Srinagar: A 19-year-old girl, who was injured in Sunday's grenade blast in Hari Singh High Street locality of Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital, succumbed to injuries on Monday, taking the death toll in the incident to two, officials said.
Rafiya, a resident of Hazratbal area of the city, succumbed to the injuries at the SMHS hospital on Monday morning.
"She had suffered injuries on her head and succumbed at around 8 am," the officials said.
A 79-year-old man from Nowhatta area of the city here died on Sunday while 33 others, including a cop, were injured in the blast that took place in the busy market.
The police and witnesses said that unknown person tossed a hand grenade towards the security personnel at Amira Kadal - Hari Singh High Street axis here at around 4.20 pm. The grenade fell and exploded in the middle of the road, leaving 24 pedestrians and a policeman injured. They were quickly evacuated to nearby medical facilities but one of them identified as Abdus Salaam, a 70-year-old resident of Srinagar's Makhdoom Sahab, Nowhatta locality, succumbed to his injuries, the hospital sources said.
Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range), Vijay Kumar, blamed the incident on separatist militants and said, "We're working hard to identify the person(s) involved in this gory act and smash this terrorist- criminal module also."
He added, "In the light of this act of grenade throwing in the busy Sunday market near Amira Kadal bridge, the police urges all civilians to be vigilant and report any suspected activity to it to thwart the nefarious designs of terrorists".
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police (Central Kashmir), Sujit Kumar, while talking to reporters at the site of incident said, "We've got the CCTV footage and some vital clues have come forward. Though no outfit has claimed responsibility, so far, the police is working on leads to track the attackers". He said that the police will take steps to prevent such attacks at busy places in future. "We will not allow it to become a trend," he said, adding that security was a challenge in entire Kashmir Valley including Srinagar.
