Ultra killed in grenade attack in Srinagar

An undertrial Hizb-ul-Muajideen (HM) militant, believed to be a former bodyguard of the terror outfit’s Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)-based chief Syed Salah-ud-Din, was killed and four policemen escorting him to jail were injured in a grenade attack by ultras here on Wednesday.

A senior police officer told Deccan Herald that militants hurled a hand grenade at a police vehicle that was passing through Batamaloo around 12:30 pm. “The police vehicle was on the way to Baramulla Sub-Jail to lodge the undertrial Shakeel Ahmad Kasana of Kangan, Ganderbal. Four constables and a civilian Ghulam Nabi Malik of Soibugh, Budgam were injured while Kasana was critically injured. He (Kasana) was referred to SKIMS Hospital for treatment, where he breathed his last,” he said.

Kasana, a HM militant, was arrested last year under Section 7/25 of the Arms Act and slapped with the Public Safety Act (PSA). “His PSA had been quashed by State High Court recently but he was rearrested by the police immediately,” sources said. They said Kasana had come to the Valley last year from PoK after crossing the Line of Control (LoC).

“Immediately after his return, he was arrested by the security forces and slapped with the PSA. He was the bodyguard of HM chief Syed Salah-ud-Din in PoK and had been sent to the Valley for some special mission. However, before he could execute the mission, he fell into the trap of security forces,” they added.

The Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Force, a little-known militant outfit, has claimed responsibility of the attack. A local English daily quoted a caller identifying himself as the spokesman of the Force: “Cadres of our outfit carried out the attack. It is unfortunate that two of our Kashmiri brethren sustained injuries in the attack.” He warned that such attacks would continue in future also.

Meanwhile, police arrested two persons and claimed to have recovered two grenades from their possession in north Kashmir’s frontier district of Kupwara on Wednesday.
A police spokesperson said Abdul Rouf Badder and Zafar Iqbal Badder of Amrohi, Karnah (Kupwara) were arrested by the police. “During the search that followed, two hand grenades and some suspicious powder was seized from them,” he said.