The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday visited the Narwal area of Jammu where two blasts took place a day before.
The Transport Nagar in Narwal area of Jammu was rocked by two blasts within 15 minutes on Saturday. The Jammu and Kashmir Police suspects improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were used in the blast. A total of nine people were injured.
The twin blasts came just two days before Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra's arrival in Jammu. The blasts also came within weeks of terror killings of seven civilians in a village in Rajouri district in Jammu region.
NIA likely to take over the case
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The NIA is likely to take over the investigation of Jammu blasts from the J&K Police, said officials.
NIA officers over an hour at the scene of the blasts and collected samples before leaving. Senior officers of the Indian Army also visited the area for inspection for the second day, said officials.
The J&K Police suspects that IEDs were used to carry out the twin explosions in an SUV parked in a repair shop and in a vehicle at a nearby junkyard at the Transport Nagar area. An IED was also used in the Rajouri village by terrorists earlier this month, killing two children.
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The explosions occurred at a time when security agencies in the region are on high alert for the Congress' ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra and the upcoming Republic Day celebrations.
The Narwal area is still under a security cordon and a massive sanitisation operation is underway, said officials
Terror incidents in Jammu region
This is a third suspected terrorist act in the Jammu region, which has been relatively peaceful over the years in contrast to the restive Kashmir Valley.
On January 1, terrorists opened fire at houses in Dhangri village Jammu region's Rajouri district. Five people were killed in the firing. On the next morning of Janauary 2, an IED explosion in the same village killed two children, taking the toll to seven.
The killings plunged the region into a sense of fear and insecurity, forcing the J&K administration and security agencies in the region to boost Village Defence Guards (VDGs), a revamped version of civilian militia formerly called Village Defence Committees (VDCs).
Security review meeting held
In a related development, the Indian Army's White Knight Corps said a joint intelligence and security conference was held in Rajouri to review the prevailing internal situation based on the assessments of participating agencies.
General Officer Commanding (Ace of Spades Division) Major General YS Ahlawat and General Officer Commanding (Romeo Force) Major General Trivedi chaired the meeting that was attended, among others, by Deputy Inspector General of Police (Rajouri-Poonch Range) Haseeb Mughal.
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(With PTI inputs)
