Suspected militants on Monday killed a truck driver transporting apples in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district, police told PTI. This is the fourth person involved in the apple business to be killed in the state in the past two weeks.

The driver was identified as Narayan Dutt, the resident of Udhampur district’s Katra area. He was shot by gunmen in the Kanwilan locality of South Kashmir’s Bijbehara town, said unidentified police officials. Dutt died on the spot.

A senior police officer reached the area soon after the attack and saved two truck drivers in the vicinity, officials said. The area was soon cordoned off and a search operation was launched.

Earlier in the evening, at least 19 civilians were injured after suspected militants threw a grenade at a bus stand in Sopore town. On Saturday, six soldiers of a Central Reserve Police Force team had been injured in a grenade attack at a checkpoint outside a hospital in Srinagar.

Monday’s killing was a part of a series of attacks on apple transporters in Kashmir. On October 14, a truck driver from Rajasthan was shot dead in Shopian, and his truck was set on fire. Two days later, gunmen shot dead an apple trader from Punjab. On October 24, suspected militants killed two truck drivers in Shopian district.

Monday’s attacks occurred a day before a 28-member delegation of European Parliament members are scheduled to Jammu and Kashmir. The European leaders met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in New Delhi, and were briefed about the situation in the state.

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