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Updated: May 27, 2019 17:33 IST

The army foiled a possible terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Monday after soldiers detected and neutralized a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) on the Jammu-Poonch national highway.

But police later claimed it was a suspicious object in the shape of an IED to create social disorder.

Traffic was suspended for three hours after an army patrol detected IED which was planted near Kellar Chowk on the highway.

“The IED was spotted around 8 am by the Army’s road opening party and the vehicular traffic was suspended on Jammu-Rajouri highway for around three hours,” said a police officer.

Rajouri’s Senior Superintendent of Police, Yougal Manhas said, “Security forces in Rajouri district foiled a possible attempt by anti national elements to disrupt peace by recovering a suspected IED like material that was kept alongside highway near Kellar chowk”.

The road opening party flashed an alert after which the police closed traffic on the particular stretch.

The army’s bomb disposal squad then detonated the IED at the spot an hour later.

Manhas said that police have launched an investigation into the matter with Deputy Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) Govind Rattan in charge of it.

The SSP said that initial investigation showed that that no banned explosive material was present in the suspicious object.

“It seems that some miscreant placed a suspicious object in a disintegrated form to give it the shape of an IED to create social disorder,” he added.

There has been a rise in terror attacks in Jammu recently. Last week seven security personnel were injured in an IED explosion along the Line of Control in the Mendhar area of Poonch district.

Earlier there had been a grenade attack at the Jammu bus stand and killing sin Kishtwar. Security forces in their anti-terror drives have seized arms and ammunition including IEDs in Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi districts in recent times.