Srinagar/New Delhi, June 14: Three hand-grenade explosions rocked Srinagar today, including one outside the seat of government that left three persons injured.

The blasts come a day after militants ambushed Border Roads Organisation (BRO) workers at Kishtwar in Jammu, gunning down two officers and three jawans.

Militants lobbed a grenade outside the civil secretariat, which houses the office of the chief minister, other ministers and top bureaucrats but was closed for the weekend. The three injured include Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) head constable Maipal Singh, a woman named Salima and an ice-cream seller, sources said.

The grenade is believed to have been aimed at the CRPF men from 23 Battalion, who guard the secretariat, on the rear side of the complex but it exploded on the roadside.

The morning attack was the first on the secretariat since the summertime shift from Jammu last month.

In the afternoon, a hand grenade was thrown at the CRPF’s 158 Batallion at Botshah Mohalla but nobody was injured. There were no casualties, either, in the day’s third attack, outside Firdous cinema in Hawal which houses the central force’s 96 Battalion.

Srinagar police chief Ahfad-ul Mujtaba confirmed “three explosions” but added: “At Botshah Mohalla and Hawal, we did not find any (grenade) pin or splinters. We are ascertaining what caused these explosions.”

The blasts are unlikely to dampen the political parties’ enthusiasm for the state polls, expected in October, with even regional heartland outfits keen to jump into the fray.

Militant violence has declined across the state, more so in Srinagar. A massive explosion near the civil secretariat in March had broken a five-month calm in the city, and has been followed by a handful of small attacks.

Although today’s blasts come at a time tourists are visiting the Valley in large numbers, but there have been no attacks on them during the past two years.

“Look at the Sufi music concert (by Pakistani band Junoon) and the football matches (Santosh Trophy). There are incentives to participate in the polls,” said Javed Raza, the Janata Dal (United) minder for Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP-JD(U) plans to contest 35 of the 87 constituencies, at least 15 of them in the Valley where the big players will be the Congress, its ruling-coalition partner People’s Democratic Party and the National Conference.

Even the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party are looking forward to the polls.

“Today’s blasts are only an incident before the new governor takes over,” said Panthers Party president Bhim Singh, who has four MLAs.

Hopes have risen at the increased moderation of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and his Awami Action Committee are believed to have softened and so is Shabir Shah. Even Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Yasin Malik is not expected to boycott the elections.