14 old mortar shells recovered in J&K’s Samba; police rule out sabotage angle

Samba/Jammu, Jul 7 (PTI) Police on Friday recovered 14 old mortar shells in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district, officials said.

A bomb disposal squad has been called to defuse the shells, they said.

The police also ruled out any possibility of sabotage. The shells were found in the bushes at two separate places on one side of the Jammu-Pathankot Highway.

“These are old shells. There is no sabotage angle to it. These may have been part of the scrap being ferried by scrap dealers. To avoid a police post, they may have thrown out these rusted old shells here,” a police officer told PTI.

The traffic on the highway, which was shut due to the recovery of these shells, was restored after two hours, they said.

An investigation is underway to ascertain the details, he said.