Mr. Akhtar and his wife were not present in the premises as they have shifted to high security Gupkar Road.

Petrol bombs were hurled at the house of Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Naeem Akhtar — the fourth such attack on leaders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — since protests began in the Valley on July 8.

Mr. Akhtar, who is the government spokesman, was not in the house in the Parray Pora area here when the attack took place. Neighbours later doused the fire.

“We do not live there anymore. Our family has shifted to a government accommodation. No one was present in the house,” Mr. Akhtar told The Hindu.

This is second time that Mr. Akhtar has been targeted. On Saturday, the Minister faced stone-throwing protesters at three places during a visit to Bandipora district to revive governance activities that have come to a halt in the face of violent street protests. He escaped unhurt.

After militant commander Burhan Wani’s killing, attacks on PDP leaders are taking place even in constituencies once considered their bastions.

The day after the killing, the hotel of Kokernag MLA Abdul Rahim Rather was set on fire. Another south Kashmir legislator, Mohammad Khalil Bandh, sustained serious injuries when stone-throwers attacked his vehicle on July 18.

Several PDP leaders said south Kashmir constituencies, where the party won 11 seats out of 16 seats in the 2014 Assembly polls, were fast becoming “no-go zones”. Many MLAs preferred to stay put in Srinagar and avoided visiting their constituencies of Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian and Kulgam districts.

PDP sources said Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had issued a directive that all MLAs must visit their constituencies. Many could visit their constituencies only in the dead of the night, with protests and processions spreading not only in areas on the Srinagar-Jammu highway but to the interiors too.

“The situation remains out of control and beyond our reach right now,” said a senior PDP leader from south Kashmir.

Several BJP leaders in south Kashmir too are lying low. Key BJP faces have reportedly shifted to safer locations to escape the wrath of protesters. Tuesday’s attack on Mr. Akhtar’s house has come in the wake of separatists’ appeal to the people to “boycott and ostracise” mainstream leaders.