Rocket-launcher shells trigger panic in P’kot
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Pathankot, May 26
Nine used rocket-launcher shells found from the bushes near the Pathankot cantonment railway station created a scare in the city. The police had to call GRP personnel to remove those.
Initially, there were rumours that some live bombs had been found. However, SSP Vivek Sheel Soni dispelled the rumours by holding a press conference in which he clarified that “the shells found from the rail track were the used ones”. In army parlance, these are known as “Training Practice Tracers”. Army and paramilitary personnel are told about the use of rocket-launchers during training. The used shells, called “empties”, are then collected and handed over to scrap dealers. It was a late night phone call to the SSP which alerted the police. The GRP was immediately informed and efforts were on to call Army experts, but once it became clear that the shells were ‘empties’, the Army was asked to wait.
“My personnel and those of the GRP reached the spot. We sealed all important installations like the ammunition dump, Mamun cantonment and the Air Force base. Searches near the bus stand and the railway station were intensified. However, the need to stop the rail traffic did not arise,” said SSP Soni.
On January 2, 2016, four militants had laid siege to the Air Force station. The terrorists were killed after a 24-hour gun battle. On July 27, 2015, 5.2 kg of RDX was found on the rail track near Dinanagar, 20 km away from Pathankot. An official claimed that since a part of Pathankot district was near the international border, they were not in a position to take even the remotest of chances. “Whenever such shells are found, it is imperative on our part to launch an investigation to know how and from where these landed,” he said.
