POONCH: Two rusted mortar shells were recovered from two forward villages in Poonch district on Monday and safely destroyed by the Army’s Bomb Disposal Squad, officials said.
In the first case, villagers spotted an unexploded mortar shell in an open field near Chajjla bridge in Mankote area and immediately alerted the police and security forces, who rushed to the spot and secured the area, the officials said.
They said the Army Bomb Disposal Squad was subsequently called in to examine the explosive, which was later destroyed in a controlled explosion following all standard safety procedures.
Another unexploded mortar shell was found in agricultural fields in Adhaki village near Mendhar Nallah, the officials said, adding the explosive was safely neutralised by the experts.
The unexploded ordnance is believed to be a remnant of past cross-border shelling along the Line of Control (LoC), the officials said.
