The suspect behind the grenade attack at a bus station in Jammu, that left one person dead and 32 injured on Thursday, 7 March, was arrested within five hours of the blast.
Identified as Yasir Javed Bhatt, a resident of Khanpura area in Kashmir, the suspect was ordered to attack the station by District Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kulgam, Farooq Ahmed Bhatt, Jammu IG MK Sinha said, while addressing a press conference in Jammu.
“Teams were constituted to work on leads, CCTV camera footage was examined. Based on oral testimony of witnesses, we were able to identify a suspect. He was detained, his name is Yasir Bhatt... he has confessed to the crime,” Sinha said.
All the people who were injured in the blast have been shifted to the nearby Government Medical College (GMC) hospital.
"So far, 28 (now 32) persons were brought with splinter injuries. Three are critical, of whom two are being operated," Principal, Government Medical College (GMC) hospital, Sunanda Raina told PTI.
IGP Jammu’s Twitter handle confirmed that 17-year-old Mohammad Sharik from Haridwar, Uttarakhand had succumbed to the injuries.
Visuals from the spot of the attack in Jammu.
(Photo: PTI)
The scene of the blast, along BC Road, was sealed off by the police and the general area was cordoned off soon after the incident.
Here is a list of those injured in the attack, released by GMC hospital in Jammu:
J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik, while condemning the grenade attack, announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs 20,000 each to those injured in the incident, ANI reported.
Calling it a “heinous and cowardly attack on innocent people”, Malik said, “It was a reaction by anti-nationals and terrorists, as they are losing their grip. The government has come down very heavily on such elements after the Pulwama terrorist attack.”
Meanwhile, MoS Defence, Subhash Bhamre, said that the government has already given “complete liberty to the forces to take all necessary steps”.
Union Minister Arun Jaitley also condemned the attack. “I wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he tweeted.
State Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal also expressed their condolences on Twitter:
Third Attack in Nine Months
Visuals from the bus station in Jammu.
Photo: Syed Junaid Hasmi
Security forces in the state were already on high alert in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack last month, that had killed 40 CRPF personnel.
A local reporter told The Quint that the grenade attack occurred on the side of the station reserved for buses departing for Srinagar.
This is the third grenade attack by terrorists in the bus stand area of the city since May last year.
The police also said that the grenade was lobbed from outside the bus station, which then rolled under one of the parked buses.
Sinha told reporters at the site that the grenade had probably rolled under a parked bus before it went off, at around 11:30 am, possibly containing most of the shrapnel from the grenade.
Windscreens of state road transport corporation (SRTC) buses parked in the vicinity of the blast were also damaged, a police official said.
Visuals from the bus station in Jammu.
Photo: Syed Junaid Hasmi
Police parties along with sniffer dogs and forensic experts rushed to the spot and launched a search operation to nab the attacker, officials said, adding the operation was still going on when last reports were received.
An eyewitness present at the spot told ANI: "(Initially) I thought a tyre had burst... but it was a big blast. The locals took the injured to the hospital in an ambulance.”
NIA Team Visits Blast Site
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team reached the site of the grenade attack at Jammu's main bus stand on Thursday.
Sources in the agency said the team rushed to the spot soon after getting information about the blast, IANS reported.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI and IANS)
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