Militants shot dead seven people in Indian held Kashmir including the elder brother of the Kashmir's home minister, officials claimed on Thursday. Muhammed Akram, the brother of minister Abdul Rehman Veeri, was gunned down by suspected militants on Thursday in Bijbehara, 40 kilometers south of Srinagar, police said. "A civilian passer-by was also injured in the shooting," a police spokesman said. Veeri is a leader of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's People's Democratic Party (PDP). None of the Kashmiri militant groups have claimed responsibility for the daylight slaying. The killings came as Veeri announced that municipal councillors would get more security and protected government accommodation. In further violence, Indian troops shot dead a suspected militant in Poonch overnight, police said. Earlier in the day, three Muslims were killed in separate incidents in Baramulla, the spokesman said. He said three more Muslims were shot dead in Poonch, Anantnag and Pulwama overnight and on Thursday. Police said the murders were carried out by militants but none of the militant groups have owned up the killings. Militants have been targeting pro-India politicians and people they suspect of working for Indian troops.