IGP Kashmir, DC Visit Injured Civilians At SMHSC Hospital
Srinagar: Militants lobbed a grenade at a CRPF bunker near a crowded flea market in the heart of the city here on Sunday, injuring at least 11 civilians, officials said.
The attack, which took place near a heavily guarded complex housing All India Radio and Doordarshan Kendra near the Tourist Reception Centre (TRC), comes a day after security forces killed a top Pakistani commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the Khanyar locality of downtown Srinagar.
A senior police officer said the militants hurled the grenade at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bunker near the TRC. “However, the grenade missed the intended target and landed on the roadside, injuring 11 people,” the officer said.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, Vidhi Kumar Birdi, and Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din, visited the hospital on Sunday to meet civilians injured in the blast.
According to a police statement, the IGP expressed deep concern for the victims’ recovery and assured their families that strict action would be taken against those responsible. He conveyed his wishes for a swift recovery to the injured and affirmed that efforts were underway to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“The explosion, which took place near the TRC, injured at least eleven people, all of whom are currently in stable condition,” the statement said, adding, “The IGP wished the victims a speedy recovery and assured that action would be taken against the perpetrators of this crime.”
Mohi-Ud-Din said that two of the victims would require surgery, while the others were expected to be discharged following treatment. He assured that special care would be provided to all injured individuals to support their full recovery.
The Sunday market is a popular weekly flea market that attracts large crowds for winter shopping, making it especially busy on weekends. After the incident, the police cordoned off the area and launched an extensive search operation to track the attackers.
Attacks by militants have witnessed a rise after the Omar Abdullah-led government was sworn in on October 16. On November 1, two non-local labourers working on the ‘Jal Jeevan’ project in the Mazhama area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district were shot and injured by suspected militants. The labourers were working near the Mazhama graveyard along Nallah Sukhnag when they were attacked. One sustained a bullet wound to his arm, the other to his leg; both are in stable condition and out of danger.
On October 23 in Gagangeer, Ganderbal a local doctor and six labourers were killed in a targeted assault. The attack was followed by an attack on an army vehicle in Gulmarg, Baramulla in which two army porters and three soldiers lost their lives.
Farooq Abdullah, NC president and former chief minister, on November 2 demanded a probe into the spurt in militant attacks to ascertain whether any agency was trying to destabilise the government. He questioned the increase in encounters since the government was formed in Jammu and Kashmir. “I question why we didn’t see a surge in gunfights before the government was formed,” Abdullah told reporters at his residence in Srinagar. “There should be an independent probe to find out who is behind this.”
Referring to the Khanyar encounter, Abdullah suggested they should be arrested rather than killed. “They should be detained to investigate whether any agency has been tasked with destabilising Omar Abdullah’s government,” he said.