Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 6: A crude bomb was hurled outside the residence of Sarpanch of Androla Panchayat Sushma Kumari in Rajouri district in the wee hours of this morning but her family had narrow escape as the device exploded just outside the house. No major damage was caused to the home.
Reports said that Sarpanch Asha Rani, who had won the election as an Independent candidate, was present in her house along with other family members at village Androla falling under the jurisdiction of Chingus Police Post in the district, when the blast took place between 1.30 am to 2 am.
DIG Rajouri-Poonch range Vivek Gupta told the Excelsior that all aspects of the blast are under investigation.
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Additional SP Rajouri Vivek Shekhar along with police and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) teams visited the spot for investigations. Splinters of the device have been recovered from the spot and they appeared to be the part of a crude device and not grenade.
The Sarpanch told visiting police teams that she and her family members heard sound of the blast between 1.30 am to 2 am but didn’t come out in anticipation of militants’ presence in the area. They came out of the house in the morning after calling neighbours to the spot and found splinters lying in the premises.
A small crater had also been formed in the premises due to impact of explosion.
However, there was no major damage to the house and all family members of the Sarpanch were safe.
Police surrounded the area and conducted searches but no arrests have been made so far.
According to police, though all aspects are under investigation, it doesn’t appear to be a militant act as the militants generally use grenade and not crude devices. However, this possibility isn’t ruled out as some times the Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of the militants do use crude devices.
Moreover, house of the Sarpanch is surrounded by Chaklee Dagani forest area where search and cordon operations were conducted thrice in the recent past.
However, some mischief at the local level is also not ruled out.
Sarpanch Sushma Kumari had won the election as an Independent candidate but some of his close relatives are affiliated with the Congress.
Though there has been no major militant activity in the border district of Rajouri in the recent past, some Over Ground Workers are active. A day before, large quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from Thannamandi area of the district which had reportedly been air dropped.
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