One dead, 15 injured in grenade blast near CRPF check post at Jehangir Chowk in Srinagar

A grenade blast by militants aimed at a CRPF check post killed one civilian and injured 15 others, including three policemen, in the busy Jehangir Chowk area of Srinagar city on Thursday evening, according to media reports.

One of the injured identified as Maqsood Shah, a resident of Budgam district, succumbed to his injuries, he said.

  #UPDATE : One civilian succumbs to his injuries in Jehangir Chowk grenade attack #Srinagar — ANI (@ANI) September 7, 2017

Security personnel deployed at Jehangir Chowk were the apparent target of the grenade attack at around 5.40 pm, a police official said.

Times Now reported that civilians injured in the blast and have been taken to the hospital. Jehangir Chowk is located close to the commercial hub Lal Chowk in the state capital where civilians gather in large numbers, causing the splinters from the grenade injuring those around.

The militant hurled a hand grenade at a passing vehicle of the CRPF in the Jehangir Chowk area which exploded on the road, injuring him and five other passers-by, SSP Srinagar Imtiaz Parray said. “According to eyewitnesses, the person who hurled the grenade was also among the injured. We are trying to verify this,” he said.

The injured have been shifted to hospital for treatment and the area has been cordoned off, police said.

The site of the blast is close to the Secretariat which houses the offices of the chief minister, her cabinet colleagues and all top bureaucrats.

Autos and other vehicles were also damaged in the blast.

Most recently, on 5 September, four CRPF personnel were injured in Anantnag district when a grenade was hurled at them by militants in the Qazigund area, reported  The Kashmir Monitor .

A day earlier, five CRPF soldiers were injured when militants threw a grenade at them on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, according to  The Statesman .

With inputs from IANS and PTI