Srinagar, October 06: Militants today struck in the city after nearly a month-long lull by carrying out a grenade attack on a BSF vehicle at busy Lal chowk, injuring four persons including two jawans. Officials said militants hurled a grenade on the parked Border Security Force (BSF) vehicle near historic Ghanta Ghar (clock tower) in Lal chowk, heart of the city, at around 1445 hours, leaving two constables and two civilians injured.
The grenade landed inside the vehicle and exploded with a big bang, sparking panic among the people in the area. Both the jawans were guarding the vehicle, which suffered extensive damage in the blast, they said, adding the militants fled the scene after the attack.
Police, assisted by CRPF, immediately sealed the area and shifted to hospital injured constables Shamboo Singh and Om Prakash of 26th battalion of the BSF. Two civilians — Mushtaq Ahmad Jan and Shoukat Ahmad, both residents of Chattabal locality of downtown Srinagar — were also injured in the blast and taken to a hospital. Meanwhile, a militant outfit Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the incident.
One person, Jameel Ahmad, identifying himself as a spokesman of the outfit, telephoned various newspapers here to own the responsibility. The grenade strike comes nearly a month after the car bomb attack here.
On September 12, a police vehicle was blown up by militants outside Srinagar Central Jail at Kathi Darwaza in downtown city, killing four persons – three policemen and a woman.
—–PTI–