Jawans told to beware traps

Jawans told to beware traps
ARUN SHARMA

JAMMU, AUGUST 11: Shocked over the yesterday's death trap on the busy Residency Road in Srinagar, security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have instructed their men to refrain from visiting any spot soon after a militant attack.

``We have instructed our men to take along with them a bomb disposal squad after receiving reports of a militant attack in an area. And until the squad sanitises the area against any explosive planted there, they should keep a watch on the spot from a distance,'' a senior security forces official said.

Earlier, immediately after receiving reports of any militant attack, the security forces and the police used to reach the site in a hurry. As usual, they visited the Residency Road soon after a grenade explosion, only to fall into the death trap laid by the militants.

Some of the militants hurled a grenade outside the State Bank of India branch on Residency Road on Thursday afternoon. Though there were no casualties, police and media persons immediately reached the spot.

While they were making queries, another explosion rocked the area, killing 10 people and injuring 27 others. The explosion was caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted in an Ambassador car.

This change of strategy by the militants appears to have compelled the security forces and the police to review their operations. The militants are likely to lay such death traps at other places in the state, if the growing incidents of carjacking in the Valley is any indication.

Yesterday, the Border Security Force recovered three vehicles that were stolen from various places in Srinagar. Such vehicles are used by militants for planting explosives at the crowded places, a BSF official said.

Sources said that even for the Residency Road explosion, four militants had hijacked an Ambassador car of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank along with its driver from Maisuma. The car driver was forced to drive the vehicle to Karan Nagar at gunpoint, where they planted the IED.

Thereafter, two of the militants drove the car to Residency Road, while the other two locked the driver in a room. The militants released the car driver from custody only after the IED exploded. The car driver, sources said, has been held by the police. His interrogation is in progress.

The planting of IEDs in cars or other items by militants is not a new thing in the decade-long militancy in the state. A senior security official said more death traps could be expected, considering that Independence Day is a few days away.