A student who suffered injuries in the grenade explosion at Amira Kadal on March 6 succumbed to her injuries at a government hospital here on March 7 morning, leaving the family shattered and drawing condemnation from the political parties in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rafia Nazir, daughter of Nazir Ahmad Tinda from Srinagar’s Hazratbal area, succumbed to her injuries around 8 a.m., officials at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital said. She had suffered multiple injuries in the blast, which had left at least 23 civilians wounded.
Ms. Nazir’s death took the toll to two in the blast. Earlier, a resident of Nowhatta was killed in the blast on March 6 afternoon.
The victim had passed her 12 Class examinations recently and aimed “to prepare for professional courses”, her family members said. “She scored good marks and made us proud. The family’s dreams have been dashed now,” the family members said.
Amid emotional scenes, scores of women assembled at the victim’s house and sang dirges, in a wedding tone. “She was too young and deserved ‘henna’ [red-dye] on her hands as a bride, and not blood,” the women said.
Leaders condemn
The civilian deaths have evoked condemnation from the political parties as well as locals in Kashmir.
National Conference leader Tanvir Sadiq said, “Those cowards [who attacked the civilians] will rot here in this world and in hell”.
A spokesman of Sajad Lone’s Peoples Conference said, “Terror sees no age, no religion, it only kills humanity mercilessly. We don’t have answers how to console the family of 20-year-old girl killed in yesterday’s terror attack at Amira Kadal. Somewhere this bloodshed has to stop. Yesterday, a 64-year-old was killed taking the toll to two.”
‘Terror associates’ held
A day after the grenade blast in Srinagar, police said they had busted a grenade-throwing module of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Pulwama's Awantipora area and arrested four persons. Police described them as "terror associates".
"Three hand grenades have been recovered from their possession. During preliminary investigation, it came to be known that they were throwing grenades on the directions of Irshad Ahmed Bhat and Mustakeem Ahmed Ahangar alias Waheed, who are at present lodged in the Central Jail Srinagar," the police said.
Police said Mustakeem and Irshad were coordinating terror activities even from Central Jail Srinagar.
