Two blasts, about 20 minutes apart, rocked the Narwal industrial area of Jammu on Saturday, leaving at least nine people with splinter injuries.
Police officers suspect that the blasts were carried out using sticky bombs placed in an SUV parked in a repair shop and in a vehicle at a junkyard in the Transport Nagar area of Narwal.
“A blast occurred in an old, parked Bolero (Sports Utility Vehicle) around 11.10am resulting in injuries to five people who were standing nearby,” additional director general of police Mukesh Singh said near the scene of the first explosion.
Six people have been detained for questioning, officials said.
The incident comes two days before Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is scheduled to enter Jammu.
The area was immediately cleared of the people but in the meantime another blast occurred about 50 metres away, Singh said. The area sees a busy rush of people during the day owing to several vehicle repair shops.
Nine people were rushed to the Government Medical College hospital with splinter injuries, officers said.
“We have received nine patients with one having abdominal injuries and two others fractured legs,” a doctor at the hospital said.
One of the victims, identified as Arjun Kumar, 28, is reportedly in a critical condition, the doctor said. “Surgery was performed on him for splinter injuries in his stomach.”
The others suffered minor injuries, and psychiatrists have been called in to treat them for any post-traumatic stress disorders, he added.
An official identified the other injured as Suhail Iqbal, Vishav Partap, Vinod Kumar, Arjun Kumar, Amit Kumar, Rajesh Kumar and Aneesh — all residents of Jammu — and Sushil Kumar of Doda.
Congress’s foot march entered J&K’s Kathua district on Thursday evening via Punjab and is camping in Chadwal, about 70 km from Jammu.
After a day’s break on Saturday, the yatra, which commenced from Kanyakumari on September 7, is scheduled to resume from Hiranagar on Sunday and reach Jammu on January 23 after starting from Vijaypur in Samba district.
The Congress said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra will continue despite the violent attacks.
“Two weeks before the yatra began, I met Jammu and Kashmir LG and all our leaders in UT are in constant touch with the security personnel. It is their responsibility to take care of such incidents. Bharat Jodo yatra will continue no matter what,” Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said.
The city is also on high alert in view of the upcoming Republic Day celebrations.
The officials said the whole area was cordoned off by joint teams of police and CRPF immediately after the first explosion which was followed by another blast just minutes later.
A thorough sanitisation operation was carried out and forensic experts, bomb disposal squad and sniffer dogs were also pressed into service to look for clues, they said.
Gurnam Singh, a witness on the spot, said that the first blast occurred in a car that arrived at a workshop for repairs.
“The second blast happened around 15 to 20 minutes later in a junked vehicle. The two blasts were very powerful,” he said.
Officers familiar with the matter said that looking at wreckage of the two vehicles, it appears that powerful sticky bombs were used in the blast.
Forensic teams have collected evidence from the site of the blasts, and police are scouring CCTV footage from shops in the area, officers said.
Police officers briefed lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha following the incident.
“Such dastardly acts highlight the desperation and cowardice of those responsible. Take immediate and firm action. No efforts should be spared to bring the perpetrators to justice,” the LG said.
Sinha also announced an assistance of ₹50,000 to the injured.
The blasts have come weeks after seven people were killed in two terror attacks in Rajouri district on January 1 and 2.
