Attack on Srinagar secretariat; police say local recruits joining militancy

Militants on Wednesday made an unsuccessful attempt to attack Srinagar's high-security civil secretariat, housing the office of chief minister Omar Abdullah and his ministers, by hurling a grenade at it. The grenade did not explode.

Militants on Wednesday made an unsuccessful attempt to attack Srinagar's high-security civil secretariat, housing the office of chief minister Omar Abdullah and his ministers, by hurling a grenade at it. The grenade did not explode.

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At 12.35pm, a rifle-propelled grenade landed on the premises of the heavily-guarded secretariat building, an official said.

Kashmir inspector general of police (IGP) Shiv Murari Sahai said, "The grenade was fired from a rifle, which shows that the militants were away from the place."

A bomb disposal squad neutralised the explosive later. The attack sparked panic in the busy secretariat, housing dozens of government offices.

Though CM Omar Abdullah was not present at the time of grenade attack, several cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats were in the complex.

The attack came in the backdrop of a militant attack on an army patrol adjacent to Srinagar's Pampore area on July 7, killing a soldier.

The biggest worry for the police and the security agencies is the fresh recruitment being made by militant groups, particularly Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

"There are locals in the ranks now who otherwise had no militant background," Sahai said.
Since June, the police have claimed to have arrested seven militants in north Kashmir's Sopore area. Many were fresh recruits to be sent across to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for arms training, sources in the police said.

Wednesday's attack came a day after the army had warned of heightened militant activity in the Valley.