One person died and 28 were injured in a grenade blast that rocked the busy SRTC bus stand in Jammu on Thursday. The blast occurred even as security had been tightened in the state over the now – cancelled scheduled visit of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Jammu province on Thursday.
The grenade reportedly went off under a bus, resulting in the shrapnel being contained to a smaller area. The injured were immediately rushed to the hospital. The police have cordoned off the area and further investigation is underway. “The explosion has caused injuries to approximately 18 people, all have been shifted to hospital,” IGP Jammu MK Sinha was quoted as saying by ANI.
This is the third grenade attack by terrorists in the bus stand area of the city since May last year. Two months ago, a similar blast had occurred at the main bus stand here. The grenade fell short of the target and exploded in the air, without causing any damage or casualty, an official had said.
The state has been on the edge since 40 CRPF jawans were killed in a suicide bomb attack carried out by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group in Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.