The Hindu : 7 Vaishno Devi pilgrims killed in blasts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2003

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7 Vaishno Devi pilgrims killed in blasts

By Our Staff Reporter

Jammu July 21. Seven devotees, including a child, were killed and 38 injured, in two powerful explosions set off tonight by militants at Banganga near Katra on the way to the Vaishno Devi shrine, police sources here said.

The toll may go up as many were seriously injured, police sources said. The attack took place near the late Gulshan Kumar's (T series owner) langar (community kitchen). Right now the langar does not serve food.

The attack is suspected to be the handiwork of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

This was the first attack by the militants on a religious place this year. The last attack was at the Raghunath temple where 12 persons were killed.

PTI reports:

The Jammu and Kashmir Minister of State for Public Health and Engineering, Jugal Kishore, said a grenade was hurled by militants at a large number of devotees who gathered for food at the langar. Another blast went off within 10 minutes near the langar where pilgrims are served food.

He said security in the area was lax and he had conveyed it to the Director-General of Police. Mr. Kishore said the those seriously wounded were moved to the Jammu Medical College.

Bid to derail peace process: Mufti

The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, condemned the blasts and said the attack was an attempt to derail the peace process.

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