Pulwama: It was a joint operation of the army, the police and the paramilitary forces (File)
Srinagar:
Security forces prevented a massive car bomb attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir this morning after stopping a vehicle carrying more than 20 kg of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The plan had frightening similarities to last year’s terrorist attack in Pulwama, when more than 40 soldiers were killed while a suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives in a CRPF convoy.
Based on the information received, a white Hyundai Santro car with a false registration number was reported to stop at a checkpoint on Wednesday evening, but it tried to accelerate and pass the barricade, the police said. police.
“The security forces opened fire. The driver managed to escape, leaving behind the car loaded with IEDs,” said police chief inspector Vijay Kumar. “We have obtained information about a possible attack. We have been looking for a vehicle with an IED since yesterday,” he added.
The car, along with the IED, was then destroyed by a bomb disposal squad. The massive explosion damaged several homes in the area.
“She (the car) was kept under surveillance during the night. People in the neighboring houses were evacuated and the vehicle was destroyed on the spot by the bomb disposal team, because to move it would have been a serious threat” , said director general of police Dilbag Singh.
Kumar said it was a joint operation of the military, police and paramilitary forces.
After the terrorist attack perpetrated on February 14 in the same district, India bombed a camp of the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed in the heart of Pakistan. An air battle also ensued between the Indian and Pakistani fighter planes.
In the past two months, there has been an increase in terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir; 30 members of the security forces, including officers, lost their lives. During this period, 38 terrorists were also killed by the security forces.
Riyaz Naikoo, one of Kashmir’s most wanted terrorists and commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist group, was killed during a meeting in Pulwama earlier this month.
The upsurge in terrorist attacks amid reports of the infiltration of highly qualified terrorists from Pakistan poses a major security problem as the country struggles with the coronavirus crisis.
