Four civilians were killed after gunmen barged into the houses of a Hindu community in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri on Sunday.

Sources told India Today that two terrorists were involved in the attack.

The incident took place at nearly 7 pm when the two terrorists made their way through the forests and barged into three houses of the Hindu community, they said.

The terrorists opened fire at those residing inside.

Sources also told India Today that the terrorists had first confirmed the identity of the victims, through their Aadhaar cards.

The attack was the first such attack in the past many years in the otherwise peaceful Jammu region and coincided with the first day of the New Year.

Commenting on the attack, an official said, "The firing ended within 10 minutes. First, they attacked a house in Upper Dangri and then they moved 25 meters away and shot several people there. They also fired on another house 25 meters away from the second house while fleeing the village."

He said a total of 10 people were hit by bullets and three of them were declared brought dead at the Government Medical College hospital, Rajouri.

Another critically injured civilian succumbed while he was being airlifted to Jammu, along with two other injured persons.

The deceased have been identified as Satish Kumar (45), Deepak Kumar (23), Pritam Lal (57) and Shishu Pal (32), the official said.

The injured have been identified as Pawan Kumar (38), Rohit Pandit (27), Saroj Bala (35), Ridham Sharma (17) and Pawan Kumar (32), he said.

Dheeraj Kumar, sarpanch of Dangri, said "gunshots were heard around 7 pm and after some time their intensity increased."

"Later, I received calls that there was firing by terrorists," he added.

Additional Director General of Police, Jammu Zone, Mukesh Singh, said police, along with the Army and the CRPF, launched a massive search operation to nab the two-armed men behind the attack at Upper Dangri village, about eight kilometres from Rajouri town.

The terror attack caused panic and protests were held with several organisations including traders’ bodies calling for a general strike in the Rajouri district on Monday.

Additional deployments have been made in sensitive areas as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order, officials said.

A group of people, who gathered outside GMC hospital Rajouri, shouted slogans against Pakistan and terrorists for the innocent killings.

Protesters also shouted slogans against the Lt Governor's administration and security agencies for not tackling the threat of Pakistan-sponsored terrorists effectively, eyewitnesses said.

Image courtesy: India Today