The official Mohammad Razaq was shot dead soon after he came out of a mosque in the Shadra Sharief area of Rajouri. He died of his injuries after he was taken to a hospital.

The 40-year-old was an employee in the social welfare department.

Security personnel rushed to the spot and launched a massive cordon and search operation to track down the terrorists.

This comes close on the heels of two non-locals being shot dead in Anantnag and Herpora districts respectively.

A migrant worker from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in a targeted attack in Anantnag district on Wednesday just a week after the killing of a resident of Dehradun in south Kashmir's Herpora.

While such attacks have decreased in frequency this year because of the crackdown on terrorism, the latest killing comes at a time when campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections is approaching its peak in Anantnag, which will vote on May 7.