A suspected terrorist has confessed to driving a car that was aimed at blowing up the CRPF convoy, and had an abortive attempt to target a CRPF convoy on Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Saturday, 30 March.
The suspect, arrested on Monday, said he was asked to blow up the convoy and was taking instructions from people he did not know over a phone call.
“I was in touch with people on phone. I do not know who it was (on the other side of the phone). I was asked to blow up the convoy. I do not know what was there in the car. My job was to drive the car and press the switch. I was just asked to press the switch on reaching near the convoy. I hit the button after reaching near the convoy from inside the car I was in and then ran away from there,” the suspected terrorist said.
“I was alone when I did it,” the man who has confessed to driving the car aimed at blowing up the CRPF convoy said, who is now being questioned by the police officials.
The explosion had occurred on Saturday inside a car in Jammu and Kashmir's Banihal in Ramban district, leaving a bus carrying CRPF jawans slightly damaged.
The incident took place inside a Santro car at Tethar, seven kms from Banihal, shortly after the Jammu-bound CRPF convoy crossed the Jawahar Tunnel, the gateway to Kashmir valley. The driver of the private vehicle managed to flee before the fire engulfed the vehicle and turned it into a mangled heap of iron.
A massive hunt was launched and finally the suspected terrorist was arrested in the early hours of Monday and is being questioned, the sources said. The sources, however, did not reveal whether the arrest was made from Banihal or somewhere else, reported PTI.
In a statement, the CRPF said that slight damage was caused in the rear of one of the CRPF vehicle and the matter is under investigation.
“At around 1030 hrs, an explosion took place in a civil car near Banihal, J&K while CRPF convoy was on move. The car caught fire & slight damage was caused in the rear of one of the CRPF vehicle. No injuries were caused to CRPF Personnel. Incident being investigated,” the statement read.
"There was no loss of life... The driver of the car, who was the lone occupant, appears to have escaped," a police officer told IANS.
The explosion appears to have been caused by a gas cylinder inside the car but this is based on preliminary examination of the car's wreckage," he added.
The car appeared to have two LPG cylinders, one of which exploded. The other cylinder was found at the site of the incident.
The inspection of the vehicle and surrounding areas also led to the recovery of a jerrycan filled with petrol, gelatin stick, urea and sulphur – material which is used for fabricating the Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), police said.
The forensic experts and a team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) visited Banihal and inspected the scene to help in the investigation.
A letter recovered from the scene had identified the driver as a Hizbul Mujahideen operative, who mentioned his intention to carry out a 14 February Pulwama type terror attack which left 40 CRPF personnel dead after a terrorist of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit drove an explosive-laden vehicle and targeted a CRPF convoy.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik told PTI that it is yet to be established whether the incident was a terror attack, or why the car caught fire.
(With inputs from IANS, ANI and PTI.)
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