Srinagar, June 9
A complete shutdown was observed as tension prevailed in the holy township of Charar-e-Sharief today following a grenade explosion yesterday in which five persons, four according to the police, were killed and 50 injured.

The District Magistrate, Budgam, has been ordered to hold an inquiry into the incident. Mr Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, Minister of State for Home, who visited the shrine after the incident yesterday, said adequate security measures had been taken around places of worship to avoid attempts by militants to create trouble on these occasions.

Mr Lone told TNS that out of the 50 devotees injured, 18 were being treated at various hospitals here, while others had been discharged.

Tension gripped the town soon after the incident yesterday. While the locals blamed the police for the incident, the police has denied the charge. The incident is first of its kind at the revered shrine of Sheikh Noor-ud-din Noorani.

The shrine and the holy township was razed to the ground after a stand-off for about a month in an exchange of fire between militants and the security forces on May 11, 1995.

The Minister of State for Home, Mr Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, and the Revenue Minister, Mr Abdul Qayoom, who belongs to Charar, visited the town yesterday. He faced angry crowds. A Hurriyat Conference spokesman here has claimed that the holy township had been cleared of militants since May 11, 1995. He alleged that the attack yesterday was the handiwork of the SOG of the state police.

The shrine, also known as Alamdar-e-Kashmir (Flagbearer of Kashmir), is the second most-revered shrine in Kashmir after the shrine of Hazratbal, where the holy relics of Prophet Mohammad are housed. A large number of devotees visit the shrine at Charar-e-Sharief on Thursdays and Fridays.

There have been several incidents during the 12-year militancy when places of worship became the focus of attention touching religious sentiments of the people. The first incident took place in October, 1993, when a group of over 30 persons, some of them separatist militants, were holed up in the holy shrine at Hazratbal.

The seige continued for a month and finally ended with the surrender of those holed inside the shrine. Utmost care was taken not to harm the shrine.