GRENADE ATTACK IN JAMMU KILLS TEEN
JAMMU:A person linked to the Hizbul Mujahideen terror group hurled a grenade at a busy bus stand in Jammu on Thursday, killing a teenager and injuring at least 30 people in third attack at the same facility within 10 months, police said.
The attack comes at a time when the state of Jammu & Kashmir is on high alert after the suicide bombing of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in south Kashmir’s Pulwama on February 14 in which 40 CRPF troopers were killed by a terrorist linked with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), leading to military action by the two countries. Police said Yasir Javed Bhat, a resident of Kulgam in Kashmir, was arrested for carrying out the grenade attack.
He was working under the instruction of Hizbul commander Farooq Ahmad Bhat, alias Umar, police officials added.
Seventeen-year-old Mohammed Shariq, a resident of Haridwar in Uttarakhand, succumbed to his injuries in hospital after suffering splinter wounds in his chest. The condition of three to four other people is critical, police and health officials said.
Home minister Rajnath Singh tweeted: “Deeply anguished at the loss of precious life in a grenade attack at the Jammu Bus Stand today. I pray for the speedy of the injured.” Such was the impact of the explosion that windscreens of three to four buses were shattered, said Rakesh Kumar, an eyewitness. “You could see blood on the spot. There was total chaos,” he said.
A parked bus suffered extensive damage. Shariq, who died in the blast, had gone to Jammu a day ago to learn tailoring work from a relative, his family members and police said. MK Sinha, the inspector general of police in Jammu, said Yasir Javed Bhat, the alleged attacker, reached Jammu carrying the grenade on Thursday morning. After the attack, he was arrested by the police at Nagrota on the outskirts of the city in a “major breakthrough”, Sinha said. “Based on the oral testimony of the eye-witnesses and the CCTV coverage, we were able to identity a suspect who was wearing jean jackets and carrying a red rucksack,” he said. Sinha said the police were questioning the suspect in the Jammu attack. “What was his specific target and motive behind the grenade attack at the bus stand would emerge once the questioning is complete,” he said. “Obviously the intention is always to disturb the communal harmony and peace,” he said, requesting people to maintain calm. The officer said there was no specific input about such an attack, which took place within three weeks of the Pulwama suicide attack.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweeted: “Tragic. May the deceased’s soul rest in peace.”