Homemade bombs discovered in Punjab days before Republic Day

Several Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and one lakh rupees in cash were discovered in the state of Punjab just days before India js due to celebrate Republic Day and barely a month before the first assembly elections in the state, which are to be held in February.

A pressure cooker bomb was found and defused in Srinagar's Khwajabazaar on Friday, while a 5 kg IED and ₹1 lakh in cash were recovered near the international border in Punjab. The cash was found in a sealed packet in a wheat field near the Attari-Bachhiwind road along with the complex IED. It was unclear whether it had been placed there or dropped by a drone, police reports said.

"The sealed packet raised suspicions that it might contain explosives. So we called in the bomb disposal squad from Jalandhar, who confirmed that the packet contained a 5-kg IED and Rs 1 lakh in Indian currency," IGP Mohnish Chawla told media. The IED was made up of 2.7 kg of explosive, 1.36 kg of iron balls, three iron containers weighing 670 grams, three electric detonators, a digital timer, two sponge caps and a polythene cover bag.

Input from intelligence agencies has pointed the finger at Pakistani involvement in smuggling drugs, arms and explosives across the border. Punjab's Security Task Force (STF) has also recovered six AK 47 rifle rounds, two grenades, three UBGL, seven detonators, three fuses, a pouch and a bag from the Dhanoa Kala village in Attari.

Yesterday, a bomb was discovered in Delhi's busy Ghazipur flower market, which raised alarms in the national capital that is due to celebrate Republic Day on January 26. The National Security Guard (NSG) conducted a controlled blast after cordoning off the area in East Delhi.

The J&K police, meanwhile, arrested Mohammed Ahsan Untoo of Divar Lolab Kupwara, currently living in Srinagar, who they claimed was a proactive secessionist and active participant and speaker on a Twitter space titled "Radio Resistance Kashmir" led by two known secessionists, Muzamil Ayub Thakur and Dr Asif Dar.

The arrest was done on the basis of Untoo spreading "false propaganda and disinformation" across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir as well as actively turning people against the Union of India through secessionist ideology and hate speeches, the police report said.