The Hindu : National / Jammu & Kashmir : DIG among 11 injured in blast

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

National

National - Jammu & Kashmir

DIG among 11 injured in blast

By Our Special Correspondent

SRINAGAR, JAN. 1. The Deputy Inspector-General of Police, South Kashmir range, Ravindra Kotwal, today escaped an assassination bid in Anantnag town but was seriously wounded, along with 10 others, including two of his security guards, in a powerful explosion caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

Police sources said Mr. Kotwal was on way to the District Superintendent of Police office when his bulletproof car was hit by the IED near the Saddar police station in Nai Basti. It exploded with a big bang causing extensive damage to his car and an escort vehicle.

Mr. Kotwal and five policemen were injured. Five civilians also sustained injuries.

The Inspector-General of Police, Javed Makhdoomi, told The Hindu that the DIG had received injuries in the leg. The IED was detonated by militants with the help of remote control, he said.

The sources said Mr. Kotwal was admitted to Army hospital in Srinagar while the policemen and civilians were rushed to civil hospitals in Srinagar. "His leg is badly injured but his condition is stable," said a doctor attending to Mr. Kotwal.

No militant outfit owned the responsibility of the attack till late in the evening.

Senior leader dies

The Leader of the Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council, Abdul Qayoom, died here today. He was indisposed for some time, family sources said.

The 70-year-old Qayoom was a former minister in the Farooq Abdullah-led Government. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

He was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in Charar-e-Sharief.

A former Congress leader, he left the party in 1992 and joined the Janata Dal as its State president before moving to the National Conference on the eve of the 1996 Assembly polls.

The Government announced State mourning for the day and announced closure of all offices and educational institutions. The State flag flew half-mast at the Secretariat.

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