A former Kashmiri rebel was wounded when a tiny detonator planted in a cigarette by suspected militants exploded when he lit it up in a police station, a newspaper report said Thursday. The small blast, the first of its kind in the revolt-torn Himalayan region, took place in a remote village of Doda district where Mohammad Rafiq had surrendered to police, the Daily Excelsior said.
Separatist militants fighting Indian rule in the disputed region since 1989 frequently target their former colleagues who surrender to the police or the army. "The small detonator, planted inside the cigarette, exploded when Rafiq was smoking, causing him minor injuries. He has been hospitalized," the newspaper quoted a senior police officer as saying.
He said police were investigating how a cigarette with a detonator hidden inside reached Rafiq in the police station. More than 42,000 people have been killed in the insurgency, officials say. Rights activists put the number at 60,000 dead or missing.
