JuM owns up Banihal strike

State Health Minister and Congress nominee for Udhampur LS constituency Choudhary Lal Singh escaped unhurt while one person was killed and 22 others were injured in the incident.

‘‘The JuM would continue to target election rallies as it is only by force it can demonstrate that parliamentary elections cannot be held in Kashmir,’’ the spokesperson claimed. The IED in Udhampur was planted on the road in Dhaksan Nullah of Gool tehsil and detonated by remote control. The victims have been identified as Mahinder Singh and Devi Singh.

In Budgam, Army troops recovered an M-16 rifle, used only by US soldiers, along with a huge cache of arms and ammunition from an underground hideout in Chichlur Hills yesterday.

Besides the M-16, troops recovered three AK-47 rifles, a .303 rifle, three 9-mm machine guns, an RPG rocket with boosters, grenades and RDX. Meanwhile, a self-styled sector commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad, Liaqat Ali alias Mustafa, surrendered in Udhampur.

In another incident, militants shot dead a villager in Mahore, they said adding the reason behind the killing was being ascertained.