SUICIDE STRIKE

Barely 50 metres away from where Centre8217;s Kashmir interlocutor N N Vohra was holding peace talks, a suicide squad attacked the fortifie...

Barely 50 metres away from where Centre8217;s Kashmir interlocutor N N Vohra was holding peace talks, a suicide squad attacked the fortified complex of Radio Kashmir and Doordarshan Kendra in the city centre. Three militants and two security men were killed in the attack that raised the pitch of violence to new heights in the wake of India8217;s latest bid to push for a dialogue with Pakistan.

It was around 1 pm when a militant drove a white Ambassador with a red beacon straight to the entrance of the Radio Kashmir complex while his two accomplices had taken position metres away.

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8216;8216;The car was asked to stop at the drop gate but they drove ahead. Within seconds, one of the militants jumped out while the other blew up the car,8217;8217; a CRPF men guarding the nearby bunker said. 8216;8216;There was a huge cloud of fire and a deafening blast. The pieces of the car were flying all around,8217;8217; he said. One militant threw a grenade into the security force bunker next to the entrance. 8216;8216;There was another blast and the bunker was destroyed8217;8217; he said.

The two militants who were following the car tried to sneak inside the campus in the chaos. But a team of Border Security Force stationed there reacted quickly to foil the attempt. 8216;8216;One militant who was trying to sneak in was gunned down right at the entrance while his accomplice tried to escape,8217;8217;

Deputy Inspector general of BSF, Desh Raj said. 8216;8216;One of our boys, Prakash, followed the militant and tried to grab him. The militant was carrying a live grenade and he detonated it, killing himself and our boy.8217;8217;

A CRPF jawan guarding the entrance was also killed while three others were critically wounded in the attack. Two militants were wearing police uniform while the third was wearing salwar-kameez.

8216;8216;It was raining so there was not much rush. Otherwise, we would have had a lot of civilian casualty as well,8217;8217; said Deputy Inspector general of Police, Kashmir range, Farooq Ahmad. 8216;8216;Then there were hardly any employees of the Radio station or visitors at the entrance because of the weekend. Just three civilians were injured,8217;8217; he said.

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The body of a militant had a strapped improvised explosive device which was defused by a bomb disposal squad. 8216;8216;We were sitting in the music studio busy recording when a deafening sound shook the building,8217;8217; said Station Director, Radio Kashmir Rafeeq Masoodi.

This is the second suicide strike in two days and the first of such intensity in Srinagar after a gap of almost a year and a half.

This attack comes at a time when Centre8217;s inching towards resumption of dialogue with Pakistan and also push for a peace mission within Kashmir. The attack is seen as a violent reaction from the militants to the peace process.

Muzamil Jaleel

Muzamil Jaleel is a Deputy Editor at The Indian Express and is widely recognized as one of India’s most authoritative voices on Jammu & Kashmir, national security, and internal affairs. With a career spanning over 30 years, he has provided definitive on-the-ground reportage from the heart of the Kashmir conflict, bearing witness to historic political transitions and constitutional shifts. Expertise and Investigative Depth Muzamil’s work is characterized by a rare combination of ground-level immersion and high-level constitutional analysis. His expertise includes: Conflict & Geopolitics: Decades of reporting on the evolution of the Kashmir conflict, the Indo-Pak peace process, and the socio-political dynamics of the Himalayan region. Constitutional Law: Deep-dive analysis of Article 370 and Article 35A, providing clarity on the legal and demographic implications of their abrogation in 2019. Human Rights & Accountability: A relentless investigator of state and non-state actors, uncovering systemic abuses including fake encounters and the custodial death of political workers. International War Reporting: Beyond South Asia, he provided on-the-spot coverage of the final, decisive phase of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009. Landmark Exposés & Impact Muzamil’s reporting has repeatedly forced institutional accountability and shaped national discourse: The Kashmir Sex Scandal (2006): His investigative series exposed a high-profile exploitation nexus involving top politicians, bureaucrats, and police officers, leading to the sacking and arrest of several senior officials. Fake Encounters: His reports blew the lid off cases where innocent civilians were passed off as "foreign terrorists" by security forces for gallantry awards. SIMI Investigations: He conducted a massive deep-dive into the arrests of SIMI members, using public records to show how innocuous religious gatherings were often labeled as incriminating activities by investigative agencies. The Amarnath Land Row: Provided critical context to the 2008 agitation that polarized the region and altered its political trajectory. Over the years, Muzamil has also covered 2002 Gujarat riots, Bhuj earthquake, assembly elections in Bihar for Indian Express. He has also reported the peace process in Northern Ireland, war in Sri Lanka and national elections in Pakistan for the paper. Awards and Fellowships His "Journalism of Courage" has been honored with the industry's most prestigious accolades: Four Ramnath Goenka Awards: Recognized for J&K Reportage (2007), On-the-Spot Reporting (2009), and Reporting on Politics and Government (2012, 2017). Kurt Schork Award: From Columbia University for international journalism. Sanskriti Award: For excellence in Indian journalism and literature. IFJ Tolerance Prize: For his empathetic and nuanced reporting in South Asia. International Fellowships: Served as a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley and worked with The Guardian, The Observer, and The Times in London. He has also received Chevening fellowship and a fellowship at the Institute of Social Studies, Hague, Netherlands. Professional Presence Current Location: New Delhi (formerly Bureau Chief, Srinagar). Education: Master’s in Journalism from Kashmir University. Social Media: Follow him for field insights and rigorous analysis on X (Twitter) @MuzamilJALEEL. ... Read More