Grenade hurled at varsity gate: Cops

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, November 27

The J&K Police on Wednesday unravelled the mystery of the blast that shook the Hazratbal market yesterday and injured four men, claiming it was a grenade lobbed by militants.

“It was a grenade attack,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Central Kashmir Range, VK Birdhi told The Tribune. “The preliminary investigations and evidences collected at the spot reveal so,” he said.

On Wednesday, the police had said there was a low-intensity mysterious blast outside the university gate in the Hazratbal area that had left four pedestrians wounded and damaged two parked vehicles.

Soon after the blast, the police was not able to establish it was an IED, grenade or a petrol bomb. Forensic experts visited the blast site and collected evidence to analyse the nature of the blast. Officials said there was no police deployment at the spot where the grenade was lobbed. “It exploded in the area where people were busy in routine shopping in the busy market,” a police officer of the area said. With police confirmation, it is the fourth grenade attack in the city in the past nearly 45 days which has left two civilians, including a one non-local vendor, dead and 58 people, including 45 civilians, wounded. Of the four grenades, two were lobbed at the busy Hari Singh High Street during the broad daylight and one was tossed in the busy Karan Nagar area of the city.