Under Arrest! Police detains grenade blast convict, asserted to be a Hizbul Mujahideen operative

Srinagar, March 7: Hours after the grenade attack at the bus stand in Jammu, the police officers arrested the person who threw the grenade. It has been added that the person detain is a Hizbul Mujahideen operative and had reached Jammu from Kulgam this morning. Police identified him using CCTV footage.

Addressing the media about the developments, Jammu and Kashmir Police's Manish K Sinha said, "Camera footage was examined and based on oral testimony of witnesses we were able to identify a suspect. He was wearing jeans and a red rucksack. We were on lookout for anyone matching the description. The accused was arrested and he confessed to his crime. Hizbul commander from Kulgam had tasked him with the grenade attack.”

The police said the grenade was under a bus at a bus stand in the heart of the city. Most of the injured, an officer said, are bus drivers and conductors. It is unclear if there were people inside the bus. Visuals from the spot showed security personnel barricading the area as locals rushed in. Police parties along with sniffer dogs and forensic experts rushed to the spot and launched a search operation to catch the attacker, officials said.

Meanwhile, a teenager succumbed to his injuries while at least 28 others were injured in a grenade attack in Jammu today, exactly three weeks after the terror attack in Pulwama district. 17-year-old Mohammad Sharik, a resident of Uttarakhand's Haridwar, died due to splinter injuries in the chest. All the injured have been hospitalised and five of them are critical, doctors said.

The attack comes a week after the Indian Air Force carried out air strikes on the biggest terror camp of Jaish-e Mohammad in Pakistan's Balakot. Jaish has taken responsibility for the February 14 attack, surprising security forces who said the group's top order in the state has been wiped out.

With Jaish claims that the suicide bomber in Pulwama was a local terrorist, the security forces have been hunting for other members of the cell.