High-intensity blast in J-K's Kathua, live grenade seized

PTI

Hiranagar/Jammu, March 30

A suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast rocked a border hamlet in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, creating a huge crater in the ground, officials said on Thursday.

Security forces have been put on high alert in the border belts and along the Jammu-Pathankot highway following the blast that took place on Wednesday night.

A live grenade was recovered following a search of the area on Thursday morning, Kathua SSP Shivdeep Singh Jamwal told PTI.

"Information was received about a powerful blast around 9.30 pm on Wednesday. We launched a search operation on Thursday morning. The bomb squad team has collected the samples and sent it for test," the SSP said.

The SSP, who led the search operation in the area and adjoining border areas on Thursday morning, said it was a high-intensity blast.

"One live grenade was seized around 6.30 am today. It points out that someone lobbed the grenade after detecting presence of security forces", he said.

The SSP said prima facie it was an IED blast.

As the site of the blast is close to a police post, there is a possibility that the police post was the intended target. "It points out towards that. On Wednesday, our presence was more in this area, that is why they may have hurled the grenade and after that they triggered the IED blast," Jamwal said.