Five killed, 40 wounded in six explosions in Srinagar

Srinagar, Apr 14 (UNI) At least five civilians, including two women, were killed and a 12-year-old boy was among the 40 others wounded as militants carried out a series of grenade explosions at various places across the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir today.

A total of six grenade blasts took place in the city till this evening the responsibility for which was separately claimed by four militant outfits -- Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Al Mansoorian and Islamic Front.

Rumours of grenade explosions in various other parts of the city created panic among the people as they made frantic calls to several media organisations besides the Police Control Room.

Confirming the casualties, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Farooq Ahmed told UNI that two civilians, including a woman, were killed in the grenade blast at the busy Hari Singh High Street in Amira Kadal area here.

He said three people, including a woman, were killed in the explosion at the busy Badyari Chowk near Dalgate here.

Mr Ahmed said several people were wounded in the explosions across the city.

The dead have been identified as Deepa Joshi of Nepal, Mudassir Parray, Shaheena, Javed Ahmed Bhat (all from Srinagar) and Anoop Singh of Punjab.

While Deepa Joshi and Mudassir Parray were killed in the blast that took place at the Hari Singh High Street, Shaheena, Javed Ahmed Bhat and Anoop Singh died in the attack near Dalgate.

Among the wounded were 30 civilians, including the 12-year-old boy, two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, four Jammu and Kashmir policemen and as many Central Reserve Police (CRPF) jawans.

The terror attacks came two days after Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir had started showing significant improvement, leading to increased flow of tourists and pilgrims.

The blasts also came less than 24 hours after a high-level meeting reviewed the security arrangements for the April 24 bypoll in three Assembly constituencies of Pattan, Rafiabad and Sangrama in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, about 50 km from here.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, his predecessor Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, National Conference President Omar Abdullah, Peoples Democratic Party Chief Mehbooba Mufti, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami besides several others condemned the explosions.

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