The Jammu & Kashmir Police on Wednesday claimed that a module of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants was behind the mysterious grenade blast in a busy south Kashmir marketplace that took lives of four civilians and injured 23 others.
Police said the blast was aimed at sabotaging election process in the area. The blast had occurred on December 5 afternoon at Bus Stand of Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district when the area was bustling with activity after the culmination of Friday’s congregational prayers.
The blast remained wrapped in shroud of mystery as police failed to make any headway in the investigations for a long time. A contesting candidate Sheikh Rashid had claimed that he was the target of the blast and accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for hatching the conspiracy.
The blast had occurred shortly after the security forces had withdrawn from the area. One civilian died on the spot while two others died in the hospital. The fourth fatal casualty occurred after another wounded person succumbed to injuries after battling for more than two months. Police said that strenuous efforts were made to nab the culprits involved in this heinous act.
“After painstaking efforts, Awantipora police succeeded in cracking the case by identifying a joint module of JeM and HM involved in the incident. Subsequently, two members of the module Suhail Majeed Bhat and Gulzar Ahmad Dar were arrested”, a police spokesman said.
During their questioning, they revealed that they were working for JeM commander - Adil Pathan and Zakir - of HM outfit. They said the grenade was lobbed to disturb the election process.
Tral is one of the most sensitive areas in Kashmir Valley due to presence of some active militants. last month, the area remained tense for a week after two youngsters died in a mysterious exchange of fire between the army and militants.
While army claimed that the youngsters were linked with the militants, their relatives blamed that they were killed in a staged encounter.