Militants lob grenade at PDP legislator’s house in Tral

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 20

Militants hurled a grenade at the residence of a ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislator in Tral sub-district on Friday afternoon.

The militants lobbed the grenade at PDP legislator Mushtaq Ahmed Shah’s house in Tral, Bala, some 40 km from Srinagar, at around 2 pm. “The grenade exploded in the compound,” Mushtaq said. “I was not at my residence at the time of the attack, but my family was there. They all are safe.”

Sources said the militants also opened fire at the security guards deployed at the MLA’s house, who also retaliated. The blast and gunshots created a panic in the area. Immediately after the blast and shooting, the security forces reached the spot and cordoned off the area to nab the attackers. No militant group took the responsibility for the attack. This was second such attack in south Kashmir in less than 24 hours.

On Thursday, militants had lobbed a grenade at the residence of MLA Wachi Aijaz Mir in Shopian district of south Kashmir. The MLA and his family were not present in the house when the attack took place.

“The grenade exploded inside the premises of Mir’s house,” the sources said. However, no one was injured. Militants have stepped up attacks against the ruling party leaders and workers in south Kashmir. On October 16, PDP worker and former sarpanch Mohammad Ramzan Sheikh was shot by militants at his home in Imam Sahib, Shopian. A Hizbul Mujahideen militant was later killed in the scuffle with the family. A day later a mob set ablaze Sheikh’s house as a revenge for the militant’s killing.

Akhter’s security upgraded to ‘Z plus’

The state government has upgraded the security cover of senior PDP leader Naeem Akhter from ‘Z’ to ‘Z plus’. His security was upgraded weeks after he had a narrow escape on September 21 when a grenade was hurled at his cavalcade in south Kashmir’s Tral that left three persons dead, including a 22-year-old girl. “The decision to upgrade Akhter’s security from “Z” to “Z plus” was taken after a recent security review meeting,” a senior officer said.