SRINAGAR: At least one person was killed and five others were injured on Saturday when Kashmiri separtist militants bombed a bus stand and ambushed an Army patrol party in South Kashmir. The deceased was identified as Mohammad Jabbar, a small time ice-cream vendor.
Police said the militants lobbed a grenade towards a busy bus stand at Achabal in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district at around 2 pm.
The grenade exploded injuring six persons including a CRPF jawan, a woman and her minor child. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital.
Jabbar, who was grievously injured in the attack, was referred for specialised treatment. However, he succumbed to injuries in hospital.
After the grenade blast, police and paramilitary personnel laid siege to the area and carried out combing operations in a bid to nab the attackers. However, no arrests were reported so far.
In the second incident, militants attacked an Army patrol inside a forest area in South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Saturday morning.
“Based on inputs about movement of militants in the forest area of Dubjan, Shopian, a patrol party of Army’s Rashtriya Rifles launched a search operation during the preceding night. At around 8.30 am on Saturday, militants opened fire on the Army’s patrol party,” an official said.
He said the troops returned the fire, resulting in the encounter. “As the encounter was going on, police personnel also joined the operation”.