Srinagar, April 21
At least 11 persons were injured when militants lobbed a grenade at a campaign vehicle of an Independent candidate from the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency in south Kashmir today, official sources said.Militants lobbed the grenade on the campaign vehicle of Ghulam Mohiuddin Dar around 4 p.m. in Pulwama district town, but it missed the intended target and exploded on the roadside, wounding 11 pedestrians, they said.
Mr Dar was not travelling in the vehicle, the sources said. None of the persons engaged in campaigning were among the injured.
No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for it.
The condition of three of the injured was stated to be serious.
In another incident militants shot at and critically wounded two policemen in the temple township of Mattan in Anantnag district around 3.45 pm.
The policemen were patrolling Mattan chowk when militants opened fire on them, the sources said, adding that the injured, one of whom was identified as constable Mohammad Amin, were shifted to Srinagar.
BJP candidate from Anantnag and his family escaped a militant attack last night.
Official sources said the militants hurled a hand grenade towards the residence of BJP candidate Sofi Yousuf at Lazabal in Anantnag in south Kashmir last night.
However, the grenade missed the target and exploded outside the compound wall.
Meanwhile, the security forces averted a major tragedy when they detected and defused a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) planted at Sonabugh in Lasjan area this morning.
Two persons were injured when the security forces opened fire to disperse demonstrators at a bus stand in Sopore in Baramula district today.
Official sources said trouble started when the security forces allegedly beat up a boy, Sharief-ud-Din, a resident of Keygam, Kupwara near the bus stand.
Later, people present at the bus stand demonstrated against the security forces and demanded action against them.
Bilal Ahmad and Abdul Majid, a guard at the bus stand, were those injured. The condition of Bilal is stated to be critical.
Later, shopkeeprs put up their shutters and traffic went off the road in protest.
An IED planted on a bicycle by suspected militants exploded at Rawalpora on the old airport road in uptown city today, official sources said.
However, no one was injured in the blast as the IED went off prematurely around 1 p.m. when the road was deserted, they said. —
PTI
