Banihal Blast: Suspect confesses to Pulwama-like suicide attack attempt

The man, arrested in connection with a blast in Banihal on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on March 30, admitted that he was asked to explode the CRPF convoy. Speaking to media after the arrest, the suspect confessed of staging a Pulwama-like attack. "I was asked on the phone to explode the convoy. My task was to drive the car and press the switch. I pressed the button while I was in the car. I was alone when I did it," he was quoted in ANI as saying.

Earlier, in another major breakthrough to the Banihal blast case, the Jammu and Kashmir Police have found a letter written by the absconding Santro driver claiming himself to be associated with terror organisation Hizbul Mujahideen. The letter also added that the extreme step to attack the CRPF convoy on Jammu-Srinagar national highway was taken in view of atrocities on Kashmiris since 1947. The authenticity of the letter is being verified by the police.

Meanwhile, there are also reports that huge quantity of urea, gelatine sticks and oil were used in the Santro blast, causing damage in a CRPF vehicle near the Jawahar Tunnel - the gateway to the Kashmir Valley around 10:30 am this morning.

#WATCH Confession of the accused in the car blast in Banihal, Ramban, after his arrest, today. #JammuAndKashmir pic.twitter.com/H2ABl6oj8o

— ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2019

According to a preliminary investigation, the blast near Tethar village, seven kilometers from Banihal town in Jammu region, occurred after one of the two gas cylinders in the Hyundai Santro model caught fire.

Banihal sub-divisional police officer Sajad Sarwar said the vehicle, which was on the way to Jammu from Srinagar, was completely gutted in the fire. "Another gas cylinder was found lying near the vehicle, but no explosive substance was found," the officer said, without ruling out a terror angle.

On February 14, at least 42 CRPF personnel were killed in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 30 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir.