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42 injured in grenade blast

Jammu: Forty-two people, including an Assistant Commandant of the CRPF, were injured when militants on Friday lobbed a grenade on a CRPF Company in Banihal town of Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir. The company was deployed for the safety of Amarnath Yatra pilgrims.

The blast, aimed at CRPF personnel, occurred at 1.05 p.m. in the afternoon when a large crowd had gathered from remote areas of the district for Friday prayers at the Jamia Masjid.

Talib, Ramban’s Deputy Superintendent of Police and the officiating incharge of the belt said most of the injured were locals and that no Amarnath Yatra pilgrims were hurt. “We have intensified patrolling in the area and efforts are on to trace the culprits. The Yatra is going on smoothly.” Four police personnel were also injured.

Banihal is the last point of the Jammu region just before the Jawahar Tunnel, from where the Anantnag district of the Kashmir valley starts. The Amarnath cave is located in Anantnag and the entire route from Jammu city to the cave is prone to militant attack.

In August 2002, militants had made an unsuccessful attack in Banihal on the Amarnath Yatra.

The militants were killed in a mosque after a long combined operation by the Army and the police.

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