Jammu, March 23 (IANS) A mysterious blast took place on Monday outside a house in a village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district as officials said the exact nature of the blast was being ascertained.

Officials said around 2 a.m., an explosion took place outside the house of a Sarpanch named Jai Ram Sharma in Gawala Talab village of Ghagwal sector of the international border in the district.

“Gawala Talab village is around 10 kms from the international border. The gate and the compound wall of the house were completely damaged, but no casualties occurred due to the blast,” the officials said.

Police and forensic expert teams reached the village and took samples from the blast site to ascertain the exact nature of the explosion.

An FIR has been registered at the concerned police station about the incident.

More details are awaited.

The 240-km-long international border in the union territory is situated in Samba, Kathua and Jammu districts.

The international border is guarded by the Border Security Force (BSF). The troops of BSF are deployed to prevent infiltration, exfiltration, drug smuggling and drone activities initiated from the Pakistan side of the border.

Drones have been used by terror outfits with the assistance of Pakistan forces to drop payloads of arms/ammunition, cash and drugs on the Indian side.

These payloads are usually picked up by the over-ground workers (OGWs) of terror outfits and then handed over to the terrorists to sustain terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. The BSF has deployed hi-tech anti-drone equipment on the international border to check the menace of drones initiated from the Pakistan side of the border.

In addition to the international border, Jammu and Kashmir has a 740 km Line of Control (LoC) situated in the Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora districts of the Valley and in Poonch, Rajouri and partly in the Jammu district of the Jammu division. The LoC is guarded by the Army.

–IANS

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