J&K: Army man killed in explosion in Poonch district

Jammu, Sep 29 (IANS) An army man was killed on Monday in an explosion inside the headquarters of 16 Rashtriya Rifles in J&K’s Poonch district.

Officials said that an army soldier was killed when a grenade exploded inside the headquarters of 16 Rashtriya Rifles in the Surankote area of Poonch district.

“The explosion occurred around 7.45 p.m. today, and a soldier was killed by the explosion. It is still not clear whether the explosion occurred due to a grenade hurled by the terrorists or was an accidental explosion,” an official said.

He said that investigations are going on to ascertain the exact cause of the explosion.

“Immediately after the explosion, the area was cordoned off and police and forensic teams reached the spot to examine the evidence,” he said.

Police said all aspects are being taken into consideration, and accidental handling or technical malfunction of the ammunition is also being looked into.

Rashtriya Rifles is an important component of the anti-terrorist grid in J&K that works in synergy with the local police and the CRPF to counter terrorism in the hinterland.

The army guards the 740-Km long line of control (LoC) while the border security force (BSF) guards the international border (IB), which is 240-Km long, situated in Jammu district, Samba district and Kathua district of Jammu division.

The LoC is situated in Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora districts of the Valley and in Poonch and Rajouri districts and partly in Jammu district.

The duties of the army on the LoC and the BSF on the IB are to check infiltration of terrorists, movement of arms and ammunition into the Indian side and also check the menace of drones used by terror outfits with the support of Pakistan to drop payloads of arms/ammunition, cash and drugs to be used by the terrorists to sustain terrorism in J&K.

Drug smugglers, peddlers and those involved in hawala money rackets are also on the scanner of the security forces since it is believed that the funds so generated are used to sustain terrorism.

--IANS

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