J-K: Army man killed in Kupwara; minor dead in Shopian blast

In another incident, a minor boy was killed, while four others, also minors, sustained splinter injuries in a mysterious blast at Memander area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district.

The injured minors, including a girl, are aged between 7 and 13 years, and are under treatment at the Shopian District Hospital, while the deceased has been identified as Salik Iqbal Sheikh (7).

Senior Superintendent of Police, Shopian, Sandeep Chaudhary said, “Information was received this afternoon about children being injured in an unknown explosion in village Memander in Shopian. The blast resulted in the death of one boy and injury to four others. Further investigation is on.”

Sources said that the children may have picked up a grenade from near the site of Tuesday’s encounter at Kundallan village, nearly 5 km from Memander. Two two Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants, including a Pakistan national, were killed in that encounter.

The explosion occurred in the house of one Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh, a resident of Shesh Nag, sources said.

Meanwhile, a 20-year-old shopkeeper, Khalid Gaffar Malik, was killed as security forces resorted to firing on protesters pelting Army vehicles with stones at Trehgam.

The Army vehicles were passing through the area when they were pelted with stones on Wednesday evening. Malik sustained a bullet injury and succumbed at hospital later.

“A mob of 30-40 youth resorted to heavy stone pelting at the Army’s highway domination patrol located at Trehgam… as an Army convoy was passing through the area. The patrol verbally cautioned the stone pelters… (when) the mob did not relent and stone pelting intensified… the patrol, finally, resorted to controlled fire at the aggressive mob in self defence,” the Army said in a statement.

Five soldiers sustained injuries in the stone pelting, it said.