1 dead, 10 hurt in Anantnag terror attack
Militants hurled a grenade at a police post in Anantnag district on Monday night, killing a civilian and injuring 10 people including three policemen.
Police said the militants hurled the grenade in Sherbagh area when people were doing last-minute shopping for Eid. The grenade exploded on a road injuring 10 people, including Bilal Ahmed, who later succumbed to his injuries in a hospital, police said.
Out of the 10 injured, three policemen were critical and were rushed to the Army hospital here. Two injured civilians were also moved to a hospital in Srinagar. Meanwhile, in Poonch, the security forces gunned down a militant a day after the army killed three extremists and foiled multiple infiltration bids in the troubled state.
A police officer told HT that fourth militant was killed around 9.30am and that the forces were considering storming an under-construction minisecretariat building, where one or two extremists may be holed up.
“We are trying to move into the building with SOG commandos in bunkers to eliminate the remaining ultras,” said deputy inspector general of RajouriPoonch range Johny Williams. Gunbattle was still on at the time of filing this report and director general of police, K Rajendra, was at the spot to supervise the counter-insurgency operation.
“We have two options. Either wear them out or demolish the building. The latter is a hard option. But they have no way to escape because cordon is on and security forces are on,” said Williams.
The gunfights close to the line of control (LoC) began on Sunday morning and further riled the Valley, where the death toll in more than two months of street protests has climbed to 78 with thousands injured. CHANGE OF GUARD
Amid a spike in intrusion bids along the LoC and violence across Kashmir, the army is all set to undergo a change of guard in the state. “Lt Gen JS Sandhu will be the new general officer commanding (GOC) of Srinagar-based 15 Corps (Chinar Corps). He will replace present incumbent Lt Gen SK Dua,” said Defence sources.
In another move, Lt Gen AK Sharma has been appointed as the next GOC of Nagrota- based 16 Corps, also called White Knight Corps. He will replace Lt Gen R R Nimbhorkar, who proceeds as Master General Ordnance (MGO) in Army Headquarters, they said.
Meanwhile, the decision for a ban on internet and mobile services was taken after a review of the situation on the eve of Eid-ul-Zuha and a demonstration call made by separatists, sources said. INTERNET SERVICES CUT Keeping in mind the tense law and order situation, the J&K government ordered shutdown of internet services except of the state-run BSNL for the next 72 hours.