2 explosions near Farooq Abdullah's rallies injure 16 - Mumbai Mirror

Sixteen people, including a policeman, were injured on Sunday in an explosion near the venue of an election rally to be addressed by ruling National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah. This was the second such explosion during the day to disrupt the Srinagar Lok Sabha candidate's rally.

Abdullah was scheduled to address the rally in Magam town of central Badgam district, 30 km from Srinagar. "Sixteen people were injured in the explosion. Of them, 14 have been taken to hospital," a police official said, adding that they were investigating the explosion.

Eyewitnesses said some unidentified people threw a hand grenade causing the explosion. Earlier, another explosion occurred 50 metres from an election rally being addressed by Abdullah in Khanyar area of the state capital. Nobody was hurt in that incident.

Abdullah, who was accompanied by other NC leaders, told the rally: "These explosions will not deter me and should also not deter you from coming out and voting for the National Conference. You must come out in large numbers and vote for the NC on April 30," he said. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the explosions.

On Saturday, posters were pasted in downtown Srinagar warning National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party workers to stay away from elections.

These are the first such posters to appear in Srinagar ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, scheduled on April 30. Meanwhile, security agencies have warned of militant attacks on rallies and candidates, and have issued a high alert ahead of elections in the remaining two parliamentary constituencies.

WITH AGENCY INPUTS