Soldier held at Srinagar airport with 2 grenades

 An army soldier was on Monday arrested at the Srinagar International Airport after two live hand grenades were recovered from him.

Sources said Bhupal Mukhia from the 17 JAK Rifles was about to board a flight to New Delhi when policemen screening passengers’ baggage inside the airport detected the hand grenades and alerted the anti-hijacking squad.

Mukhia, who hails from West Bengal’s Darjeeling area and is presently posted near the LoC in the frontier Uri sector, told the Jammu and Kashmir Police that his senior officer gave him the grenades to be handed over to someone in Delhi, sources said.

“Earlier, the solider said they (grenades) were to cause blasts in rivers in order to catch fish. Later, he said, ‘Major sahib ne kaha tha’ (Major sir told me to do so),” a source added.

State police chief S P Vaid, while confirming the arrest, said the trooper will face action according to the law.

“Be it an army jawan, a policeman or a civilian, everyone will have to face action. I do not have more details. I am going to the airport and will get the details,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

On whether it was a hijacking bid, Vaid declined to comment. “I cannot say anything on that,” he said.

The arrest comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state to opened the Chenani-Nashri all-weather tunnel near Udhampur in Jammu.

Srinagar is one of the most heavily guarded airports, with multiple layers of security and checking points. The soldier was not stopped at the airport because there is no checking for army personnel at the entry. The Srinagar airport is jointly operated by the Airports Authority of India and the Indian Air Force.

CRPF jawan killed in militant attack

A CRPF jawan was killed and five paramilitary jawans and a 10-year-old girl were injured when militants attacked their convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway near Panthachowk on Monday, reports DHNS from Srinagar. See P 8