The device was found near the city’s bus stand

The Jammu Police on Saturday recovered 6.5 kilograms of an improvised explosive device from near the city’s bus stand. The police said that the seizure helped avert a major explosion on the second anniversary of the Pulwama terror attack, ANI reported.

Jammu Inspector General of Police Mukesh Singh said during a press briefing that the police had been on high alert for the last few days, since there were some inputs about the possibility of a major attack. Security was tightened at all the important places.

Singh said that the police arrested a man named Sohail, who was found to be carrying the explosive device in a bag. The police officer added that militant group Al Badr Tanzeem had given him three to four targets, including the bus stand and railway station, and instructed him to place the explosive at one of the spots.

The police officer added that the IED will be analysed by the bomb disposal squad. “This could have been a major explosion, many lives could have been lost,” Singh said. “The Jammu Police have avoided this.”

In a separate operation, the police also arrested two militants from Kunjwani and Samba areas of Jammu.

On February 14, 2019, forty Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed after an explosive-laden car driven by a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed into their bus in Pulwama. In response, the Indian Air Force on February 26 carried out a strike targeting the terror group’s training camp in the Pakistani town of Balakot.