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Yatris among 18 injured in grenade attack at Poonch
[Daily Excelsior] Eighteen persons including nine yatris of Shri Budha Amarnath Ji pilgrimage were maimed, six of them seriously, when a suspected myrmidon lobbed grenade at Bagh Deodi near Akhara Mandir in the heart of Poonch town tonight, where the yatris had just entered for night halt after reaching there from Jammu, at about 8 pm tonight."The grenade was directly targeted at Budha Amarnath Ji pilgrims at Bagh Deodi near Akhara temple in Poonch town, where 1246 pilgrims had reached around 8 pm tonight from Jammu and other places and had just few minutes before entered the premises for night halt before leaving for Budha Amarnath Ji shrine tomorrow morning,’’ police sources said. The pilgrims had boarded off from buses at Government Degree College Ground in Poonch, about 50 meters short of Bagh Deodi, and trekked to the night shelter set up for them by the administration when a myrmidon threw a grenade targeting the pilgrims and fled away. The grenade went kaboom! with a bang at around 8 pm causing injuries to 18 people including nine pilgrims, who were entering Bagh Deodi, an ASI and rest local people. SSP Poonch Jatinder Singh Johar, Deputy Commissioner Poonch, Haroon Malik, DySP Sagra Singh Slathia, DySP Mohan Lal and SHO Inspector Jatinder Raina and other officials from civil and police administration reached the spot immediately and started rescue operation. Police and para-military personnel joined by the locals shifted the injured to District Hospital, Poonch from where six injured were referred to Rajouri by road and then were in the process of being further referred to Jammu for specialized treatment in the Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu in view of their serious condition when the reports last came in. Condition of a woman, whose identity hasn’t been established so far but she hailed from Jammu, was stated to be critical. Police and para-military personnel carried out searches in the area but the myrmidon responsible for the grenade attack remained untraced. The grenade had fallen on the stairs of Bagh Deodi. A TATA Sumo, which was returning towards Bus Stand was damaged in the blast. Sources said TATA Sumo contained impact of the grenade, which first hit the vehicle before landing at Bagh Deodi. The Budha Amarnath Ji yatra, which had started on August 9, was due to culminate on August 18 along with Shri Amarnath Ji yatra coinciding with the pious occasion of Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan. Sources said the Yatra would proceed as per schedule to Shri Budha Amarnath Ji shrine tomorrow morning from Bagh Deodi, which serves as base camp and night halting point for the pilgrims. The yatra from Jammu and other places will also proceed to Poonch tomorrow. Sources said a total of 1246 pilgrims had today reached Poonch base camp for Shri Budha Amarnath Ji yatra including 421 from Jammu and 825 from other places including enroute Jammu-Poonch. Posted by: Fred 2016-08-14 |
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