Five including former legislator killed, 60 others including the former minister injured in a grenade attack in Kashmir
Media Release
Jul. 9, 2006

Five persons including a former legislator Ghulam Nabi Dar were killed and 60 others including the former minister Sakina Ittoo injured in a grenade attack on a National Conference (NC) rally outside a shrine at Kulgam today.

NC has squarely blamed PDP for the incident and alleged that a minister was directly involved in the attack. The party has demanded a high level probe into the incident. However, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police south Kashmir H K Lohia said the local police officers had requested the NC leaders not to go to the shrine due to security reasons but they refused to listen.

Reports said Sakina and Dar reached Kulgam this morning. They were scheduled to address a function at Town Hall organized in connection with Kulgam getting district headquarter status. The two leaders were to leave for Damhal-Hanjipora to take part in a rally there. Damhal has also got tehsil headquarter status.

As Sakina and Dar got down from their respective vehicles at Kulgam a group of people surrounded them and asked them to take another route through Sayeed Sahib shrine to reach Town Hall. They were told that thousands of people were waiting for them near the shrine. The local deputy superintendent of police told the NC leader not to go to the shrine as holding a public meeting there was not safe. But the leaders and supporters did not listen to them and moved towards the shrine. After visiting the shrine, Sakina started addressing the people gathered outside. Dar was on her right side. Around 11.45 AM, some unidentified person hurled a grenade towards the rally and it landed among the people. The grenade exploded with a big bang. Amid heavy volume of smoke and dust, the injured were lying on the ground. On hearing the blast, the security guards fired several rounds in air. The explosion and gun shots created panic with people running helter skelter. The injured remained unattended for some time.

When the order was finally restored, the process for removing the injured to hospital began. Five persons succumbed to their injuries. They included a senior NC leader and former legislator Ghulam Nabi Dar. Sakina received splinter injuries on her ankle. Her security guards threw a security cordon around her. She was immediately taken to a neighbouring shop and later removed to SSP's office and provided treatment there. A pal of gloom descended on Kulgam as the news about the grenade attack spread. The celebrations, which had begun three days ago after the town got district headquarter status, came to a halt. The shopkeepers pulled down their shutters and vehicular traffic movement came to a halt.

Thousands of people converged at the local hospital to inquire about the well being of the injured. There was total chaos and confusion. The family members of the dead were mourning and beating their chests. The family members of the injured were also crying. The doctors at the Kulgam hospital referred the seriously injured to various hospitals in Anantnag and here. Khurshid Ahmad, an injured, said he was among the audience when the grenade explosion occurred. "I heard a deafening sound and fell down. For some seconds, I could not realise as to what happened. There was heavy volume of smoke and dust. I felt pain in my leg which was bleeding. Then I realised that a blast has occurred. Splinters had hit some other parts of my body," he said. Khurshid said he remained on the spot for some. Another injured Imtiyaz said that as nobody came to remove him to hospital, he cried for help and after some time he was hospitalised. Sakina was later shifted to Soura medical institute. Chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad visited the institute to inquire about her well being as also that of the other injured. Body of Dar was kept in police control room here for some time and later taken to his ancestral home at Chawalgam-Kulgam. A number of NC leaders joined his funeral. Dar was elected thrice from Kulgam on NC ticket since 1977. A lawyer by profession, he had unsuccessfully contested the 2002 assembly polls from there. NC leaders Dr Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah have strongly condemned the attack and expressed grief over the killing of Dar and other four people. They have also extended sympathies with the injured. Other party leaders Abdul Rahim Rather, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Mian Altaf Ahmad and Sheikh Nazir have also assailed the attack and demanded a high level probe into the incident. But Sheikh Ghulam Ahmad Saloora, joint secretary Kashmir province has squarely blamed PDP for the attack. In a statement issued from Nawai Subh complex, he alleged that a minister is directly involved into the incident. Saloora said nine attempts were made on the life of Sakina. He alleged that the concerned minister gave shelter to the killers of NC leader Wali Mohammad Ittoo and facilitated their release. ''''The minister had come to Kulgam one day prior to the attack and the attack was preplanned", he said. Ali Mohammad Sagar, who was also scheduled to accompany Sakina and Dar to Damhal postponed his visit for personal reasons, also sees a big conspiracy in the attack." ''''We were told by local people that atleast two youth from a political party forced the NC leaders to go to the unsafe area, where the attack was carried out," he said. DIG H K Lohia also did not rule out a conspiracy by the supporters of militants for a change of route.''''We are looking into the matter", he said. The DIG, however, added that the NC leaders preferred to visit the unsafe area despite the local police officials objecting to it. We were informed around 11 PM last night that NC leaders Sakina Ji, Dar sahib and Sagar sahib are visiting Damhal. Accordingly, we made the arrangements. In the morning we came to know that Sagar sahib has postponed his visit, while the other two leaders will go to Damhal. Visiting the shrine was not in their programme. They made the programme at the last moment. Despite our objections, they visited the congested and vulnerable area and came under attack," Lohia said. The other deceased were identified as Ali Mohammad Zargar, Mohammad Yousuf Shah, Mohammad Yousuf Wani and Azad Ahmad.

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