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

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 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, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Kathua, Shivdeep Singh Jamwal told PTI. "Information was received about a powerful blast around 9.30 PM on Wednesday. We launched a search operation this 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 this 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 grenade and after that they triggered IED blast", Jamwal said.

Block Development Committee (BDC) chairman Ram Lal Kaliya, a resident of Saniyal village which is just 300 metres from the border post, said, "Around 9.30 pm on Wednesday we heard an explosion. I informed the post in-charge." The blast site was located after one-and-half hours, he said, adding that a big crater was found in an agriculture field.