By F. Ahmed, IANS,
Srinagar : A police official was seriously injured after separatist guerrillas hurled grenades on a police station and the sub-divisional magistrate’s (SDM) office in a north Kashmir town Thursday night, the police said.
A senior police officer told IANS that the separatist guerrillas fired four rifle grenades at the office of Sopore SDM, who who is the returning officer for the Sopore constituency which goes to polls Dec 7 in the fourth phase of the seven-phased assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Officials of the returning officer’s office were working inside when militants fired four rifle grenades which exploded, smashing window panes and door glasses of the office,” the official said, adding that “no poll official was, however, injured in the incident.”
The militants also fired one rifle grenade at the local police station which exploded inside the residence of the station house officer (SHO) located inside the complex of the police station.
“SHO Shafeeq Ahmad was critically injured in the attack and he has been shifted to Srinagar for treatment”, the official told IANS.
Thursday’s is the first attack by militants in Kashmir after the Nov 17 first phase polls, in which a large number of residents turned out to vote defying the separatists’ poll boycott campaign.