Srinagar, September 26 (NDTV.COM) In a sudden escalation in violence coinciding with the start of holy month of Ramzan, militants killed seven persons including a woman constable in Jammu and Kashmir.

An equal number of people have also been injured in separate incidents since Sunday night.

Security forces averted a major tragedy with timely detection of an improvised explosive device on a busy road and seized some arms and ammunition from a vehicle in the state during the period, official sources said.

They said woman constable Gulshana was killed and three of her colleagues were injured when militants exploded a grenade inside their vehicle at busy Naaz crossing in uptown Srinagar.

Pedestrians injured

Three civilian pedestrians were also injured by the splinters in the attack, which took place around 1.30 pm, the sources said.

The sources said the police gypsy belonging to women's police station was damaged under the impact of the explosion, which sparked off panic in the area.

The militants fled the scene soon after and a hunt has been launched to track them down, the sources said.

In another incident, they said a Central Reserve Police Force jawan was injured when militants hurled a grenade on a security picket at Gadali chowk in Doda district Sunday night.

No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the two grenade attacks. (PTI)