Troops detect, defuse IED at Nowgam
Srinagar: The forces on Monday conducted a surprise crackdown in Srinagar civil lines, where the area was sealed and people were frisked in large numbers.
Official sources said that security forces cordoned off the area between Hari Singh High Street (HSHS), Amira Kadal and Court road in civil lines on Monday evening. “All the people present in the area, including the ones who were onboard vehicles, were frisked and their identification cards were checked before allowing them to move forward,” they said.
Eyewitnesses said people, mostly youth, were asked to stand in a queue from one end of Amira Kadal to another end, bringing back memories of 90s when such crackdowns were a normal routine.
A security official at the spot refused to answer any question about the motive behind holding this operation which was held after recent militant attacks in Srinagar, killing two personnel of Jammu and Kashmir police and injuring a hotel owner.
Meanwhile, a majority tragedy was averted after forces detected and defused a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted on the Pantha Chowk-Baramulla highway in the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday.
A police official said the IED was planted a few hundred meters away from the Nowgam Railway station near a bridge.
The IED was spotted by the Road Opening Party of the CRPF and the police after which Bomb Disposal Squad was called in.
“The IED was fitted in a tin box. It took BDS almost an hour to diffuse the IED,” a police official said.
He said traffic was stopped for nearly an hour on Pantha Chowk-Nowgam road as a precautionary measure.
A security official said that the IED was about 1.5 to 2 Kgs and could have resulted in a huge damage if it wasn’t diffused in time.
A CRPF official said during the morning checking, the RoP found a suspicious object and later checked it after which BDS was called.
“Later it turned out to be an IED,” he said.
“IED was successfully diffused and traffic was restored on the road,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said. (Additional inputs from UNI/KNO)
