Date:10/01/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/01/10/stories/2004011005141100.htm

National

Grenades lobbed at mosque

By Luv Puri

JAMMU, JAN. 9. Two Chinese-made grenades were lobbed at the Al-Hadis mosque located in the heart of Jammu city this afternoon when the faithful had assembled there for offering the Friday namaz, injuring 18 persons, one of them seriously. Eyewitness told that at 1.50 p.m., a grenade was lobbed on the southern side of the mosque, situated in the narrow lane of Mohalla Jatkatian, which exploded injuring several men. Within a few minutes, a second grenade was thrown on the western side of the mosque, but it fell in a vacant area.

The Jammu and Kashmir Minister of State for Power, Javid Mir Mustafa, was present in the mosque at that time. Incidentally, his father had been gunned down by terrorists some years back. Following the grenade explosion, Mr. Mustafa's personal security guards fired several rounds in the air. The people in the mosque panicked and ran helter-skelter in the narrow lanes. There were bloodstains in the lane leading to the mosque. Eighteen persons were rushed to the Government Medical College, Jammu. Doctors in the emergency ward said that the condition of an injured policeman, Abdul Rashid Khan, was critical.