Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Tuesday slammed the Central government over the grenade attack in Kashmir during Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to the Valley.
Raising questions over the incident, Patole asked if it was a conspiracy to 'kill' Rahul Gandhi.
Speaking at an event, Patole said, “Rahul Gandhi was on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir. During that time, militants hurled grenades in Srinagar. Luckily, Rahul Gandhi had left the place. But, the grenade attack happened at a distance of 500 meters from where Rahul Gandhi was staying. Two members of the Gandhi family have sacrificed their lives for the country. The question that arises here is whether it was a conspiracy to end Rahul Gandhi, who is working for the betterment of the country.”
Rahul Gandhi was on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Monday and Tuesday. He visited the Kheer Bhawani temple in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir and the Hazratbal shrine on Tuesday.
The Congress MP had attended a wedding reception of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Ghulam Ahmad Mir's son at a posh hotel in Srinagar on Monday evening.
Meanwhile, ten civilians were injured when militants lobbed grenades at security forces on Tuesday in the busy Hari Singh High Street area in Srinagar, police said.
Soon after the incident, an intensive checking was carried out leading to the arrest of a man who worked as a journalist with a local news gathering agency. Two grenades were seized from him, officials said.
"Around 2.45 pm, terrorists hurled a grenade in Hari Singh High Street area in District Srinagar. Senior police officers immediately reached the spot," a police spokesperson said.
He said the preliminary investigation revealed that terrorists hurled a grenade towards a bunker of the SSB in the area.
"However, the grenade missed the intended target and instead exploded on road resulting in minor injuries to 10 civilians who were taken to a nearby hospital," the spokesperson said.
(With inputs from Agencies)
