Ashiq Hussain

SRINAGAR, July 1: A big blast near a CRPF bunker in Kashmir’s southern town of Tral resulted in a scene of amusement for people as well as the police after it turned out to be a firecracker.

Few years ago tension was razor thin in the troubled Kashmir, even a pack of barking dogs could spark an hour-long gunfight.

But now violence involving security forces and militants has declined sharply across the scenic region improving quality of life for war weary people.

Locals said Sunday that ‘something’ was lobbed on a CRPF installation in the town which generated a huge sound creating panic as commuters ran for their lives and shopkeepers downed their shutters.

CRPF and Police officials ran to the spot to ascertain the causalities due to the ‘grenade’.

“We thought it was a grenade blast but ultimately it turned out that somebody had played the mischief and lobbed a sound cracker. The sound frequency was certainly more than the normal firecrackers,” said a police official.

CRPF Spokesman Sudhir Kumar was much amused. “Some Badmash had thrown a firecracker to create a scene. Fortunately no untoward incident happened after the sound blast,” Kumar said.