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37 injured in blasts

Thirtyseven people were injured when four powerful explosions rocked Jammu and Kashmir this weekend.

In Anantnag district, militants forced their entry into the house of Ghulam Mohammad Mir at Gund Jaffar and shot him dead early on Saturday morning. They also kidnapped Mir's relative Ghulam Rasool.

An army spokesman said 22 devotees, including a militant, Assadullah Baba alias 'Shoukat', sustained splinter injuries when a grenade he carried in his pocket exploded at Ashmuqam, Anantnag district. The explosion took place when people were returning home after Friday prayers.

(The locals, however, claim that Baba, who was working as a counter-insurgent, hurled the grenade on the congregation.)

Fourteen people, including two policemen, sustained injuries when militants lobbed two grenades at Lal Chowk and Jehangir Chowk in Srinagar on Friday.

In another incident, a security vehicle was severely damaged in a powerful bomb blast. Fortunately, no one was injured.

The spokesman said militants shot and critically wounded a surrendered militant, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, at Safakadal on Friday night.

A self-styled publicity chief of Al Jehad, Mohammad Akbar alias Reyazul Haq, was apprehended by the police in a joint operation with security forces at Arihal in Pulwama district, south Kashmir. A pistol and some ammunition was seized from him.

Two other militants, identified as Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh alias Aftab, the regimental commander of the Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, and Ghulam Qadir Baig were arrested by the local police from their hideouts at Wanganpora Eidgah and Lal Bazar in Srinagar on Saturday.

At Jama Masjid, militants fired on a police party. The police returned the fire, but the militants escaped. No one was hurt.

Army troops recovered a major cache of arms and ammunition during search operations at Amrohi and Trumandi in the frontier district of Kupwara, and the Sallar forests in Baramulla district. The seizure included 62 mines, 19 remote control devices, 128 detonators, four packets filled with explosives, an AK assault rifle, a pistol, a binocular, a wireless set and ammunition.

A militant of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen surrendered at Srinagar and handed over a pistol, one magazine and eight rounds to the authorities.

UNI

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