Live grenade on govt building terrace triggers panic in Poonch district, defused

Poonch, July 19

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

The recovery of the bomb triggered panic and fear among residents of 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.

Remain alert, say Cops

• The police said they had asked people to remain alert and report any suspicious movement immediately to the security agencies.
• Bomb disposal experts were called in to defuse the grenade. An investigation has been launched.
• The police suspected that someone lobbed the grenade and fled, but it did not explode.

A police team cordoned off the area to ensure the safety of residents and hospital staff, the officials said.

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

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

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

“I thought it belonged to the Electricity Department. I called them because they were working here in the daytime. When one of the department workers checked, he asked me to tell the security guard because the object did not belong to him,” the woman said.

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

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

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