16 killed in blast at J&K Shia meet

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR, JUNE 2. A senior member of Kashmir's Shia clergy and former State Minister, Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, today escaped an assassination bid when a powerful bomb exploded in a north Kashmir village, killing 16 people, including a police official, and injuring 19.

According to reports, Mr. Ansari, chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Shia Association, was addressing a `Hussaini majlis' (religious meeting) in village Gund Khawja Qasim, some 30 km from Srinagar. The blast occurred at around 4.30 p.m., when the meeting was in progress.

The blast, which was of a high intensity, left seven people dead and many injured. People ran helter and skelter even as those injured were removed to a hospital. Nine persons succumbed to injuries in the hospital. However, police said the number of dead persons was yet to be confirmed.

Mr. Ansari received splinter wounds in his back and shoulder, police sources said. Mr. Ansari, along with the other injured, was rushed to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, where the condition of at least three people was stated to be critical. ``A time bomb had been planted under the podium from which I was addressing the meeting,'' Mr. Ansari told presspersons in hospital. Senior police and civil officers have rushed to the village to take stock of the situation.

Police said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) planted at the venue of the meeting. Further investigations are on.

The Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, his Ministerial colleagues, the Chief Secretary, Mr. Ashok Jaitly, and the State police chief, Mr. Gurbachan Jagat, visited the hospital to enquire about the welfare of Mr. Ansari.

Mr. Ansari, who was formerly with the Congress(I), had shifted loyalties to the National Conference and was considered to be a close confidant of Dr. Abdullah. He was the Minister for Housing and Urban Development and was sacked after the Sidhra land scandal surfaced in November 1999. Mr. Ansari was alleged to have received kickbacks worth lakhs of rupees in the scam, which he has denied. A former High Court judge is investigating the case.

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