Militants strike thrice as Rajnath visits J&K

On a day when Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrived on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, militants struck at three places, injuring six persons, on Friday.

At least three CRPF personnel were injured when militants lobbed a grenade and opened fire at a CRPF camp at Litter village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, Rayees Muhammad Bhat, said the attack was carried out around 9.55 p.m. This is the second such attack on the force in a week. Last Saturday, eight CRPF jawans were killed and 20 others injured in a militant ambush on a CRPF convoy in Pampore town in Pulwama.

Earlier in the day, militants fired on policemen standing outside a bank in Budgam, more than 20 km away from Srinagar. “One policeman and two civilians were injured in the attack. A bullet grazed the policeman’s face and hit a civilian,” said SSP, Budgam, Fayaz Lone.

A police officer said the area was cordoned off the attack and a search operation launched to flush out militants. However, no militant had been traced till late Friday evening.

In south Kashmir, suspected militants tossed a grenade at a police post in Anantnag around 1 p.m. The grenade explosion triggered panic in the area. “No loss of life or property was reported in the explosion,” said a police officer.

Protests broke out after Friday prayers in the area, with several people raising pro-freedom slogans. Security forces lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.

Meanwhile, heightened militancy, growing infiltration, highway attacks and Amarnath Yatra preparations are on top of the agenda of Mr. Singh.

All agencies of the unified headquarters, an apex security grid in the State, will brief the Home Minister on the security situation. A three-member Union Home Ministry team has been camping in the Valley for the past few days.

Sources said the group would suggest measures to fix loopholes in highway security and assess recent militant attacks. The group would also apprise Mr. Singh on rising infiltration, which had already crossed around 60 attempts this year.

Mr. Singh is scheduled to visit the Amarnath shrine on Saturday, the first day of the Amarnath Yatra.