The death toll in Thursday’s Jammu bus stand grenade blast mounted to two on Friday after a Kashmir resident succumbed at a hospital here.
Muhammad Riyaz, 32, a resident of Mattan area of Anantnag,who was injured in the blast, succumbed at a hospital at around 1.15 am.
The first victim of the blast was a 17-year-old youth fromUttarakhand.
Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik has sanctioned Rs5 lakh for the victims’ next of kin and Rs 20,000 each for the injured. As manyas 32 people were wounded in the blast.
Within hours of the blast, the police claimed they detaineda boy, a resident of southern Kashmir’s Kulgam district, who confessed tothrowing the grenade.
Inspector general of police Jammu MK Sinha said the accusedwas tasked with carrying this attack by Hizbul Mujahideen’s district commanderin Kulgam. The boy was apprehended at the Nagrota toll post while he wasescaping after throwing the grenade.
The investigation will now conduct the age test on the boybefore initiating legal proceedings against him, officials said.
According to the investigators, Hizbul Mujahideen’s districtchief of Kulgam Fayaz Ahmed Bhat had passed on a grenade to an “over groundworker’ named Muzammil but he had refused to throw it.
He was then instructed to pass on the grenade to thejuvenile.
An official said that the picture of the boy was shown toMuzammil, who is at present in police custody, and he identified him as the onewho had received the grenade.
Meanwhile, the Jammu police appealed to shopkeepers toinstall CCTV cameras to help the force in making the city safe.
“Appeal to all market associations in Jammu city: help Jammupolice in keeping your city safe. Install as many CCTV cameras looking out fromyour shops and establishments as possible. Early action would be very helpful,”IGP Jammu wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, director general of police Dilbag Singh Fridayrewarded the police personnel of Jammu district with class-I commendationcertificates along with cash prizes and appreciation letters for their”excellent work done in nabbing the accused involved in a grenade attackincident at bus stand, Jammu, yesterday”, a police spokesman said.