SRINAGAR, Nov 17: At least one person has died and five others wounded after a grenade exploded outside a wine shop in Jammu region, police say, the second such attack on alcohol outlets in the state in three days.
The attack took place in Narwal area in the outskirts of Jammu city, winter capital of the state.
The deceased, Kuldeep, was standing outside the liquor shop, a police official said. Whether he was a customer or just a passerby is not known.
On Thursday, a gunman sprayed bullets at a shop selling alcohol on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar, the main city of the Muslim-majority Kashmir region. One person, a salesman at the shop, died and four others were wounded.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far. Police say they are investigating into who the attackers are.
A local news agency had reported that Hizbul Mujahideen militant group claimed responsibility for the Srinagar attack. But the Hizb later denied carrying out the firing.
The fresh attack is significant because it has happened in the Hindu-majority Jammu region, which, authorities say, is now free of militancy-related violence.
Liquor shops have rarely been attacked in Kashmir since 2004 when the Mufti Sayeed government re-opened a few liquor shops in Srinagar and other major towns of the valley, fifteen years after militants had ordered them to close down.
Separatist violence had showed a steady decline and militants’ hold over daily life had eased.
Also Read: Kashmir takes to alcohol as insurgency declines
In 2005, members of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat or the Daughters of Faith tried to set fire to a shop selling wines and beer. They were sent to jail.
But officials say liquor sales have skyrocketed to nearly 500 lakh (50 million) bottles annually, which , they privately admit, is a sign that peace and normalcy is returning to Kashmir.
Also Read: Kashmir govt rejects calls for a dry state
