Three policemen including an officer were injured after militants travelling in a vehicle hurled a grenade at a naka party near Babateng Pattan in northern Baramulla district on Wednesday morning, the police said.
Senior superintendent of police Baramulla Imtiyaz Hussain told Greater Kashmir that deputy superintendent of police (operations) Zaffar Mehdi and policemen Shabir Ahmad and Ashiq Hussain were injured in the grenade blast.
“They were shifted to sub-district hospital Pattan where from they were referred to a Srinagar hospital,” Hussain said.
Following the incident, the police claimed to have arrested a militant.
“The militant was caught alive and has been identified as Faizan Majeed Bhat, son of Abdul Majeed, a resident of Naibugh Tral. He was recruited recently into the militant ranks,” the SSP said, adding: “The arrested militant along with another militant Showkat Ahmad Bhat of Awantipora, who managed to escape during the incident, had joined Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen outfit recently.”
The police said that “based on specific information” about some militants travelling on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway, they had deployed a naka party at Babateng Pattan.
“While a passenger vehicle was signalled to stop, two militants inside it lobbed a hand grenade on the police party, resulting in injuries to a police officer and two other policemen,” a police official said.
Soon after the incident, the police launched a hunt to nab the vehicle and the attackers. The entire Babateng Pattan area was cordoned off and a search operation was launched.
The search operation was reportedly extended to Nihalpora Pattan in the evening.
Meanwhile, suspected militants reportedly lobbed a grenade at the army’s 32 Rashtriya Rifles camp at Trakpora Rafiabad area in Baramulla on Wednesday.
The grenade landed outside the boundary wall of the army unit and there was no injury reported, according to officials.
Senior superintendent of police Sopore Javed Iqbal told Greater Kashmir that a “blast-like sound was heard outside the army unit in Rafiabad on Wednesday. A team of police has been dispatched to the area to ascertain the nature of the blast.”
MYSTERIOUS BLAST IN SOPORE VILLAGE
Meanwhile, a mysterious blast triggered panic in Dooru village of Sopore on Wednesday morning.
However no loss of life of injury was reported in the incident, according to officials.
SSP Iqbal said that a police team has visited the spot to investigate the nature of blast.
Soon after the blast, forces launched searches in and around Dooru for several hours, a witness said.
TEHREEKUL MUJAHIDEEN CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY
Militant outfit Tehreekul Majahideen Wednesday evening claimed responsibility for Pattan grenade attack.
In an e-mailed statement, the spokesperson of the militant outfit said that attack was carried under the supervision of district commander Saifullah Kashmiri.
“In this attack, several cops along with DSP were injured. The mujahideen successfully escaped from the area after attack,” it reads.
The statement added: “Police have detained an innocent student after the attack. This student had come to join our ranks. But as per our policy we sent him back and asked him to concentrate on studies.”