india

Updated: Nov 05, 2019 02:23 IST

Terrorists lobbed a grenade in a busy market in Srinagar, killing one person and injuring 35 others on Monday, police said.

The 35 injured, including three security personnel, were rushed to the nearby SMHS hospital where the condition of two is critical, officials said. The deceased has been identified as 40-year-old Rinku Singh, a resident of Saharanpur, they said.

The attack took place at 1.20 pm when the Hari Singh High Street market was crowded with people and roadside vendors. Police said the area has been cordoned off for searches.

This is the second grenade attack in less than a month in the summer capital of what is now the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

On October 12, terrorists injured five people in a similar grenade attack in the area.

Traffic was scarce in the city with the capital of the newly created Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir shifting to Jammu for the winter.

On August 5, the Centre announced the revocation of the erstwhile state’s special status under Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

On Monday, almost three months to the day, normal life remained disrupted. Shops and other business establishments opened early in the morning but downed their shutters around 12 noon due to fewer customers following shifting of the capital to Jammu as part of bi-annual ‘darbar move’, officials said.

While public transport was off the roads in most parts of the Valley, the movement of private vehicles in the city was less than usual as a large number of government employees have shifted base to Jammu.

Roadside vendors set up their stalls on the TRC crossing-Batamaloo axis in the city but the number of customers was less, the officials said.

Efforts of the state government to open schools have not borne any fruit as parents continue to keep the children at home due to apprehensions about their safety. However, board examinations for Classes 10 and 12 are going on according to schedule.

Landline and postpaid phone services have been restored across the valley, but all internet services continue to remain suspended since August 5.

Several mainstream leaders including former chief ministers — Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti — have been either detained or placed under house arrest.

Offices open in Jammu

Amid tight security arrangements, the Civil Secretariat — the seat of Jammu and Kashmir government — and other offices reopened in Jammu on Monday after functioning for six months in Srinagar as part of the nearly 150-year-old practice known as the ‘Darbar Move’.

The bi-annual shift is the first after the state’s bifurcation into two Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Girish Chandra Murmu, who assumed office as the first Lieutenant Governor of the new Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir on October 31, inspected the guard of honour given by a police contingent at the civil secretariat, marking opening of offices here.