Two civilians were killed and 36 others injured

Jammu and Kashmir police on Tuesday arrested two persons in connection with the Sunday’s grenade attack at busy Amira Kadal bridge, in the heart of the city, that left two civilians dead and 36 others injured, officials said here.

The first accused identified as Mohd Bariq was arrested from Khanyar and his initial examination led to the arrest of the second accused, Fazil Nabi Sofi.

The two-wheeler used in this grenade attack was also seized by the Special Investigation Team which had been formed immediately after the terror strike.

During its probe, the SIT employed modern means of investigation and used technical evidence like minute frame by frame analysis of the CCTV footages of scene of crime, footages of CCTVs in the whole of Srinagar city, Cell Tower dump analysis, IP dump analysis, recreation of crime scene and by examination of some eye witnesses, officials said.

Based on these, the SIT was able to identify the two accused who came on a two- wheeler without a number-plate to commit the crime and fled on the same vehicle after committing the terrorist act.

During the intense analysis of the CCTV trail in Srinagar city, the route adopted by both the accused was located back to Khanyar area of the downtown.

It further came out that these two accused had committed the terrorist act on the directions of active terrorists in the Kashmir valley, they said.

Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar congratulated the Srinagar police for cracking the case quickly and professionally. He said that the whole terror module behind the heinous crime against the civilians will be smashed.

The accused had planned to attack the parked security vehicle but as the grenade was thrown from a moving two-wheeler, the target was missed and the grenade exploded in an adjacent crowded area where many road-side vendors and buyers were present, the officials said.

It was also found that this particular area was chosen due to the omnipresent chaos and turbulent traffic in this stretch of area due to unorganised vendors and stalls on the road, the officials said.

There have been two other recent grenade attacks in this area – on August 10, 2021 and January 25, 2022.

This act of grenade throwing created terror, panic and anguish among the masses in whole of Srinagar city.

Jammu and Kashmir police also requested all commercial establishments and shops to install CCTV cameras inside and outside of their establishments, according to the advisory issued by Deputy Commissioner Srinagar.

This will act as strong deterrence to all the anti-social elements.

The incident took place on March 6 when a grenade explosion took place near Amira kadal bridge, in the heart of the city at about 4.20 pm leaving 38 people injured.

Later, two of the injured among the civilians succumbed – 79-year-old Mohammed Aslam Makhdoomi and 19-year-old Rafia Nazir, who had secured 94 per cent marks in Class 12 exams.

Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said that the enemies of peace were involved in such cowardly acts.

“We have achieved success against them in the past by busting all the modules created by the enemy forces to carry out civilian killings and throw grenades to harm the public,” Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Kathua district.

He said any new terrorist module coming to the fore will be tackled and neutralised.

Courtesy: The Tribune India: 8th March , 2022