Srinagar: Two days ahead of the elections in this Lok Sabha constituency, militants today (Apr 23, 2004) stepped up violence by launching grenade attacks at the Congress headquarters and a campaign vehicle of National Conference in Srinagar that left 12 people, including five security personnel and two scribes, injured.

Militants lobbed at least three grenades at the Congress headquarters, located near the Lal Chowk, and tried to storm the building by firing indiscriminately. The security personnel deployed at the Congress office retaliated, forcing the militants to take refuge in the adjacent building.

The militants, whose number was yet to ascertained, were still believed to be holed up in the building and efforts are on to evacuate the people before launching the operation to flush the terrorists out, inspector general of police (Kashmir range) K Rajendra Kumar, who was leading the operation against militants, said.

Congress workers in the party headquarters and students from the neighbouring Women's College have been evacuated as a precautionary measure, he said.

Official sources said that a deputy superintendent of police of Special Services Bureau (SSB) C C Pathak and one more security personnel have been admitted to hospital in a critical condition.

A cameraman of a television news agency and a photographer of a national daily received splinter injuries in their limbs and were out of danger. A civilian identified as an auto-rickshaw driver, Rafiq Ahmed Lone, was among those injured.

Intense firing followed the blasts causing panic in the area. People ran for their safety, shopkeepers pulled down shutters and traffic was stopped on busy M A Road, Sherwani Road and the surrounding areas.

Two militant outfits Al-Mansurian and Kashmir Freedom Force, believed to be shadow outfit of Lashker-e-Toiba, have separately claimed responsibility for attack on the Congress headquarters.

In another attack, militants lobbed a grenade at a National Conference vehicle at Rambagh in the outskirts of the city injuring five people, including a cop.