Forest fire triggers several landmine blasts along LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Balakote

PTI Photo

Jammu: A massive fire that engulfed a large forest stretch at Mendhar in Balakote sector in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district along the Line of Control triggered several landmines to explode, which were planted to prevent infiltration from across the border, officials said on Friday (May 29).  

According to reports, the fire was started by Pakistan on Thursday (May 28) evening at the Line of Control which gradually spread to Indian territory. The fire broke out in Baba Khori and Kalal areas of Nowshera division along the LoC.

According to intelligence agencies, in order to push its terrorists across the Line of Control, Pakistan resorts to putting the forest area cover on the LoC on fire every year during summer, a covert infiltration bid that always gets foiled by the Indian Army. 

Meanwhile, in a major breakthrough in the recently foiled Pulwama-style car bombing case, the J&K Police has identified the owner of the explosives-laden car which was intercepted by the security forces in Pulwama thus averting a major attack. 

He has been identified as Hidayatullah Malik. According to the J&K Police, Malik is a resident of Shopian and had joined the Pakistan-backed terror group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in July 2019. He is being interrogated for more leads.

It may be recalled that on May 28, an improvised explosive device (IED) was recovered from a Santro car in Ayengund area of Rajpora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The IED was defused successfully by the bomb disposal squad and a major attack was averted.