Grenade blast near mosque in Shopian, 10 injured

Ten civilians were today injured in a grenade blast near a mosque while police detected another explosive planted outside the residence of a Hizbul Mujahideen militant in Shopian district of Kashmir.

In a new modus operandi, militants had planted a grenade outside a mosque in Trenz locality of Shopian, 52 kms from here, in the wee hours, police said.

"The grenade was kept on the roadside in a steel glass after removing its pin. Someone touched it, triggering the blast," a police official said.

He said 10 civilians who had come out of the mosque after morning prayers at around 6 AM were injured in the explosion. While four of the injured were referred to a hospital here for treatment, six others were admitted to a hospital in Shopian, he said, adding all the injured were in stable condition.

About an hour later, police detected another hand grenade kept in a steel glass, with its pin removed, near the house of an active Hizbul Mujahideen militant Wasim Malla at Pehlipora in Shopian.

"A bomb disposal squad was rushed to the spot and the grenade was destroyed without causing any damage," he added.