Alert CRPF jawan shows presence of mind, foils ultra plan in Kashmir

Srinagar, Mar 17 (UNI) An alert Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan today foiled a militant plan to target an army convoy when he stopped it seconds before an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off on the outskirts of the city on Srinagar-Baramulla road this afternoon.

A CRPF spokesman told UNI that a jawan of CRPF Road Opening Party (ROP) noticed some suspicious activity by a few people at Tengpora, bypass, near petrol pump where they planted something on the roadside.

Before he could challenge them, he saw an army convoy coming on the highway. Those who planted the IED escaped in a car that was parked on the roadside by them, he said.

The CRPF jawan immediately stopped the convoy at a distance from moving ahead, and there was a loud explosion. Had he not stopped the convoy, one or two vehicles would have been hit by the blast, the spokesman said.

The road has been damaged in the blast.

A resident told UNI over phone that he heard a loud explosion in the area at 1600 hrs.

Window panes of his and adjacent houses were damaged due to the impact of the blast, he said.

This was the second blast in the valley during the past 24 hours.

Yesterday, one person was killed and ten others were injured in a powerful IED blast near the crowded bus stand at Baramulla. One more injured died in the hospital today.

UNI