Four persons, including 2 CRPF personnel injured in two grenade attacks in south Kashmir; PDP MLA's house among targets

Militants carried out two grenade attacks on Friday in Anantnag and Pulwama districts of Jammu and Kashmir, including at the residence of ruling PDP MLA Mushtaq Shah, leaving four persons injured. Militants lobbed a grenade towards the residence of Tral MLA Mushtaq Shah in Pulwama. It exploded in the lawn and no one was injured, a police official said, adding the legislator was not in the house at the time of the incident. Shah is a legislator of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which has a coalition government with the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir. [caption id=“attachment_4491805” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Jammu and Kashmir Police. AFP[/caption] The ultras also attacked CRPF personnel at Khanabal in Anantnag district this afternoon. Four persons, including two CRPF personnel, were injured in the explosion. All injured are stated to be stable, the official said. A manhunt has been launched to nab the attackers, he said. According to reports, security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have been put on a high alert following reports of large scale infiltration of militants in the Valley from across the Line of Control, officials said on Friday. Militants fired upon a CRPF vehicle in Pulwama on Friday morning, however, no one was injured in the attack. According to reports, the CRPF vehicle of 183 Battalion came under fire at Eidgah crossing in Pulwama town. Mohammad Asalam Chaudhary, SSP, Pulwama, said, “Soon after this incident, whole area has been cordoned off.” There are reports of infiltration of over 20 militants into Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) recently, the officials said. They also said that most of the militants are believed to be affiliated to Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit headed by Maulana Masood Azhar. The security grid is apprehending a spike in militant attacks in the state, particularly in the Valley, the officials said. The security forces have been asked to remain on a high alert and maintain vigil around sensitive security installations across the state, they said. The officials said it is rare for such a large number of militants to infiltrate in one go and indicated the desperation of their handlers across the LoC to keep the Kashmir pot boiling. With inputs from PTI.