Grenade blast at Jammu bus stand; around 26 Injured, 2 critical
Jammu, Mar 7: A grenade blast at Jammu bus stand today left around 26 people injured out of whom two persons are said to be critical. The blast took place around noon. The grenade reportedly went off under a bus, said some reports.
The injured have been rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital, and some are being operated for shrapnel injuries, said reports. The area has been cordoned off by the local police. This is said to be third grenade blast in the area in the past 10 months. Among the injured were bus drivers, conductors and some passersby.
The state has been on a high state of alert after the February 14 Pulwama attack and February 26 Balakot airstrike at JeM camp.
"It was a grenade explosion, it has caused injuries to approximately 18 people, all shifted to hospital," MK Sinha, IGP Jammu, told reporters earlier. It seems that the grenade was lobbed from the outside, he further said.
Reports quoted an eyewitness as syaing that it was a 'big blast'. The locals helped the injured and escorted them to the ambulances, the eyewitness further told a TV channel.
The blast took place at SRTC bus stand in Jammu around noon. One injured person is said to be critically injured, said reports.
Earlier today, a gunbattle broke out between the security forces and the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Handwara. As per latest reports, one terrorist has been killed so far, said reports.
There have been at least five major encounters between the forces and the terrorists in Kashmir since India carried out a pre-emptive stike on JeM base in Pakistan's Balakot of February 26. Two terrorists were killed in an encounter with terrorists in Babgund area of J&K's Handwara on March 3.
[Escalating tension as Pakistan mobilises additional troops, weaponry]
Terrorists on Saturday (March 2) evening launched an attack on a camp of the 44 RR (Rashtriya Rifles) in Nagbal in Shopian district. Police were alerted immediately, who retaliated and fired back. The fresh encounters came amid heightened Indo-Pak tensions in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack, the subsequent anti-terror operation by India and Pakistan Air Force's attempt to target Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir.