Jammu: Exactly three weeks after the terror attack in Pulwama, one person was killed and 30 others were injured when a grenade flung under a parked bus by a militant exploded at Jammu’s main bus stand. The attacker was arrested within hours.Camera footage was examined and based on oral testimony of witnesses the police were able to identify the suspect. He was wearing jeans and a red rucksack. ‘‘We were on lookout for anyone matching the description.
The accused was arrested and he confessed to his crime. The Hizbul commander from Kulgam had tasked him with the grenade attack,” said Inspector General of Police Manish K Sinha. The attacker was identified as Yasir, alias Arhaan. The thunderous explosion occurred around 11.30 a.m. when the General Bus Stand, as it is known, was teeming with people. Sinha said the grenade had rolled under the parked bus that was headed to Uttarakhand.
The explosion also injured passengers in a nearby parked bus which was to leave for Amritsar. One of the civilians succumbed to his injuries in a hospital. He has been identified as 17-year-old Mohammad Sharik, a resident of Haridwar; he died due to splinter injuries in the chest.
All the injured have been hospitalised and four of them are critical, doctors said. Some witnesses said they initially thought the sound had been caused by a tyre burst. Thursday’s is the third such attack at the Jammu General Bus Stand by militants in the last nine months.
The IG said there was no specific input about the attack. “General inputs are always there and the deployments are made. We are working on the leads all the time whenever we get inputs, but there was nothing specific about this attack,” Sinha said. “Obviously the intention was to disturb the communal harmony,’’ and requested the people to maintain calm.