Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Hours before Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee was to address an election rally in Jammu, militants hurled a grenade on a Congress rally in Banihal town, about 150 km from here, killing a party activist and injuring 22 others.
Police said the attack came at 11.45 am when Minister for Health and Medical Education Lal Singh, the Congress candidate for Udhampur, was addressing a rally. Eye-witness reports said the grenade was hurled from a passing vehicle. It hit the boundary wall of the nearby Gujjar Hostel and exploded about 100 metres from the venue, injuring 23 people, four of them seriously. The injured included several policemen. The lone fatality, Congress activist Sikander Khan, died of his injuries in hospital.
An officer present at the rally, Sub Inspector Sagar Chand, said on hearing the blast people panicked and started running helter-skelter. As policemen on duty rushed out they saw many injured people crying for help. It was only then they cordoned the area and launched searches.
Singh was whisked away from the spot. He later went to Magarkote to address another election rally. This was the sixth militant attack on a rally in J-K since February 27.
Security agencies have reportedly got inputs about militants targetting poll meetings. The Army has warned of such attacks. Brigadier G.D. Bakshi, Brigadier General Staff, Northern Command, has also started reviewing the training to civilians to prevent such attacks.
