Islamabad (Anantnag), June 7: A laborer was killed and three others, including two women, were injured when a shell exploded in Shangus area of this south Kashmir district on Tuesday.
 Witnesses told Greater Kashmir that explosion took place at Toor, Roonipora this morning.
 “A live shell, inside the dead stock, went off during trans-shipping in a load carrier in Roonipora village killing a laborer on the spot and injuring three others,” officials said.
 They identified the deceased as Abdul Hamid Dar son of Muhammad Sultan Dar of Bapora, Qazigund.
 Dileep Kumar, a migrant laborer who was passing by and two women, who were working in a field at the time of explosion, sustained injuries in the blast. The injured women were identified as Muneera Akhtar wife of Bashir Ahmad Zargar and Gowhara Akhtar wife of Muhammad Shafi Zargar.
 The officials said the live shell had been mistakenly placed in the 'dead stock' which was disposed off as a scrap by the local army unit.
 Pertinently, in similar incident 10 persons including four children were killed in the same area in 2001.
 The army has been regularly carrying the exercise of diffusing the left over ammunition in Rakhi Brah area in a field surrounded by mountains and later the laborers collect the scrap for selling purpose.
 About a dozen persons have been killed and scores injured in live shell explosions in Shangus and its adjacent areas since August 2007 when Army’s  ammunition depot at Khundru caught fire.
 A senior police official said, “We have lodged a case of negligence under FIR No. 59/2011 under section 286, 304-A against the local army unit and also against the FAD Khundru.”
 He said that a local contractor who had hired labourers to collect the dead ammunition was also arrested.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 7 Jun 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 7 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 8 Jun 2011 00:00:00 IST