A joint team of security forces, aided by intelligence agencies, on Thursday prevented a repeat of Pulwama type “audacious” terror strike on the convoy of security forces by timely detecting a vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED), fitted with at least 40-45 kg of explosives, in Ayengund area of Rajpora in Pulwama district.
Police suspected involvement of local commanders of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) along with Hizbul Mujahideen behind the sinister plot to avenge recent killings of their top commanders, including Riyaz Naiko and Junaid Sehrai, in anti-terrorist operations in the Kashmir valley.
According to official sources, the explosive-laden car, bearing a fake registration number JKO8B-1426, was detonated by the Bomb Disposal Squad causing extensive damage to window panes of local houses in the area early Thursday morning.
Late on Wednesday, several residents were escorted to safer places before detonating the vehicle-borne IED.
On Thursday, Srinagar based local teams of National Investigation Agency (NIA) and sleuths of central intelligence agencies also visited the spot to carry out their separate assessment. Forensic teams of Jammu and Kashmir police also lifted different samples to carry out investigations in the cases.
Briefing media persons in Srinagar, Inspector-General of Police Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar said, “The terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) supported by IED experts of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) were working together to replicate the Pulwama type terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel had sacrificed their lives on February 14, 2019”.
Kumar said, “The police were receiving inputs since a week that HM and JeM terrorists were planning to launch a big suicidal strike against security forces using car bomb. When the input matured on Wednesday, we developed it and multiple security check points of Army, CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir police were activated in Pulwama”.
He further said that late Wednesday when the suspected car reached a security check point the security forces fired some warning shots, but the terrorists turned the car away and fled.
“At another security check point, the forces again fired some warning shots and the terrorists fled from the spot, taking advantage of darkness, and left the car behind. The forces used lights to check the vehicle from a distance after finding something suspicious. We tightened the cordon and waited for the first light of the day,” he said.
“This morning, a bomb disposal squad reached the spot and saw the vehicle was laden with explosives. The IED was diffused in a technical way by the police, Army and paramilitary CRPF. The Pulwama police, with the help of security forces, have averted a major tragedy and I congratulate all of the forces,” he said.
The IGP said the police had inputs that JeM was planning to launch such an attack on the anniversary of Jang-e-Badr day - the 17th day of Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan -- but could not undertake it then because the forces were carrying out cordon and search operations in which several terrorists were killed.
The IG claimed, as per our preliminary assessment they suspect the involvement of one Adil, who is a HM terrorist but also works with JeM, and Fauji bhai, a Pakistani terrorist and JeM commander in Pulwama.
“We are calling an expert team from the outside to investigate it. Since the explosive debris went up about 50 metre in the air, it seems that the weight of the explosives would have been about 40-45 kg,” he said.
The police have also launched investigation to track down the overground workers who may have played a crucial role in ferrying explosive material and providing logistic support to the terrorists while fabricating the IED inside a Santro car.
According to preliminary reports, the police have also zeroed in on a person in Kathua district, who is reportedly using the same registration number on his motorbike as the one found fitted on the Santro car, detonated by the security forces in Pulwama.
