At 10:30 am, militants fired six rifle grenades targeting the Civil Secretariat. One hit the wall of the third floor where the office of the chief minister is located while three fell into the compound, injuring two CRPF personnel, a policeman and an orderly of the Revenue Ministry.

The policeman later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. The militants simultaneously fired upon two policemen on the main road outside the Secretariat Complex killing one of them on the spot.

The incident comes close on the heels of a series of attacks on sensitive government installations and VIPs during the past few days. The death toll during the past ten days of stepped-up militant violence across the Valley has been more than hundred even as two State Governmentministers, a former Union Minister besides three senior leaders of the Congress, Janata Dal and the Communist Party escaped attempts on their lives.

``Such attacks by militants are to be expected,'' said Minister of State for Home Mushtaq Ahmad Lone. He believes that the Chief Minister's office wasn't the specific target.

However, according to a statement released by the state police, ``the Hurriyat has been attempting to interfere with the electoral process''.