earthen fire pots at the troopers.
The police officials said the soldiers then allegedly fired with their automatic weapons on the villagers, resulting in serious injuries to three people.
"The injured were shifted to hospital immediately where two villagers named Ghulam Hassan Magloo, 35, and Farooq Ahmad Dar, 25, succumbed to their injuries," said an officer.
An army brigadier visited the village late Monday afternoon and told the agitated villagers that an "inquiry has been ordered" and he assured "action against those involved in the incident".
The situation in Dangerpora remained tense as hundreds of people, including women who were beating their chests, held a massive protest against the killing.
Meanwhile, police officials here clarified that Tajamul Haq, one of the people killed in the Nishat encounter Saturday, was a member of the frontline Lashkar-e-Taiba.
However, residents of the area dismissed the police claim and labelled Haq's killing as another "incident of custodial murder". Residents and relatives alleged he was arrested from the uptown Raj Bagh locality here before being killed in a fake gun battle at Nishat.
The people have demanded an apology from Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, who had described the killing as "a major success for his police".