SRI NAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday arrested a young Hizbul Mujaheedin militant hours after he lobbed a grenade at the general bus stand in Jammu, killing two and injuring 32.“We arrested the attacker at Nagrota on Srinagar-Jammu national highway, following the 11.50 am attack”, Inspector General of Police, Jammu, Manish Kumar Sinha said.
“He was identified as Yasir Javed Bhat alias Arhan, son of Javed Ahmad Bhat of Dasen in Kulgam. An SRTC vehicle was damaged and 32 persons injured in the explosion. The injured were admitted to Government Medical College, Jammu, where 17-year-old Mohammad Sharik of Hardiwar in Uttarakhand succumbed to injuries”, Sinha added. Doctors attending on the injured have termed the condition of one person as critical. Of the 32 people injured, 10 are locals, 11 from Kashmir, and nine from other states, while the identity of two is being ascertained.
Sinha said, “Police debriefed witnesses and screened CCTV footage to find the suspect, who was wearing a jean jacket and carrying a red rucksack. All police posts in J&K were sent the CCTV grab of the suspect and directed to search all vehicles going from Jammu to Srinagar. A police team at Bantol plaza in Nagrota took him into custody”, Sinha said. Yasir is said to have confessed to his involvement in the grenade attack.
“He (Yasir) told interrogators that he was tasked to throw the grenade by Kulgam district commander Farooq Ahmad Bhat alias Umar and provided a grenade. He left Kulgam yesterday and reached Jammu in the morning”, Sinha said, adding, “We are trying to ascertain whether he was given a specific or generic target”.
HM, however, condemned the grenade attack, with its spokesman Burhan-u-Din blaming “Indian agencies’ for the attack.