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Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar
Two people were killed and five injured on Tuesday evening when unidentified militants hurled a grenade at a taxi carrying Amarnath pilgrims at Lazbal near the south Kashmir town of Anantnag, 55 kilometre from the state capital Srinagar.
Police sources said the militants tossed a grenade inside the cab, which exploded killing Ajay Narula, a pilgrim from Bareily and the driver, identified as Kuldip Raj from Jammu.
However, unconfirmed reports said that the militants had planted a timed explosive device in the vehicle, which they activated remotely.
Out of the five injured, four were pilgrims and one a bystander.
All of them were immediately shifted to a local hospital in Anantnag. The police identified the injured pilgrims as Manoj Kumar, Sheel Agarwal, Ajay Agarwal and Raghu Vashist, all from Bareily in Uttar Pradesh.
The bystander was identified as Abdul Rashid Sheikh.
One of the pilgrims, Raghu, was later shifted to Srinagar for specialised treatment.
The pilgrims were on their way to Jammu when the taxi was attacked.
No group has admitted responsibility for the attack.
As the news about the attack reached Anantnag, senior district police and paramilitary force officials rushed to the spot immediately.
Searches operations were mounted, which were continuing till last reports came in.
Vehicles carrying pilgrims from Jammu to Pahalgam were stopped enroute and checked.
"We have made tight security arrangements. The security will be beefed up as we are deploying more securitymen," a senior police officer said.
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