Jammu and Kashmir: Grenade Attack On CRPF Personnel At Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, 5 Injured

A security force jawan and four civilians were injured in a grenade attack by militants on CRPF personnel in Lal Chowk area of the city on Sunday, police said. Terrorists hurled a grenade on the CRPF personnel posted on duty near Pratap Park in busy Lal Chowk area of the city, a police official said. The CRPF jawan and the four civilians injured in the explosion were shifted to a hospital, he said.

The loud explosion caused panic among the people, especially those who had come to the weekly flea market, also known as Sunday market, the official said. Security forces have cordoned off the area, he added.

The attack comes days after a group of 3-4 militants, travelling in a truck, opened fire at a police team at a toll plaza on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. Three terrorists were killed in the encounter. The firing took place around 5 am when the police team stopped a Srinagar-bound truck for checking near the toll plaza in the Ban area of Nagrota.

The group of 3-4 terrorists was on their way to Srinagar when they were intercepted by the police team at the toll plaza, DGP Dilbag Singh said. Traffic was suspended on the highway after the attack.

Two youths Wanting To Join Militancy Held

Two youths who had made a bid to cross over to Pakistan to join a militant outfit were arrested and handed over to their families after counselling, the Army said on Saturday. “It has been the constant endeavour of security forces that the misguided youth be brought back to mainstream and be prevented from joining militancy. In one such endeavour, two youths intending to cross the LoC have been brought back and reunited with their families today,” an Army spokesman said.

He said the youths—both 16 years of age and hailing from south Kashmir -- were influenced by the false narrative and the rhetoric created by anti-national elements to lure them to join a militant outfit.

After the security forces learnt about their intention to cross the LoC, they launched synergised and concerted efforts to apprehend them, the spokesman said.

“Their movements were tracked closely and all our teams were instructed to apprehend them alive so that they can be brought back to mainstream,” he said.