Militants' plan to trigger car blast in Kashmir foiled

Srinagar, Feb 26 (UNI) Jammu and Kashmir police foiled a militants' plan to trigger car bomb blast in the south Kashmir district of Anantnag, a senior police officer said.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police for south Kashmir H K Lohia said a specific information was received that militants were planning to blast a car in the Anantnag district to target security forces and other VIPs.

He said police teams were rushed to different areas to locate the vehicle.

It was only after a long search that police finally traced the explosive laden white maruti car parked near the office of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) at Nai Basti.

Mr Lohia said the area was immediately cordoned off and all people present in the area were taken to a safer place.

He said bomb disposal squad later defused the 15 kg powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) kept in a LPG cylinder planted in the car.

The car has been seized and a massive hunt has been launched to nab the militants, he said.

An official spokesman said security forces and police in a joint operation unearthed a hideout at Aganari in Rajouri district of Jammu last night. The arms and ammunition recovered included three wireless sets, three land mines, 2 IEDs, one mobile phone, one ak magzine, 56 cassettes, one gas cylinder and five blankets.

However, no one was arrested.

UNI