Grenade attacks on telecom installations rattle Srinagar, police suspect Hizbul splinter group

Srinagar: A series of grenade attacks on mobile towers and telecom offices on Friday rattled Srinagar city, a day after the Hizbul Mujahideen expelled a “rogue” militant, who is believed to have planned similar attacks on mobile installations in north Kashmir. [caption id=“attachment_2362900” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Representational image. Image courtesy-Reuters[/caption] Four grenades were lobbed at telecom infrastructure in a span of a few hours by unknown assailants, who managed to escape from the disrupted areas, leaving the police clueless about their whereabouts. Two persons were hurt in the attacks. Two telecom offices and a mobile tower were targeted in Karan Nagar, the commercial hub of Srinagar city, barely a kilometre away from the chief minister’s office. Another grenade was lobbed at a mobile tower in the Wazir Bagh locality. The attacks, according to preliminary investigations, are believed to be the handiwork of a splinter group of the Hizbul Mujahideen led by Abdul Qayoom Najar and Imtiyaz Ahmad Kandroo. The group is active in different parts of north Kashmir. Inspector General of Police (Kashmir), Syed Javed Mujtaba Gillani said there are around ten militants in Najar’s group who have been frequenting Srinagar. “As Najar was responsible for the Hizbul Mujahideen’s north Kashmir chapter, he may have also carried out the attacks in Srinagar to create panic and spread fear,” he said. “It seems that the attacks in Srinagar were carried by the same group which had earlier carried out attacks in Sopore,” Gillani, told Firstpost. Earlier, unidentified gunmen had killed six people in Sopore. The J&K police had blamed the killings on the Najar-led group. On Thursday, the Hizb chief, Syed Salahuddin, also blamed Najar for killing civilians and attacking the telecom infrastructure, including the local people associated with it, in Sopore town. “During his address to the Hizb Command Council, Syed Salahuddin said that the basic membership of Najar has been suspended as he played a key role in murdering some innocent persons, indulged in the character assassination of Hurriyat leaders and attacked the telecommunication set up in Valley,” Hizb spokesperson Salim Hashmi said. “The report submitted by an inquiry into the killings has proved that Qayoom Najar in utter disregard to the Hizb leadership violated the constitution of the outfit and carried out condemnable acts. Our constitution does not allow or permit such actions,” Salahuddin said. But the relatives of the slain persons expressed suspicion that the security agencies carried out the killings, especially in the backdrop of the union defence minister Manohar Parrikar’s “terrorist-for-terrorist” remarks. Tufail Ahmad Reshi, whose brother was killed by two unidentified gunmen on June 15 outside his medical shop in Mundji of Sopore, doesn’t believe that militants are responsible for his brother’s murder. “I don’t understand why any militant would kill my innocent brother. He was only 37 and had a family to take care of. I would like to believe this is not true,” he said, after being told that the Hizbul Mujahideen had accused Najar of being involved in the killing. Whatever the truth may be, the attacks in the heart of Srinagar city have left security agencies in a tizzy with the traders associated with telecom companies fearing that it might bring back the environment of terror which prevailed in June and even lead to the closure of cellular services in the capital. Experts believe that it may also affect tourism in the state. Telecom installations in the valley became a target in June when unknown gunmen, claiming to be associated with a lesser known outfit, Lashkar-i-Islam, killed two persons associated with the telecom sector in Sopore town. In subsequent attacks, four more people, including a Hurriyat activist, were gunned down. The crisis sparked by the killings led to a shutdown of mobile services for over a week in north Kashmir with over 70 percent subscribers affected in the Valley. The wave of attacks came in the backdrop of threatening posters issued by “Lashkar-e-Islam”. The printed posters, carrying the logo of the outfit, said that telecommunication was one of the “dirtiest conspiracies” of India that has led to the “martyrdom” and the arrest of many militant commanders and cadres. “If the government can’t guarantee our security, why should people put their lives at risk? We will have to ultimately shut our shops. The absence of security will affect the entire society, not merely a particular group of people.” Rehaan Malik, who works at an Airtel franchise in Srinagar, said. Since the attacks in June, mobile services in Sopore town continue to be in crisis with cable operators too shutting down their establishments. “The mobile phones are working, but there is not even a single shop in Sopore which sells recharge cards for prepaid connections. This has affected our business and daily life,” Rahi Mohiudin, a resident of downtown Sopore, said in a phone conversation.