Powerful blast rocks J&K; 35 hurt

A grenade exploded by terrorists at a busy marketplace in Sopore town injures 32 civilians and three BSF men.

Thirty five people, including three Indian paramilitary troopers, were wounded on Saturday afternoon in a powerful grenade explosion in a busy marketplace in north Kashmir's apple town of Sopore.

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According to police, terrorists lobbed a grenade on a paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) party in the central market of Sopore, 54 km from here, in Baramulla district.

"The grenade exploded on the road injuring 32 civilians and three BSF troopers. All the injured have been taken to the hospital. Doctors said the condition of one BSF trooper and a civilian were critical," a senior police official said on phone from Sopore.

Eye-witnesses in Sopore said the market was thronging with people when the explosion occurred. Markets in the apple-trading town closed down immediately following the explosion.