Car loaded with IED recovered, Pulwama attack-like bombing averted
In a major operation, the army, police, and paramilitary forces averted another dastardly attack in Pulwama by recovering a car, laden with explosives, this morning. The car had approximately 20 kg of improvised explosive device (IED) and was moving freely before being caught by the forces, who were acting on credible intelligence inputs. However, the driver managed to escape. Here are more details.
The white Hyundai Santro car had a fake registration number and the driver didn't stop at a checkpoint despite being signaled. "We got intelligence about a possible attack. We were looking for a vehicle with IED since yesterday," said Inspector-General of Police Vijay Kumar. He revealed the driver fled after security forces opened fire but he left the dangerous vehicle behind.
"It (car) was kept under watch for the night. People in nearby houses were evacuated and the vehicle was destroyed on site by the bomb disposal squad as moving it would have been a serious threat," said Director General of Police Dilbag Singh.
To recall, on February 14, 2019, a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Adil Ahmad Dar rammed his car, laden with explosives, on a CRPF convoy, making it the worst attack on security forces in Kashmir in years. 40 soldiers lost their lives, and the episode haunted India. To avenge their martyrdom, India launched the Balakot operation days later, bombing JeM's biggest camp across the border, in Pakistan.
Recently, an HT report said the terrorists involved with dastardly attack bought ammonium nitrate and ammonium powder in small tranches locally. The military-grade RDX used for the attack was smuggled from Pakistan. "The gelatin sticks, which have nitroglycerin, were collected in tranches of 5 kg to 10 kg to avoid raising red flags among the intelligence agencies," an official privy to the investigation told.
In the last two months, just as the world is dealing with coronavirus pandemic, there has been an increase in terror attacks across the border. 30 personnel, including two officers, lost their lives. A total of 38 terrorists, including the most-wanted Riyaaz Naikoo, have been gunned down. Naikoo was the top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and had a bounty of Rs. 12 lakh.
