Srinagar:  Suspected militants carried out a grenade attack on Saturday outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Anantnag township of south Kashmir, leaving at least 14 people injured.
The attack targeted a security patrol outside the heavily guarded DC office complex in Anantnag town, 55 km from here, around 11 am, an official said.
He said the grenade missed the intended target and exploded on the roadside, causing splinter injuries to 14 persons, including a traffic policeman and a local journalist. All the injured were admitted to a hospital and 13 of them were discharged after treatment. One person was still in hospital but he was stated to be out of danger.
This was the second grenade attack in the Valley since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
The blast sparked panic among people in the town.
No outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
On September 28, suspected militants hurled a grenade at CRPF’s 38 battalion personnel deployed on law-and-order duty in Nawa Kadal area of downtown Srinagar but there was no casualty.
Meanwhile normal life in Kashmir remained affected following the GoI’s August 5 move to abrogate Article 370, that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir, as markets and other business establishments remained closed while most of the public transport was off the roads across the Valley, officials said.
However, government offices were open and attendance in most offices was near normal, they said.
A large number of private vehicles and some private taxis including autorickshaws could be seen plying in many parts of the city while some roadside vendors were also visible, the officials said.
The efforts of the state government to open schools have not borne any fruit as parents continued to keep the kids at home due to apprehensions about their safety.
While landline telephony services have been restored across the Valley, mobile telephone services in most parts of Kashmir and all internet services continue to remain suspended since 5 August.
Most of the top level and second rung separatist politicians have been taken into preventive custody while mainstream leaders including the two former chief ministers have been either detained or placed under house arrest.
The government has detained Farooq Abdullah, sitting Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, under the controversial Public Safety act, a law enacted by his father and National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1978 when he was the chief minister.

Press Trust of India