Security forces averted a major tragedy along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway near Nagrota, with the timely detection of an Improvised Explosive device (IED) past Monday midnight.
The traffic was halted on the busy highway as teams of Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) and other technical experts were rushed to the spot to defuse the IED.
According to police, the IED was planted near S Morh, ahead of Ban Toll Plaza, in the Nagrota area on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. The Indian Army’s White Knight Corps is located only a few kilometers away from the spot. SSP Jammu Chandan Kohli in a statement said, “The suspicious object found at Panjgrain Nagrota Jammu was an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). It has been destroyed by the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) through a controlled mechanism. A case under relevant sections of law has been registered and investigations have been launched.
Meanwhile, the security forces have launched search operations in the nearby areas and also checked CCTV footage related to any suspicious movement in the area.
The presence of sleeper cells and active over-ground workers (OGWs) is a cause of concern as repeated incidents of IED detection, and drone dropping of weapons/narcotics have been reported across different areas of the Jammu region in recent months. On Tuesday, a suspicious object was also found lying along the highway in Rajouri prompting the authorities to divert the traffic in the Niali Manjakote area.
According to reports the local traffic was diverted through a link road and around seven kilometres of Highway stretch was closed down for carrying out thorough searches in the area.