A non-local resident was killed while as at least 40 people including three security forces personnel were injured in a grenade attack at Gonikhan area of Hari Singh High Street (HSHS) in the heart of Srinagar on Monday. The condition of three injured is stated to be critical.According to wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), a grenade was tossed at crossing connecting HSHS with busy Gonikhan market in Srinagar. “There were lot of people busy in buying vegetables and other stuff. The market was abuzz and all of a sudden a big bang shook the area,” said an eye-witness. “I saw people lying flat on ground with blood oozing from their wounds.”Another eye-witness said that a non-local toy-seller sustained multiple splinter injuries and died on the spot. All the injured were taken to nearby Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital Srinagar where the condition of three injured is stated as critical.Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Central Kashmir range, Vidhi Kumar Birdhi told KNO that a one non-local succumbed at the hospital. “We are investigating the matter,” he said.
In a tweet on its official twitter handle, police said that three Sahastra Seema Bal personnel were among the injured. Police identified the non-local as Rinku Singh of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. As per eye-witnesses, Rinku was selling toys at the Gonikhan crossing.A senior official at the SMHS hospital confirmed that they received 40 injured with splinter injuries that were brought in for treatment at SMHS where condition of three is stated as crucial. “Two injured are in a critical injured,” he said.Soon after the attack, heavy contingents of police including paramilitary CRPF reached the site of incident and entire area was cordoned off and massive manhunt launched. Today’s attack is second in HSHS area on October 12. In the last such attack, seven people including a woman sustained injuries.On October 28, 19 people sustained injuries in the grenade attack in the busy market near general bus stand Sopore. On October 5, 13 people sustained injuries in a grenade attack at Ananatnag. Six CRPF men sustained injuries in a grenade attack outside SMHS hospital Srinagar on October 26. Before that, a grenade was tossed in Nawa Kadal area of Srinagar that however, didn’t cause any injury.Today’s attack is sixth grenade attack since August 5, when Centre scrapped Article 370 on August 5 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories (UTs). (KNO)