A civilian was killed during an ambush conducted by the Army in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, the police said on Sunday, PTI reported.

The Army had laid an ambush in the Thindpura area on Saturday night, after receiving intelligence inputs about militants being there. Asif Iqbal, a driver, was caught in the crossfire and injured, the Army said in a statement.

“Around 10.55 pm, the Army ambush party observed suspicious movement of three people,” the statement said. The army began firing after the terrorists there started shooting, it said. “In the crossfire, one person was killed from a gunshot wound.”

Iqbal was taken to a hospital, first in the nearby Kralpora area and then transferred to a hospital in Srinagar, but he died on the way, the police said. The Kupwara Police have filed a complaint and will investigate the incident.

Earlier, Kupwara Superintendent of Police Shamsher Hussain, said the driver’s death was a case of “mistaken identity”, Greater Kashmir reported. “The sumo driver was asked to stop but he didn’t and was then shot by soldiers,” the newspaper quoted Hussain as saying.

The driver’s death triggered clashes in the area on Sunday, the report said. All entry points to Kralpora were blocked to stop protestors from marching, and at some places, teargas shells were used to disperse the protesters, the report said.