CRPF officer dies in Srinagar; blasts rock Assam, Manipur

SRINAGAR: As the nation soaked in patriotic fervour celebrated its 70th Independence Day on Monday, J&K was rattled by fresh militant violence, which claimed three

SRINAGAR: As the nation soaked in patriotic fervour celebrated its 70th Independence Day on Monday, J&K was rattled by fresh militant violence, which claimed three lives, including that of a CRPF officer, and explosions shattered the brittle calm in Assam and Manipur.

HT Image

The Valley, in the grip of violence for nearly 40 days now, saw militants mount a morning assault on security forces in Srinagar, resulting in the death of the commanding officer of CRPF’s 49th Battalion Pramod Kumar and two militants. Kumar, thrice decorated with CRPF’s director general’s commendation, had also served in the Special Protection Group for three years.

Two blasts rocked Manipur capital Imphal an hour before the official Independence Day celebrations were to start, but no casualties were reported.

Several militant organisations have called for a boycott of Independence Day celebrations in the state often rocked by insurgent violence.

Five bomb explosions by suspected ULFA-Independent militants rocked upper Assam’s Charaido and Tinsukia districts on Monday morning but there were no casualties.