Grenade blast near mosque in Shopian, eight injured

Srinagar: A grenade blast near a mosque today left eight people injured in Shopian district while another grenade was detected and defused near the house of a Hizbul Mujahidden militant.

Police suspect that militants had "planted" the grenade outside the mosque in Trenz locality of Shopian, 52 kms from here, in the wee hours.

"The grenade was kept on roadside in a steel glass after removing its pin. Someone touched it, triggering the blast at around 6 AM," a police official said.

He said eight civilians who had come out of the mosque after morning prayers were injured in the explosion.

All the injured were admitted to a hospital in Shopian, he added.

About an hour later, police detected another hand grenade, which was also kept in a steel glass with "its pin removed", near the house of an active Hizbul Mujahideen militant Wasim Malla at Pehlipora in Shopian.

"A bomb disposal squad was rushed to the spot and the grenade was destroyed without causing any loss," he added.