Unidentified gunmen shot dead a 26-year-old man in Indian- controlled Kashmir, police said Saturday.

Waseem Meraj Malla, a post-graduate student at Kashmir's Islamic University of Science and Technology, was killed Friday evening at Krankshivan Colony Sopore , about 54 km northwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Last evening unidentified gunmen fired on Malla from a blank range at 6:40 p.m. (local time) in his neighborhood. Though he was immediately moved to hospital in critical condition, doctors declared him dead," said a senior police official posted in Sopore.

Police blamed militants for Malla's assassination. However locals said they are clueless.

"Apparently he was a civilian and we don't know why he has been killed," said Afzal Ahmad, a local resident.

The killing has created panic in the area.

So far, no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the killing.

Militants in the restive region usually target families and individuals for their possible links with police and defense agencies. Even people having association with pro-Indian political parties are targeted at times.

A guerrilla war has been going on between anti-Indian rule militants and Indian troops stationed in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.