US senator barred from Kashmir visit

NEW DELHI, Oct 06 (AP): A U.S. senator and a well-known Indian activist were barred from visiting Indian-administered Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan territory where at least 10 people were injured Saturday in a grenade blast as a government security and communications lockdown entered a third month.

Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said the blast was caused by a militant attack and occurred near the office of a civil administrator in Anantnag.

He said a police official and a journalist were among those hurt and suffered minor injuries.

"It was a militant attack," he said, without elaborating. "Police are probing to identify and nab the culprit."

Since removing several constitutional provisions in August that gave the state of Jammu and Kashmir semi-autonomy, Indian authorities have flooded the Kashmir Valley, the heart of a decades-old armed insurgency, with thousands of additional troops.

Mobile internet and phone services have been cut and landline phone access remains spotty, disrupting daily life and business in the valley, home to about seven million people. More than 2,000 people, including mainstream political leaders, are locked up or under house arrest.