Blast inside wine shop leaves 1 dead, 3 injured in Baramulla

The local sentiments were opposed to the major push made by J&K administration to open liquor shops in the Union Territory (UT).

One person was killed and three others injured in an explosion inside a newly-opened wine shop in north Kashmir’s Baramulla.

“Terrorists lobbed hand grenade inside a newly-opened wine shop in Baramulla. Four employees got injured. One among them succumbed to his injuries,” the police said.

“At about 8.10 p.m., two (militants) riding on a bike stopped near the newly opened wine shop at Dewan Bagh Baramulla. The pillion rider wearing a Burka walked to the window of the wine shop and dropped a grenade inside the wine shop through the porthole window and thereafter fled away on the bike from the spot,” the police added.

The police said the injured persons belonged to the Jammu division. They were shifted to a nearby hospital. The area around Dewan Bagh was cordoned off and a search was started immediately after the attack, the police said.

The deceased has been identified as Ranjit Singh, 52, from Rajouri. The injured were identified as Govind Singh from Rajouri, Goverdan Singh and Ravi Kumar, both from Kathua.

The J&K administration, in a major push to open liquor shops in the Union Territory (UT), drafted a new excise policy for the year 2021-22 “to allot liquor vends through e-auction”. However, the police had asked the stakeholders to take the sentiment of the local community into account.

Earlier, the J&K government faced opposition and criticism from religious and civil society groups against the move to open 187 liquor shops, including 67 in Kashmir, in 2020. The order was rescinded later.