SRINAGAR: In the first attack of its kind in two years, three people, including a 56-year-old woman, were killed and 18 others injured in a powerful car blast set off by terrorists near Srinagar’s main jail at Rainawari on Saturday.
The explosion, which took place 150 metres from Srinagar’s central jail, shattered windowpanes of nearby houses and could be heard in a five-km radius. The explosives were packed in a car parked near the jail and detonated by remote control as a police bus drove past.
Srinagar SSP Javaid Riyaz Bedar identified the dead as cops Sagar Singh and Abdul Hamid and Khatija Begum. ‘‘The blast was triggered when the bus was coming out from the jail after dropping some undertrials,’’ he said. He said the bus was damaged and bodies of the cops were mangled. ‘‘One police vehicle and a private car were also damaged.’’
He said one of the injured is critical. ‘‘The toll is likely to rise. ‘‘Nine cops and nine civilians were injured in the blast.’’
Intelligence sources said Lashkar-e-Taiba is believed to be behind the attack.
Last month four CRPF men and policeman were killed by the militants in two different incidents in Srinagar.
There has been a sudden spurt in cross-border infiltration and a marked increase in violence in the Valley in the past one month. Last month, officials said violence had fallen to its lowest level since 1989.
According to police records, killings have dropped to one a day, from 10 daily in 2001 and a peak of 13 in 1996 when the insurgency was at its height with daily bomb attacks and gunbattles.
The level of violence declined sharply after India and Pakistan started a peace process in 2004. The peace process was suspended after the last year’s Mumbai attacks that left 166 people dead.
Officials attribute the decline in violence to effective counter-insurgency tactics and hi-tech barriers along the LoC that have made infiltration very difficult.
The explosion, which took place 150 metres from Srinagar’s central jail, shattered windowpanes of nearby houses and could be heard in a five-km radius. The explosives were packed in a car parked near the jail and detonated by remote control as a police bus drove past.
Srinagar SSP Javaid Riyaz Bedar identified the dead as cops Sagar Singh and Abdul Hamid and Khatija Begum. ‘‘The blast was triggered when the bus was coming out from the jail after dropping some undertrials,’’ he said. He said the bus was damaged and bodies of the cops were mangled. ‘‘One police vehicle and a private car were also damaged.’’
He said one of the injured is critical. ‘‘The toll is likely to rise. ‘‘Nine cops and nine civilians were injured in the blast.’’
Intelligence sources said Lashkar-e-Taiba is believed to be behind the attack.
Last month four CRPF men and policeman were killed by the militants in two different incidents in Srinagar.
There has been a sudden spurt in cross-border infiltration and a marked increase in violence in the Valley in the past one month. Last month, officials said violence had fallen to its lowest level since 1989.
According to police records, killings have dropped to one a day, from 10 daily in 2001 and a peak of 13 in 1996 when the insurgency was at its height with daily bomb attacks and gunbattles.
The level of violence declined sharply after India and Pakistan started a peace process in 2004. The peace process was suspended after the last year’s Mumbai attacks that left 166 people dead.
Officials attribute the decline in violence to effective counter-insurgency tactics and hi-tech barriers along the LoC that have made infiltration very difficult.
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