Pulwama-like IED attack averted in J&K

Security forces on Thursday averted a major tragedy as they foiled a terror plot to attack a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir, much like the 2019 Pulwama tragedy that killed over 40 personnel. Nearly 400 jawans of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were the target of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), suspect senior security officials. The CRPF convoy of nearly 20 vehicles was supposed to start from Srinagar on Thursday morning and reach Jammu when security forces seized and destroyed an IED-laden car on the convoy’s route in Pulwama. The plan was eerily similar to the 2019 Pulwama attack, which left more than 40 CRPF personnel killed as a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into their convoy. Inspector-General of Police Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said, “We had been receiving inputs for a week that HM and JeM militants were planning to launch a big suicidal strike against security forces using a car bomb. When the input matured on Wednesday, we developed it and check points were placed in Pulwama,” Kumar told reporters.

He said, in the evening when the suspected car reached a naka, the security forces fired some warning shots and the militant turned the car away and fled.

“At another naka, the forces again fired some warning shots and the militant 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.

“This morning, a bomb disposal squad reached the spot and saw the vehicle was laden with explosives. The IED was diffused,” he said.