Cop killed, 14 injured in grenade attack in Srinagar

Policeman injured in Nowhatta militant attack being shifted to SMHS Hospital for treatment. — Excelsior/Shakeel
Policeman injured in Nowhatta militant attack being shifted to SMHS Hospital for treatment. — Excelsior/Shakeel

Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Apr 2: A policeman was killed while 14 others were injured in Nowhatta area of Srinagar as militants lobbed a grenade at them in the evening while police raided Baramulla sub-jail in North Kashmir and recovered 12 Cell phones.
One policeman was killed and 14 security forces personnel were injured in the attack.
The dead cop has been identified as Shamus Din of Gurez teshil in Bandipora district.
Among the injured, 3 are from Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) while rest are from Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The grenade was hurled when they were withdrawing from security duty in Botagali area of Nowhatta in Srinagar’s at around 7 pm.
Some of the injured have been shifted to 92-Base Hospital and others are being treated at SMHS hospital.
In the meantime, police today raided Baramulla sub-jail in North Kashmir and recovered 14 mobile phones including two from the architect of 2014 summer unrest, Masarat Alam and police suspects that these phones were being used for creating trouble in Kashmir.
Police have recovered 14 mobile phones, two of them belong to hardline separatist Masarat Alam Bhat, and incriminating material from Baramulla sub-jail during a search operation in North Kashmir.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Baramulla, Imtiyaz Hussain Mir, said that police received a request from sub-jail authorities that they are suspecting use of mobile phones inside the prison.”Thereafter police and jail authorities jointly launched a search operation there”.
“During the search operation, we recovered 14 mobile phones along with some incriminating material. Mostly, these communication devices were recovered from those inmates who are involved in stone pelting, its instigation and militancy activities,” he said.
Sources said that out of 14 mobiles recovered from the jail, two belong to Masarat Alam Bhat who is lodged there. Sources said that the incriminating material recovered include diaries and books.
The SSP said they are sending these mobile phones to mobile forensic analysis and an FIR has also been registered. “During investigation, we will come to know for which activities these mobile phones were being used,” he said.
He said police are investigating how these phones reached the jail because these inmates also go to courts for hearings or whether they received these phones in court premises, jail or enroute, it will be investigated. “It is not a security threat but if instigation was being done outside from inside, we will look into that aspect and that’s we have registered a case to know for what these phones were used,” the SSP Baramulla added.