A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan and his wife were shot dead by unidentified militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Rajouri district on Sunday morning.

The police said two militants barged into the house of Mohammad Arif (45), a surrendered militant, in Kahndigala village, 40 km east of Rajouri, and opened fire. Arif and his wife Mallika Khatoon
(30) died on the spot. Their six-year-old son Ibrar Ahmed was critically injured.

Arif was a member of militant group Hizbul Mujahideen from 1995 to 1999. He surrendered in 1999 and was subsequently recruited by the BSF. He was currently posted in Guwahati.

The J&K police have raised six battalions of surrendered militants during the two decades of strife in the state and a large number of them have been recruited by paramilitary forces.

Arif had come on leave and was scheduled to leave Rajouri on Monday to join his team.

“At about 2 am the militants knocked on the door of Arif’s home in Kahndigala village,” a police officer said. Sensing a threat, he did not open the door.

When his wife finally opened the door at around 4 am, thinking it was safe to venture out now, two masked militants shot her and then turned on her husband, the police said.

Police sources said militants had put up posters in the village threatening people from joining the security forces.

Sources said one of Arif’s neighbours had given a tip-off to the militants.

On June 27, militants had killed Mohammad Latif and his wife Kulsum at Danga village in Kandi, Rajouri on suspicion that the couple had provided information about terrorists to security forces.

On April 4, militants killed Mohammad Aslam, a resident of Triyath in Rajouri. They allegedly suspected Aslam was helping security forces.