J&K: Live grenade on terrace of govt building sparks fear in Poonch, defused

Poonch/Jammu, July 19

Bomb disposal squads have defused a live grenade found on the rooftop of a government building in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, officials said on Friday.

The recovery of the bomb triggered panic and fear among residents of the government quarters from where it was recovered.

Some children found the hand grenade while playing on the terrace of a government quarter building in the vicinity of Raja Sukhdev District hospital on Thursday evening and raised an alarm, prompting the police to rush to the spot, they said.

A police team cordoned off the area to ensure the safety of residents and hospital staff as the area was struck with the fear of an unsuccessful grenade attack by suspected terrorists, they added.

The bomb disposal experts were called in to defuse the grenade and an investigation has been launched, the police said.

The police suspected that someone had thrown the grenade and fled, but it did not explode.

“My kids kept telling me that something was on the terrace and when I went to check, I saw that an object was lying in the corner. My younger son said that he found the object suspicious,” a resident of Gulfam told reporters here.

“I thought it belonged to the electricity department and I called them because they were working here in the daytime. When he checked, he asked me to tell the security guard because the object did not belong to him,” the woman added.

The security guard told them that it was a bomb and they needed to inform the police, she said.

A deputy superintendent of police arrived here with a team and took away the bomb within half an hour, she added.

The police said they have asked the people to remain alert and report any suspicious movement immediately to the security agencies.