SUHAIL KHAN
SOPORE, July 29: Four people, including three relatives, were killed in a blast in Sopore town of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Monday.
According to the police, the incident occurred when a scrap dealer was unloading material from a truck in the Sher Colony area of Sopore.
“Four people sustained critical injuries when the blast occurred. They were immediately shifted to the Sub-District Hospital in Sopore, where three of them were declared dead. The fourth injured person was rushed to SKIMS hospital in Srinagar, but he succumbed to his injuries on the way,” a senior police official told Kashmir Despatch.
The victims have been identified as Nazir Ahmad Nadroo (45), Azam Ashraf Mir (30), Adil Rashid Bhat (26), and Abdul Rashid Bhat (35), all residents of the Sopore area.
Superintendent of Police, Sopore, Divya-D (IPS), told Kashmir Despatch that preliminary investigation suggests the blast occurred while the scrap dealer was unloading material from the truck. “We have initiated a detailed investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the blast,” she said.
Sources told Kashmir Despatch that the truck from which the scrap dealer was unloading the material was received from Leh, Ladakh. “It is suspected that the truck might have been carrying some hazardous or incriminating material, which could have led to the blast,” a source said.
After the incident, teams of the Army, police, and civil administration reached the spot and inspected the scrap dealer’s unit. A bomb disposal squad was also deployed to the area, and they later destroyed other suspected shells found in the unit.
Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Minga Sherpa, and Additional Deputy Commissioner Sopore, Shabir Ahmad Raina, along with other senior officials, also visited the site of the incident.
The incident has shocked the entire Sopore town, and a profound silence has descended upon the area. Meanwhile, Thousands of people participated in the funeral of the deceased, with the entire locality enveloped in mourning.
Pertinently, Sopore town was once a hotbed of separatist violence in the Kashmir Valley during the insurgency. However, the area has been relatively peaceful and free of terrorist activities in the last four years.
