Miraculously, five legislators from Maharashtra and their families were also in Kashmir at the time, but managed to escape without injuries
In what appears to be extreme contempt to the Centre's Ramzan ceasefire, terrorists on Wednesday lobbed a powerful grenade at a busy square at the Goriwan area of Bijbhera in Anantnag that left 10 people, including a 12-year-old boy, injured. Miraculously, five legislators from Maharashtra and their families were also in Kashmir at the time, but managed to escape without injuries.
The legislators, part of the state legislature's Panchayati Raj committee, were in Jammu and Kashmir on a tour with their families and officials from the Maharashtra legislature secretariat when the attack occurred. NCP MLC Vikram Kale, who was part of the 21-member team, said that they were passing through Brijbhera during their tour of Anantnag when the incident took place. The other legislators, all MLAs included Tukaram Kate, Kishoreappa Patil (Shiv Sena), Sudhir Parve (BJP), and Deepak Chavan (NCP).
"We heard a noise like a blast and thought it was a tyre burst. It was when people started running that we realised it was a terror attack. The police did not allow us to stop our vehicles and we drove for another two km before halting. We then saw that the tyres of two cars carrying us had burst and one car carrying officials from the Jammu and Kashmir state legislature secretariat also had bullet marks. The occupants had a lucky escape as they had ducked when they were fired upon," said Kale.
"Four of the injured have been referred to Srinagar hospital for further treatment", tweeted Anantnag police. The area was bustling with activity when the incident occurred and panic immediately gripped the area. Security forces also rushed to the spot and restored order.
This is the first grenade explosion since the Centre announced a Ramzan ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir last week.
MEA summons Pakistan envoy
India on Wednesday summoned Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner and lodged a strong protest over the killing of a seven-month-old infant in unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistani forces in J&K’s Bhimber sector. The MEA said it was conveyed that the “deliberate targeting” of civilians by Pakistani forces using small arms and high caliber weapons is “highly deplorable”.
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