Nadeem Nadu

Jammu, March 8 : A 32-year old youth from Anantnag district of south Kashmir succumbed to injuries on Friday, taking the death toll in yesterday’s grenade blast at a bus stand in Jammu to two.

32-year-old Mohammad Riyaz, a resident of Mattan area of Anantnag, who was injured in the blast at the General bus stand, succumbed at a hospital early Friday around 1:15 am, said an official.

The 17-year-old youth from Uttarakhand was killed in the blast on Thursday, with 30 others injured.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has sanctioned Rs 5 lakh for the victims’ next of kin and Rs 20,000 each for the injured.

Within hours of the blast, the police claimed to have arrested the youth who they said has confessed to throwing the grenade at the bus stand.

They identified the accused as Yasir Javaid Bhat alias Arhaan of Kulgam district.

Meanwhile, a senior police official dismissed media reports regarding the accused being a juvenile and having told his interrogators that he was paid Rs 50,000 by a Hizbul Mujahideen militant for carrying out the attack.

“ The investigation is underway and we are still verifying his age and other details related to the attack,” SSP Jammu Tejinder Singh told GNS.

Director General of Police  Dilbag Singh today rewarded the police personnel of District Jammu with Commendation Certificates Class-I alongwith cash prizes and appreciation letter for their “excellent work done in nabbing the accused,” a police spokesman said. (GNS)

Srinagar, Mar 08 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said that Omar Abdullah, former Chief Minister and Vice-President of National Conference (NC) is so shattered by the imminent danger of being swept away in the forthcoming elections that he has resorted to making inflammatory statements meant at polarising the society accused. 

Brig Gupta said that some of the recent statements of Omar Abdullah like “why third front is being formed only in Kashmir not in Ladakh and Jammu” or “when Indians don’t accept Kashmiris then how can they expect Kashmiris will say they are an integral part of India” or his tweet blaming BJP for the assault on Kashmiri dry fruit sellers in Lucknow are part of a well-orchestrated campaign to create further alienation among the different communities in the state in order to revive the sinking electoral fortunes of NC.

“Why Omar is mortally scared of the emergence of alternative political forces in Kashmir? He is well aware that the days when his party could fool the people through hollow and false promises are gone. Kashmiris have understood the opportunistic politics of NC and are determined to wipe out the party in the forthcoming elections. The people of Kashmir are eagerly looking for alternatives which the third front provides and that is the reason of Omar’s annoyance over emergence of third front in Kashmir clarified Brig Gupta. As far as Jammu and Ladakh are concerned they have their own political dynamics and Omar must leave it to the people of these regions to decide. NC has always been scared of the opposition, even his grandfather Sheikh Abdullah wanted to make J&K “a single- Party state” since he abhorred opposition,” said Brig Gupta.

He said “As far as “Indians not willing to own Kashmiris” is concerned, nothing can be farther from truth than this statement of Omar. It is the large-heartedness and magnanimity of Indians that Kashmiris can acquire property and settle in any part of the country despite the fact they are not allowed to do so in Kashmir. By making such statements Omar is further widening the rift instead of bridging the gap.” 
Brig Gupta blamed Omar for jumping the gun by blaming BJP for the assault on Kashmiri dry fruit sellers in Lucknow. 

“Mere wearing of Saffron clothes does not imply that the accused belong to BJP. There are many inimical political forces within the country who are desperate to arouse communal passions in run up to the forthcoming elections in order to malign BJP and they can go to any extent to achieve their objective. It could well be the handiwork of opposition parties which are scared of BJP’s massive popularity in UP, said Brig Gupta.” 
He said Omar’s assertion that senior BJP leadership is deliberately refraining from condemning attacks on Kashmiris is also not true. Brig Gupta drew the attention of Omar to the tweet of Finance Minister ArunJaitely condemning the attack on innocent Kashmiris and statements of many other senior leaders including the Home Minister.