Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir shot dead on Wednesday a suspected member of a Pakistan-based militant group who was accused of attacking the family of a fruit trader, the state police chief said.

Last week, militants attacked the home of a fruit trader in Sopore, for carrying on with his business despite widespread protest boycotts, wounding his son, granddaughter and another family member, Indian authorities said.

On Wednesday, the police killed a militant identified as Asif, who the police said was a member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, in Sopore, state police chief Dilbagh Singh told Reuters from Srinagar, the state capital.

Hundreds of apple trucks have been moving out Sopore, 45 km from Srinagar, to deliver their produce to the rest of the country in what authorities hail as a sign of normalcy.

Singh said Asif was responsible for the assault on the fruit merchant's home and an earlier attack on a labourer.

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