Jammu-Srinagar highway blast suspect arrested

Jammu: Police on Monday arrested a suspect believed to have been involved in the car explosion on the Jammu-Srinagar highway on March 30 when a CRPF convoy was passing on the highway.

A private car was destroyed in the blast in Tethar area near Bannihal town on the highway, causing minor damage to a Central Reserve Police Force bus.

The driver of the car, who the police said was the lone occupant, escaped from the site.

The car owner was identified by tracing the chassis and engine numbers.

The National Investigation agency (NIA) recovered a cooking gas cylinder, a jerry can of petrol, some gelatin sticks, urea and sulphur from the site. Police said these were standard ingredients for making an improvised explosive device (IED).

The sources said that after an extended manhunt, the driver of the car was arrested on Monday and he was being questioned by the police.

Intelligence sources said that a letterhead of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit was recovered from the explosion site which identified the driver as an operative of the outfit.

A suicide car bombing killed 40 CRPF troopers in Pulwama in the Kashmir Valley on February 14.