Indian minister cancels rally in Indian-controlled Kashmir following killings

Indian Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Tuesday canceled his campaign rally in a town of Indian-controlled Kashmir, following the killing of three persons including a rural body head and village headman by militants.

The killings took place Monday night in two villages of Tral, about 38 km south of Srinagar city, where Azad was scheduled to address election rally.

The rural body head locally called sarpanch was affiliated with the Congress party.

"Ghulam Nabi Azad today canceled his election rally in Tral in the wake of the killing of a village headman, a rural body head and his son last night," said an official.

"The rural body head affiliated with the Congress party according to reports was among the organizers of Azad's rally."

Voting for the third phase for India's general elections in the restive region is scheduled to take place on Thursday.

Meanwhile the killings have created panic in the area and many rural body members have tendered their resignations in Tral.

Last week, rural body head was killed in village Gulzarpora in a similar attack.

Police said the killings were aimed at intimidating voters to stay away from voting and ensuring boycott in the country's ongoing general elections in the restive region.

Militants in the region usually target families and individuals for their possible links with police and defense agencies. Even people having association with pro-Indian political parties are targeted at times.

Following the rural body elections, these members became easy targets for militants and are being targeted quite often.

Several militant groups had called for the boycott of India's general elections.

Analysts view the killings as an effort to prevent people from participating in elections and attending pro-India political rallies.

A guerrilla war has been going on between militants and the Indian troops stationed in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.