Jammu, May 13
Terrorists struck again in Doda this morning when they exploded a grenade on a procession of the Hindus resulting in the death of two and injury to 41 persons.
Those killed have been identified as Bharat Bhushan and Munshi Ram.
Seven seriously injured persons — Ghandarab Singh, Manohari Lal, Kaku Ram, Jagdish Raj, Thakur Dass, Swami Raj and Javed Ahmad — have been flown here in a helicopter for treatment in the medical college hospital. Most of the injured had splinter wounds.
Javed Ahmad, a Class 7 student, got injured as he had come out to fetch eggs from a shop. The attack on the peaceful procession has come as yet another setback to the state government, which has so far failed to bring terrorism under control in the district.
The Hindus have migrated out of fear from villages after 19 Hindus were massacred and many wounded by terrorists in Kulhand village, near the district town of Doda, last week.
One of the injured in today’s attack, Jagdish Raj, said the grenade was lobbed at the procession by unidentified militants while they were proceeding towards the office of the Deputy Commissioner in support of their demand for providing adequate security to villages where terrorists had struck earlier.
A number of Hindus of Kulhand village and areas around have migrated to Doda since May 2 and were on a dharna there to protest against the massacre and failure of the authorities to provide them with security.
The dharna and processions were being backed by the BJP. BJP leader L.K.Advani will visit Doda tomorrow to take stock of the situation and express grief over the killings.
Meanwhile, Prof Hari Om, vice-president of the state BJP, has demanded dismissal of the Azad-led coalition government and imposition of Governor’s rule in the state.
