Car bomb kills 3 in Srinagar

A day after militants carried out a suicide attack in Srinagar, the city was rattled by a massive car bomb blast outside the corporate headquarters of Jammu and Kashmir Bank today.

Three people died in the blast and about 40 were injured.

The dead include dthe bank's guard, Bashir Ahmed, and two civilians. Counter-insurgent turned-politician and sitting MLA Usman Majid and five policemen were among the injured in the explosion.

J&K Director-General of Police Gopal Sharma said militants had rigged an explosive laden car to explode when the escorted bullet-proof car of Majid reached the spot.

"However, we are investigating whether he was the target," he said. Majid was a deputy minister in Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's council of ministers.

The injured were immediately shifted to the SMHS and SKIMS hospitals in Srinagar. "We have received over 20 injured people and six of them are being operated upon for critical injuries," said a surgeon G N Lone.

The J&K Bank corporate headquarters suffered heavy damage in the blast. According to bank executives, about a thousand employees and clients were present when the blast occurred.

Thirty executive office chambers including that of bank chairman, Haseeb Drabu, were damaged by the impact of the car blast.

"We are assessing the loss," said an executive. Immediately after the blast police and paramilitary forces surrounded the area and launched searches in the buildings around.

The vehicle used in the bombing was blown to pieces. Militant outfit Al Arifeen claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack is third in as many days in the valley, the last being at a political rally in north Kashmir, which left five people dead and scores injured including a top leader of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Meanwhile, one Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper was killed and another injured when militants opened fire on a CRPF convoy at Avantipura in south Kashmir.