Tribune News ServiceSrinagar, July 8
Five persons ,including a former legislator, were killed and 60 others were injured when suspected militants hurled a grenade on a National Conference rally in the Kulgam area of Anantnag district today.
The NC Anantnag district president and former MLA from the Kulgam constituency, Ghulam Nabi Dar, was among those killed while the former minister, Ms Sakina Ittoo was among the injured in the incident.
The grenade was lobbed on the rally celebrating the grant of district status to Kulgam that was announced by the Chief Minister here on Thursday last. The Police said that the incident took place in Kulgam town this afternoon, killing former MLA, Ghulam Nabi Dar and three other civilians. Another civilian later succumbed to his injuries while being shifted to hospital.
The wounded were shifted to Srinagar hospitals, where condition of five was stated to be critical.
Senior police officers said that Ms Sakina Itoo had been advised not to divert from the scheduled route to Damhal Hanjipora, where no security arrangements had been made that led to the grenade attack. The National Conference workers were to move to Damhal Hanjipora for further celebrations.
Ms Sakina Ittoo, MLC, in her 30’s, was first elected to the State Legislative Assembly from the Noorabad constituency in 1996 and became the Minister of state in Farooq Abdullah’s government between 1996 and 2002.
She lost the 2002 Assembly
elections, but her party sent her to the Legislative Council. Her father and former Speaker of the Assembly, had fallen to the bullets of militants in 1990.
With today’s attack she has survived six attempts on her life since the last Assembly elections.
Former MLA of the National Conference, Ghulam Nabi Dar, who was killed in the attack, represented the Kulgam constituency twice in the past. He was first elected to the Assembly in 1977 and re-elected in 1983.
