Srinagar, Aug 13: Three persons including a teenage boy were killed and 16 others injured, some of them critically in a powerful grenade explosion carried out by suspected militants in North Kashmir this afternoon.
Police sources said that suspected militants lobbed a hand grenade towards a patrol party of Indian para-military border guards in the crowded market at Nawpora Chowk, Bandipora in North Kashmir this afternoon. The grenade missed the intended target and exploded on the road, causing splinter injuries to 19 persons.
The injured persons were removed to Srinagar hospitals for specialized treatment.
Out of the injured, two persons namely Yawar Rafiq 17 son of Mohammed Rafiq of Bandipora and a labourer namely Shamlal son of Har Chand of Rajasthan succumbed to injuries on the way to Srinagar hospital while another critically injured person, Ghulam Mohammed Lone died in Srinagar hospital.
Immediately after the blast, Indian police and para-military personnel laid siege around the area to flush out the militants responsible for the grenade explosion. No arrests were reported.
No militant group has owned up to the grenade attack.
The grenade attack comes a week after all the militants groups operating in violence-hit Kashmir had vowed not to carry out strikes on Indian force personnel in crowded places.
