Five Maharashtra legislators escape unhurt in J&K grenade attack

Five Maharashtra legislators, who were on a study tour to Jammu & Kashmir, escaped a grenade attack by terrorists in Anantnag district on Wednesday afternoon, party officials said here.

The incident took place near Anantnag around 12.30 pm when the legislators, escorted by a police team, were driving from Bijbehara to Srinagar with 20 others.

The legislators are Vikram Kale and Dipak Chavan (both Nationalist Congress Party), Tukaram Kate and Kishore Patil (Shiv Sena) and Sudhir Parwe (Bharatiya Janata Party), who were on a study trip to understand the functioning of the Panchayat Raj systems in Jammu & Kashmir.

Suddenly, there were sounds of a tyre burst and the vehicle sped ahead without stopping, one of the badly shaken legislators told media persons later.

After driving for several kilometres, the convoy of vehicles stopped and two tyres of the legislators' vehicle were found to be shattered with holes, presumably from the gunfire.

However, a security person in the group explained that it was actually a grenade attack but since everybody was sitting inside their vehicles, they escaped unhurt.

After returning to Srinagar, the legislators informed authorities of the attack after which their security was further tightened.

--IANS

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