Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had a narrow escape this afternoon when militants attacked his rally venue in the town, 35 km from Srinagar. A young woman, waiting for a bus home, was killed and three others, including a CRPF jawan, were injured in the attack. The militants melted in the crowd and couldn’t be apprehended. The incident is being seen as an attempt to destabilise the process leading to Hurriyat’s talks with Delhi. The bid on Mufti’s life was made around 3.30 pm when militants, firing rocket propelled grenades and Kalashnikovs, tried to head for the dais where Mufti — he was there with Revenue Minister Hakim Mohammad Yasin and Haj and Auqaf Minister Sarfaraz Khan — was about to address the crowd. People who had gathered to hear the announcement of a degree college for Beerwah ran helter-skelter as the firing began. Mufti was whisked away by his securitymen while other personnel took positions to engage the militants. Since the main gate was shut, people looked for cover in every corner of the school building. Many cut themselves trying to tear away the barbed wires which separated them from the VIP enclosure. While other securitymen engaged the militants, personnel of ITBP and Special Security Guard of the Jammu and Kashmir Police threw a security cordon around Mufti, wrapped him in a bullet-proof blanket and bodily lifted him to a room in a corner of the building. No one, not even his ministers and officials, were allowed to come anywhere near him. Yasin, Shabir held over Bandipora protests
