Grenade or cylinder? Mystery blast in Valley kills three women tourists

Three women of a tourist group from Mumbai were killed and the remaining five injured in a mysterious blast today afternoon inside a mini-bus on its way from Srinagar to Pahalgam.

While the police said the blast was caused by a cylinder explosion, the victims said something had been tossed into the vehicle from outside and that there had been no gas cylinder aboard. Doctors treating them at Srinagar's Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences hospital also said their injuries weren't concurrent with a cylinder explosion.

The blast, in Bijbehara town, coincided with Defence Minister A K Antony's arrival in Kashmir on a two-day visit. The Valley has been seeing record tourist arrivals, with every possible accommodation booked this summer. The last militant attack on tourists in Kashmir was in 2007 when a blast on a bus had left six, including five tourists, dead.

All the eight victims of today's blast were women. Friends and relatives, they had left Mumbai together on July 19 and had reached the Valley after spending two days in Delhi, two days in Jammu and visiting the Vaisho Devi shrine. Two of them died on the spot. The driver escaped unhurt.

Police officers refused to comment on the explosion except for a brief official statement: "Today a cylinder exploded in a vehicle which was on its way from Srinagar to Pahalgam. The explosion killed three and injured five... Police have started forensic investigation." Nobody is being allowed to talk to the driver.

The victims said "something" was tossed into the bus just when they turned left on the national highway to take the road to Pahalgam. "We were just talking about Pahalgam and how it would be like there when something from outside fell into the vehicle. There was a sudden explosion," said Neeta Jeetwah, who was hit by a splinter in the leg. The 60-year-old is from Vile Parle in Mumbai.

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