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Updated: Oct 30, 2019 01:39 IST

Security forces cordoned off a village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday evening after militants allegedly shot at a deployment of forces near a centre holding the Class 10 state board examinations.

State police said militants opened fire in Drubgam village around 4 pm, prompting the forces to begin searches in the area. “The cordon has been going on but so far there has been no success,” said an official at the Pulwama police control room.

Paramilitary force officials said the militants fired multiple gun shots on the mobile bunker (sentry post atop a four-wheeler) of the 72nd battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). At least six to eight bullets were fired at the CRPF post, they added. A police official said the firing may have been aimed at the deployment of security forces near a centre after the exams had finished.

On October 22, security forces killed the chief commander of Ansar Gazwatul Hind, an al-Qaida affiliate, and two of his associates in an encounter in the Awantipora area of Pulwama. On October 16, three local Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were killed in an encounter in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Since the central government scrapped Jammu and Kashmir special status and bifurcated the state on August 5, at least 12 militants were killed in six operations by security forces. In comparison, 30 militants were killed in at least 21 encounters in June and July. Tuesday’s incident came on a day Class 10 board examinations began across the state amid a shutdown call and sporadic reports of stone pelting.

Accompanied by parents and acquaintances, students reached examination centres in private cars, on motorbikes and on foot as public transport was off the roads and shops shut. Many parts of the Valley, including the old city area of Srinagar and south Kashmir, saw young men and women hurl stones at the police in protest against a group of lawmakers from the European Union visiting the region.

A communications blackout clamped in the region on August 5 has been gradually eased but prepaid numbers and phone internet services still remain suspended. Deputy commissioners of different districts have asked students to contact them to avail special transport facilities made for those appearing in exams.