Car bomb explosion averted in Kashmir; two ultras arrested

Srinagar, Sep 17: A car bomb blast was averted by security personnel with the timely detection of a vehicle fitted with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Nowgam on the outskirts of Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital last evening, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) spokesman said today.

He said personnel of the CRPF's 164 battalion and the Jammu and Kashmir Police, during a search operation, seized a white Maruti car at Pohru, Sokapora in Nowgam on the city outskirts last evening.

On search of the vehicle, two pressure cookers fitted with IED connected to a circuit in a mobile phone, he added.

The spokesman said two militants of the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen were also arrested.

They have been identified as Altaf Ahmad Mir alias Mushtaq alias Sahil, the Hizb's Srinagar District Commander and Mohammad Amin Badyari alias Imtiyaz.

Two Chinese pistols and ten rounds were also seized from the possession of the arrested ultras, the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, security forces and police have launched a massive hunt to trace few stolen cars in Srinagar city, sources said.

They said a white Maruti car, bearing registration number DL3CJ-2584, was stolen from Magarmal Bagh here on Friday. The owner of the car, Bashir Ahmed Khan, has registered an FIR with the Shergari police station here in this connection.

The sources said a black Bolero, bearing registration number JK01J-5874, owned by Shabir Ahmed Jan, was also stolen during the intervening night of September 12-13 from Bilal Colony, Bemina here.

Another Maruti car, bearing registration number DL3CA-0406, belonging to Altaf Ahmad Sora, was stolen from Balgarden area on September 11, they added.

The sources said security forces have stepped up checking of all vehicles throughout the city.

The spurt in the car bomb attacks in the past had shaken the security apparatus in Jammu and Kashmir. Several people have been killed and scores wounded in car bomb explosions in the past few years in the Valley alone.

UNI