Amajor tragedy was averted with timely detection of a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, officials said. The IED, planted inside a tiffin box, was found lying on the roadside by the army’s road opening party at village Sangpur along the Jammu-Poonch National Highway early morning, they said.

They said the traffic on the busy highway was immediately suspended and a bomb disposal squad was summoned which later destroyed the explosive substance in a controlled mechanism without causing any damage.

Police have registered a case and further investigation is on to identify and arrest the suspected terrorists who planted the IED on the highway with the intention to trigger an explosion, the officials added.

PTI