Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Aug 13: Ten persons were injured after a grenade planted in a steel glass inside Jamia Masjid compound at Trenz village in South Kashmir’s district of Shopian went off as people were coming out after morning prayers.
Reports said that grenade was put inside an inverted steel glass with pin removed. When one of the persons after coming out of Masjid lifted it, it went off injuring 10 persons.
The injured were rushed to hospital for treatment. Later, four injured persons were shifted to Srinagar for specialized treatment. They have been identified as Bashir Ahmad Bhat, 55, son of Mohammad Ismael Bhat, Naeem Aijaz Lone, 30, son of Ghulam Mohammad, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, 60, son of Ghulam Nabi Mir and Bilal Ahmad Shah, 35, son of Mohammad Ashraf Shah.
The grenade attack created panic and fear among the residents and the area was cordoned off by police, Army and CRPF. The troops carried out searches in the area. However, no one was arrested.
In the meanwhile, another grenade put in a steel glass under similar circumstances was placed in the compound of Mohammad Yaqoob Malla at Pehlipora in Shopian district. Malla’s son Waseem Ahmad Malla is the most wanted Hizbul Mujahideen commander in the district. However, the inmates didn’t touch the grenade and locals informed the police and it was later defused.
A senior police officer told Excelsior that preliminary investigations reveal that both the devices were ARGES grenades which were put inside an inverted glass with the pin removed. “It is a very powerful grenade and has not been used by militants since many years for being heavy. It was placed in such a way on the road that some person may stumble and the glass would fall thus priming the grenade.
The modus operandi at both the places was same. In the second case the grenade failed to explode”, he said.
The officer said that at Trenz when a person fiddled with the steel glass the grenade got primed and people ran helter and skelter, thus fatal casualties were averted. “The grenade primes in five seconds”, he said.
In the meantime, after last evening’s grenade attack on Khanyar Police Station, the security was beefed up across the Srinagar city by police and CRPF.
Police and CRPF men were deployed across the city including civil lines and downtown areas in strength. They had erected barricades and check posts at at several places across the city.
They were thoroughly frisking of passenger vehicles and commuters. The bikers and other two-wheelers were also being thoroughly checked.
The security in and around the Bakshi Stadium, which is main venue for the Independence Day functions on August 15, was unprecedented and the police were maintaining a strict vigil around the venue.
The Pulwama district of South Kashmir observed shut down for third consecutive day today against the killings of two militants and a civilian.
Shops, commercial establishments and educational institutes remained closed in the district while as transport was off the roads.
Two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, were killed in a fierce encounter at Ratnipora with security forces. After the killing of militants, a civilian, Bilal Ahmad was killed in the alleged BSF firing at Malangpora in the district.
The killings sparked off massive protests in the district while as residents clashed with police at various places.
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