The toll in the Jammu bus station blast rose to two after a 32-year-old Kashmiri man injured in the attack died on Friday, PTI reported. Officials identified the deceased as Mohammad Riyaz, a resident of Anantnag district’s Mattan village.
Riyaz died while undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Jammu.
The first person who died was identified as 17-year-old Mohammad Shariq from Uttarakhand. The Jammu and Kashmir Police said they had arrested the person who threw a grenade hours after the incident occurred on Thursday. Jammu Inspector General of Police MK Sinha had said the Hizbul Mujahideen had asked a teenager to throw the grenade.
Officials said the group had asked the boy, who will turn 16 on March 12 according to his identity cards, to throw the grenade for Rs 50,000. During interrogation, it was found that an overground worker named Muzammil, who was initially supposed to throw the grenade but later developed cold feet, handed over the bomb to the juvenile, the police told PTI.
However, the Hizbul Mujahideen condemned the attack, and blamed it on Indian security agencies, Kashmir Walla had reported. Hizbul Mujahideen’s “operational spokesperson” Burhan-u-Din had told the daily that the extremist outfit’s chief, Syed Salahuddin, Deputy Chief Saifullah Khalid and “Field Operational Commander” Mohammad Bin Qasim have condemned the blast.
Meanwhile, Governor Satya Pal Malik on Thursday condemned the incident and described it as a “dastardly attack on innocent civilians”, Greater Kashmir reported. Malik held a meeting at the Raj Bhavan and “reviewed the present law and order situation in the state”, the daily quoted a statement from his office as saying.
The governor also expressed concern that “innocent youngsters are being led to believe that sacrificing their lives will lead to paradise”. He criticised political parties who make statements in support of banned organisations.
Leaders of political parties in the region and separatist groups also condemned the incident.
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