Baba Umar
Srinagar, Feb 22: Two persons were injured when a grenade inside the recovery room of the lower court here exploded Friday morning.The blast occurred in an ammunition store at the lower court located near the busy city centre.
“The sound of a blast was heard from inside the godown this morning. Now, our men are trying to take out all the stuff lying inside the godown," said Afdul Mujtaba, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Srinagar.
No major fatalities were reported, as the place was fairly empty at the time of the blast with most of the lawyers having gone out for offering Friday prayers.
Fire fighters were called in to douse the fire, which started as result of the blast as police officials and bomb squad worked diligently to prevent any further untoward incident.The store was stocked with arms and ammunition seized from the militants.The room is used for the storage of recoveries in militant and criminal cases since 1930.
One of the injured was identified as Muhammad Shafi, incharge of the ammunition room. An eyewitness said that Shafi had just entered the room when the blast occurred as thick smoke and flames came out of the windows of the ammunition room.“I saw him entering the room and suddenly there was an explosion,” said an eyewitness. He said the lawyers swiftly bussed the injured to the hospital.
Abdul Majeed, a firefighter who was pumping water from the window of the ammunition room said he saw the whole room blackened with thick smoke and debris.“Nothing was visible inside — it was only smoke,” he said.
The lawyers and other officials of the lower court believe the blast in the ammunition room could have created a Khundroo like situation in the city.Last year an army ammunition reservoir at Khundroo in south Kashmir caught fire creating havoc in the area. The lawyers said that they have several times, in the past, requested for shifting the room from the court vicinity.Nazir Ahmad Ronga, President Bar Association, said that at least four judges sit adjacent to the ammunition room in the ground floor of one of the buildings of lower court. “It is a dangerous place to work,” he said. “The ammunition has been lying there for the past 18 years.” “We have been asking the Chief Prosecuting Officer (CPO) to shift the ammunition dump somewhere else but nothing has happened,” he added.
Joint Secretary Kashmir Bar Association, Bashir Sidique said, “The authorities have several times declared the place unsafe. I fail to understand why the explosives have not been destroyed or shifted to some other place?” Sources said that the ammunition has been gathered from 25 police stations of the city and left in the ammunition room till the cases under trial are solved.“The room contains fake currency. The possibility of someone’s involvement in the explosion cannot be ruled out,” the source said.Fire service control room officials said the room is contained with seized material worth Rs 5 crore and added that the fire fighters averted a major tragedy.“The building has suffered a huge loss and items worth Rs 8 lakh were burnt into ashes,” said an official of the department.
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