Suspected militants on Saturday targeted the Jammu and Kashmir police with bombs in summer capital Srinagar and in the north-western town of Sopore, injuring 14 persons, including four policemen, and causing panic in busy marketplaces.
The police said unknown persons tossed a hand grenade towards a police post at Batamallo, a Srinagar suburb, but without causing any casualties. A similar act at Arampora in Sopore, 48 km from here, however, injured 14 persons, including a woman bystander. Three of the four policemen who suffered splinter injuries in the sneak attack on a police patrol and “bunker vehicle” close to a police station have been brought here for specialised treatment, officials said. Though no one has claimed responsibility, the police authorities blamed both incidents on separatist militants.
The attacks came a day after IGP (Kashmir range) Shiv Murari Sahai told reporters here that though there had been a “steep decline” in militancy in the Kashmir Valley, militants were trying to carry out attacks in Srinagar.