SRINAGAR, Feb 5 (2000) – Three or four masked gunmen suspected of being Muslim militants stormed a house in the Indian state of Kashmir and gunned down three Hindus, including a policeman, officials said Saturday.
A fourth man was injured in the random firing late Friday at Telwani village, nearly 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Srinagar, the state’s summer capital.
The dead were identified as police constable Ashok Kumar, his daughter Usha Raina and a neighbour, Veerji Pandit, who was visiting them.
Another family member was reportedly in critical condition.
Seven Hindu families live at Telwani, a small village.
Dozens of Hindus have been massacred by Muslim militants in Kashmir since the outbreak of a bloody Islamic separatist campaign in 1989. No group claimed responsibility for the latest killings.
More than 25,000 people have died in a militant campaign to end Indian rule over Kashmir, the Hindu-dominated country’s only Muslim- majority state.
The Himalayan state is divided between India and Pakistan. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of arming and training the militants. Pakistan denies the charge, but gives open backing to the unrest.
