36 injured in grenade explosion in Banihal

Jammu: At least 36 people, mostly women and children, were injured in a grenade explosion in a crowded market in Banihal town in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir Friday, police said.

Suspected militants hurled a grenade at a patrol party of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) around 1 p.m. in Banihal, about 190 km north of here. Four CRPF men, including a sub-inspector, were among the injured.

"Mostly women and children were injured. Two of them are critical and have been shifted to a hospital," a police official told IANS on phone.

Banihal is the last major town on Jammu-Srinagar highway in the Jammu region. After that is the Jawahar tunnel, which opens into the Kashmir Valley.

The town has been cordoned off and police are on the hunt for those who lobbed the grenade. "We suspect that they might be a new group of infiltrators who have managed to reach Banihal," the police official said.

"The militants are escalating such violent attacks since they are unable to directly take on the security forces. It is a sign of desperation," he added.

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