6 CRPF personnel injured in grenade attack in Srinagar

Six paramilitary personnel were injured when militants threw two grenades at a CRPF team in Karan Nagar area of Srinagar on Saturday evening.

Reports said the militants hurled two grenades at a CRPF party at around 6:55 pm while they were checking vehicles at a check post in Karan Nagar, barely two kms away from city center Lal Chowk.

The injured personnel were immediately shifted to nearby SMHS hospital, where their condition is stated to be stable.

Eyewitnesses told DH that the grenades exploded with a bang causing panic in the area. Immediately after the blasts, firing shots were heard in the area.

Police said the area was cordoned off and a search operation was launched to nab the assailants. No militant outfit claimed the responsibility for the attack till this report was filed.

The attack in the city comes nearly three months after the government of India scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 and split it into two union territories. The two regions - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh - will come into existence on October 31, and security personnel are bracing for heightened terror activity during the transitionary period.

Amid reports of frequent militant movement, security forces have set-up dozens of fresh bunkers across sensitive areas of Srinagar city in the recent weeks. To thwart militant attacks, security forces have also established barricades across Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir, where vehicles were thoroughly checked and people frisked.

A senior police officer said that by such attacks the militants were trying to create fear among people as the shutdown was gradually losing its steam. “In recent days, traffic jams are witnessed in several areas of Srinagar, which has upset the militant leadership across the border. They are trying to instil fear among people by throwing grenades at crowded places,” he said.