1 killed, 5 wounded in blast outside liquor shop in Indian-controlled Kashmir

One person was killed and five others were wounded Saturday in a blast outside a liquor shop in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said. The blast took place Saturday evening at Narwal in the outskirts of Jammu city, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "One person was killed and five others were wounded in a grenade blast that took place outside a liquor shop at Narwal this evening," said a senior police official posted in city. Police said all the wounded persons were immediately removed to Government Medical College, Jammu hospital. The blast created panic among the residents. According to the police, the grenade thrower escaped in the commotion. It is second attack in the last three days on liquor shops in the restive region. On Thursday a salesperson of a liquor shop was killed and three others sustained bullet wounds after militants attacked the shop in Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. So far no militant group has claimed responsibility of the attack. Militants in the region has banned sale of liquor in early 1990s and ordered their closure, after they waged an armed insurgency against New Delhi's rule. The ban had a considerable impact in Srinagar, however, the liquor shops in Jammu ignored the militant diktat. At present Srinagar has few liquor shops mostly in highly secured areas. Apart from religious prohibition, in Muslim majority areas of Kashmir the sale of liquor and its consumption has a social stigma attached to it. A guerrilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in the region since 1989.