Six CRPF personnel among 30 wounded in Kashmir grenade blasts

Srinagar, Mar 5 (UNI) At least 30 people, including six Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel -- one of them a deputy commandant -- were wounded in two separate grenade attacks across the Kashmir valley today.

However, CRPF spokesman Dilip Singh Ambeesh told UNI that about 19 people, including six CRPF men, were wounded in the grenade attacks by the militants at Pulwama in south Kashmir and downtown Srinagar.

While the banned Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for both the grenade attacks, the Al-Madina militant outfit also owned the Srinagar blast.

In the first incident, militants hurled a hand grenade towards the CRPF vehicle near a bus terminal in Pulwama, about 30 km from here, this afternoon, official sources said.

However, the grenade missed the intended target and exploded on the roadside, causing injuries to at least 25 people, including two CRPF jawans, they added.

The wounded were shifted to the Pulwama district hospital. Four critically injured were later referred to a hospital here.

In another attack, militants hurled a hand grenade towards a CRPF picket near a shrine at Khanyar chowk in the downtown area of the city at around 1600 hrs this afternoon.

The grenade hit the picket, causing injuries to four CRPF personnel, the spokesman said.

CRPF's 122 battalion Deputy Commandant B N Sharma, sub-inspector N Singh, head constable Jaswal and jawan Khandey were wounded in the attack. The wounded have been admitted to a hospital here.

JeM spokesman Abu Padama telephoned the local media here to claim responsibility for both the attacks.

However, the Al-Madina militant outfit also called up the media organisations here to claim responsibility for the attack at Khanyar here.

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