Jammu bus stand blast: One dead, several injured; police confirms Hizbul Mujahideen's involvement

NEW DELHI: A blast was reported at a bus stand in Jammu Thursday. At least 32 individuals have been reportedly injured, with one person succumbing to injuries.

While the injured have been moved to Government Medical College (GMC) hospital., the area has been cordoned off by security personnel. This is the third grenade attack by terrorists in the bus stand area of the city since May last year.

Giving details of the attack late in the day, J&K Police's Manish K Sinha said that District Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kulgam, Farooq Ahmed Bhatt alias Omar, had tasked suspect Yasir Bhatt to throw the grenade at the bus stop. The police revealed that one Mohammad Shariq of Uttarakhand's Haridwar had died in the attack. 12 people from Jammu and 11 from Kashmir were injured in the blast which took place at around 11:50 am today, the cops said.


DGP Dilbagh Singh also said that the person who threw the grenade at the Jammu bus stand earlier today has been arrested. Police questioning was underway.

The scene of the blast along the B C Road was sealed off by police and a massive hunt has been launched to nab the grenade thrower, Inspector General of Police, Jammu, M K Sinha said.


Sinha, who immediately rushed to the scene to take stock of the situation, said preliminary investigation suggests that someone lobbed the grenade, causing injuries to 32 people. Five of the injured have sustained critical injuries.

Further details are awaited.

The blast occurred even as security had been tightened in the state over the now- cancelled scheduled visit of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Jammu province on Thursday. The cancelled visit is unrelated to this blast.

There has been a spurt in ceasefire violations by Pakistan after India's preemptive air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camp in Balakot on February 26 following the February 14 suicide bombing in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

(With PTI inputs)