12 shoppers at Srinagar’s busy Sunday market injured in grenade attack

Shortly after Sunday’s explosion, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha spoke to top security officials, including Jammu and Kashmir’s Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, and called for an “effective and forceful” response.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah urged “the security apparatus” to “do everything possible to end this spurt of attacks”.

Police sources said that on Sunday afternoon, a grenade was hurled towards Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel near the TRC on Residency Road. It missed the target and hit a street vendor’s cart, injuring 12 shoppers, sources said.

The injured were rushed to a hospital for treatment. Doctors said all of them have splinter injuries. One of the injured women is in a critical condition while the others are stable.

Security forces at the site of the blast in Srinagar. (Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi)

J&K’s Health Minister Sakina Masood and the Srinagar Deputy Commissioner, Dr Bilal Mohiuddin, visited the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital in Srinagar to check up on them.

At the site of the attack, a joint team of the J&K Police and paramilitary forces cordoned off the area immediately afterwards.

The Residency Road stretch, from the TRC to Lal Chowk, is usually crowded at this time as it hosts Srinagar’s Sunday market. A few paramilitary bunkers are also housed under the flyover near the TRC.

Sunday’s attack is the first grenade blast in Srinagar in the past two years. In 2022, two civilians were injured when a grenade exploded near Srinagar’s Amirakadal bridge.

In a post on X, Abdullah wrote, “The last few days have been dominated by headlines of attacks and encounters in parts of the Valley. Today’s news of a grenade attack on innocent shoppers at the Sunday market in Srinagar is deeply disturbing. There can be no justification for targeting innocent civilians. The security apparatus must do everything possible to end this spurt of attacks at the earliest so that people can go about their lives without any fear.”

With the Valley seeing a steep uptick in violence in the last fortnight, Lt Governor Sinha also directed senior police and security officials to respond effectively to such violent acts.

“Terrorists targeting our citizens will have to pay a very heavy price for their actions. You have full freedom to crush terror outfits and leave no stone unturned to complete this mission,” an official statement quoted the L-G telling senior security officials.